Basin Electric’s Engineering and TSM teams unite to keep substation project on track

Unexpected contractor staffing challenges during a critical infrastructure upgrade project at the Laramie River Station 345-kilovolt substation could have significantly delayed the return of Laramie River Station Unit 2 to service. Instead, employees from Basin Electric's Engineering and Transmission System Maintenance (TSM) teams stepped in to help keep the project on schedule.

Located near Wheatland, Wyoming, a portion of the substation was already out of service as part of a scheduled quadrennial outage and a phase of ongoing infrastructure upgrades when the staffing issue emerged. While outages like this are carefully planned and approved to maintain grid reliability, extending the outage would have delayed bringing Laramie River Station Unit 2 back online as planned.

"When we learned key contractor personnel were no longer available during the final phase of the project, we knew we had to find a way to keep the outage on schedule,” Darrick Buchholz, senior electrical engineer at Headquarters, says. "We were so close to the finish line, and everyone understood how important it was to keep things moving.”

Because the project was complex and new contractor personnel needed time to become familiar with the scope of work and systems, Basin Electric's Engineering and TSM teams quickly assessed their options. Employees already familiar with the project stepped in to support the contractor team and help complete the final stages of work.

While the two groups serve different roles, they routinely work together on capital projects, maintenance activities, and system upgrades. Those established working relationships helped the teams quickly come together, identify priorities, and get to work.

"We've worked together on enough projects over the years that everyone understands each other's strengths,” Joe Ashurst, supervisor of system protection at Wheatland TSM, says. “When challenges come up, we're able to quickly organize around a common goal.”

TSM employees provided testing, commissioning, and technical support, while Engineering staff supplied drawing support, coordinated progress updates, and helped prioritize commissioning activities.

"When issues came up, nobody was focused on job titles or departments. Everyone worked together to solve problems and keep the project moving,” Ashurst says.

For many involved, stepping in to help meant trading holiday plans for time at the worksite.

"This all happened over Memorial Day weekend, so a lot of people changed their holiday plans at the last minute, but everyone understood what was at stake and stepped up to help,” Tanner Seibel, senior electrical engineer at Menoken TSM, says. “It’s one of the things I love about working with this group of people.”

Their willingness to step in helped bring Laramie River Station Unit 2 back online on schedule, demonstrating the teamwork and commitment that help keep Basin Electric's system running reliably.