By Morgan Pilz, Staff Writer

(May 7, 2020) The Berlin Electric Department will be installing new software that will allow it to monitor the town’s generators remotely, as well as install a replacement engine by the beginning of July.

Electric Director Tim Lawrence first mentioned the system during the utilities budget work session held Monday, April 27.

The program, created by Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, will allow employees of the electric department to safely monitor the output from the generator and the engines from their computers or even through their phones, Lawrence said.

Tim Lawrence

“The way the plan is set up now is when the engines are running, a plant employee actually has to go to each engine every 30 minutes,” he said. “He basically records on a data sheet the water temperature, oil temperature, exhaust temperature, the KW (kilowatt) output of the generator and the horsepower of the engine … he actually writes that down manually.

“It’s tedious, plus, it’s putting him in a position where it could be unsafe, because you’re right up against the engine that’s running 1,600 horsepower,” Lawrence continued. “If something fails in the engine, it could hurt somebody.”

With the new system, if anything is detected, the plant can be shut down remotely and safely. Overall, the installation of the new Schweitzer system will cost the town $60,000.

In addition, the town will be receiving a replacement engine around late May or early June, and be running by July.

Last July, the second engine out of four that run the generator was taken out of commission when a piston connecting rod failed on the 16-cylinder engine at the William Street plant and knocked a hole in the side plate of the engine. The engine was at least 20 years old.

The failure happened when the department was running peak shaving times. The engine typically runs from about 2-6 p.m., but because of high temperatures, the engine was working overtime and ran for eight consecutive days.

The department conducts peak shaving events when the draw for electricity for the town is unusually high, which occurs around 10 to 23 times during the summer.

Peak-shaving is a way for town ratepayers to save money because by using the local generators, the electric utility has to purchase less power from providers. Typically, the town saves around $550,000 per year using peak shaving.

The new engine will run on natural gas instead of diesel like the other three engines, he added.

“When number two failed, I checked with the (Environmental Protection Agency) and Maryland Department of Environment and then all our consultants on what type of engine we should go back with, and everybody recommended natural gas,” Lawrence said. “It burns a lot cleaner. It’s a lot less maintenance to take care of and the fuel cost is a lot less than diesel fuel.”

Diesel fuel costs $2.30 a gallon as opposed to $1.80 for natural gas, Lawrence had said in a previous meeting.

In fact, when the department installs the gas line into the plant to feed into engine two, there will also be tap offs for the other three engines for when they eventually transition to natural gas as well.

The engine was built by Alban CAT Power, and will be delivered to Elkridge, Maryland a few weeks from now before being delivered to the Berlin power plant.