BONNERS FERRY — The Bonners Ferry City Council unanimously approved the purchase of a thrust bearing for one of the generators at the city-owned Moyie Hydro Plant. The part is expected to cost $20,606.56. 

“The Moyie Hydro Plant has several generators,” city staff said in a letter to the council. “Number four is our largest producing unit at 1.7 megawatts, and the power produced by the unit can generate about $2,000 to $2,800 for the city each day.” 

According to city engineer Mike Klaus, thrust bearings can take months to acquire, but a city employee has located one that is currently available for purchase.  

Based on the estimated daily loss of $2,000 to $2,800 if the current thrust bearing fails, the city could lose more than $20,000 in about eight to 10 days. 

“Having another thrust bearing available if needed is important to the operations of the hydro,” Klaus wrote to the council. 

Generators one and three each produce about 1 megawatt, and replacement thrust bearings for those units can be obtained more quickly. Generator two produces the least power at 0.5 megawatts. 

Additional upgrades are also planned at the hydroelectric facility. According to a letter from city staff, the city has been planning to replace the electrical governor control systems for each of the facility’s four generators. 

“Our governor electrical controls are manufactured by L&S Electric Inc. and have been in place for more than 20 years,” staff wrote to the council. “Those controls are near the end of their life cycle, and replacement should begin this year.” 

The letter stated that replacing all four governor control systems will cost about $290,000. Staff said they plan to spread that cost over at least two fiscal years. 

No funding for the controls was approved at this meeting. Instead, the council approved a sole-source purchasing process for the equipment. 

According to Idaho State University, a sole-source purchase means that only one supplier, to the best of the requester’s knowledge and belief, based on thorough research, is capable of providing the required product or service.

Staff wrote that the sole-source process requires passage of a resolution and public notice in the newspaper to allow other vendors an opportunity to challenge the purchase.