West Memphis Utility to replace outdated monitoring system

West Memphis Utility to replace outdated monitoring system

New SCADA controller to oversee city’s electric distribution

news@theeveningtimes.com

Out with the old and in with the new.

The West Memphis Utility Department needs to replace their electric Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA). The maker of the existing controller is out of business and replacement components are no longer available.

Electrical Engineer Zach Winters told commissioners at the March West Memphis Utility Commission meeting that bids came back and it was “time to move ahead with a new system.”

This was the second goround for trying to purchase a new SCADA. On the first solicitation, no bidders met spec requirements. This time, one just one proposal met specifications, according to engineering consultants Fisher Arnold. That left Survalent Technologies Corporation as the only qualified bidder. The control system is expected to cost just under $120,000. After the meeting, Utility Department assistant manager Todd Pedersen explained how vital a SCADA is to the operation. “It oversees our electric distribution system,” said Pedersen. “We can control the breakers remotely. This allows us to supervise the main feeders going out.”

The commission approved the purchase, with Survalent securing the bid.

By John Rech