Plans to upgrade power plant could be Glendale’s largest public works project

The City Council on Tuesday ordered plans be drawn to revamp the electricity-generating Grayson Power Plant in what is already being called the biggest public works project in Glendale’s history.

Operating in the San Fernando Corridor since 1941, it’s estimated that upgrading the plant will cost as much as $350 million, though it could be a money-saver for the city in the long run, Glendale Water & Power officials hope.

The biggest element of what’s termed as a “repower” would be to replace seven of the eight turbines that make electricity with four new ones.

Some of them are many decades old and can take hours to warm up, but replacement turbines would start generating power much faster, said Steven Zurn, the utility’s general manager during a presentation to the council.

The turbine that will remain is only nine years old.

Boosted efficiency could also mean generating more electricity than current levels he said.

The power plant currently makes up 18% of the electricity that’s used in Glendale. The rest of the city’s electricity is purchased from several sources, including the Hoover Dam and wind energy all the way from the Midwest.

An upgraded Grayson could ultimately reduce dependence on power that’s bought on a day-to-day basis.

“We can have a lot better control over the operations, the budget, the setting of the rates,” Zurn said. “We have the ability to build and construct at a lower cost than a private entity would have because the bonding is available to us.”

Grayson could even get to a point where it’s never been: making additional electricity and possibly selling it, he said.

The project and its hefty price tag was at one end of the spectrum when it came to all the options before council members. On the other end was the choice of letting Grayson run until all the turbines fail and not replace them.

Though he said he’s in support of the repower, Mayor Ara Najarian asked why Glendale residents should be content with taking on such a massive project that will take years to pay back instead of just contracting Grayson’s share of the electric utility out to a company such as Southern California Edison.

Zurn said buying that additional power would cost more $5 million more a year than what running Grayson would cost.

After that answer, Najarian spoke positively of the power plant overhaul because it has the potential to save money — and make money.

“It seems like a good deal,” he said.

Councilwoman Laura Friedman added that upgrading Grayson would be an environmentally friendly move.

“This also gives us a lot of carbon credits,” she said. “We are making a more efficient power plant. I think that it’s important to point out that side benefit.”

But repowering Grayson is a long way away from being shovel-ready. All of the details in terms of how much power will be generated, dollar figures, project revenues and a final design still have to be worked out.

Zurn said he doesn’t think final plans will head before City Council until about December 2016.