Big Heart Pet Brands Substation/Transformer Replacement

When Big Heart Pet Brands facility in Bloomburg, Pennsylvania, began experiencing Intermittent outages and equipment failures in their Primary Substation they called JDRM Engineering for help. Plant downtime equates to revenue losses and unhappy customers so time was of the essence. JDRM Engineering took on the role of Program Manager for this energy services project, coordinating all required project details for J.M. Smuckers management needs as well as being responsible for all project design, engineering, construction, and safety/security details. The result? A happy client, happy customers, and a pack of wagging tails as their new Primary Electrical Substation meets local utility requirements and provides both controls and protective measures leading to reliable electrical power for the facility to produce outstanding pet food!

The existing electrical service was replaced with 12.47 kV distribution system to the 69 kV transmission system. The project included the construction of a new 10 MVA transformer, 69kV Circuit Switcher, and Medium Voltage 15kV distribution switchgear at the substation. Reworking of the existing overhead and underground feeders from the new Medium Voltage Switchgear in the substation to the plant’s Power Center Feeders was also included.

JDRM Engineering’s Program Management services spanned:
• Complete project design services including Electrical Engineering SEL Relay settings, Architectural layouts, and Site Survey
• Project development (program of requirements reviews, schematic design, design development)
• Cost Estimating
• Budget and Schedule Management
• Subsurface Boring Investigation
• Design Meetings
• Document Preparation for Bidding, Permits, and Construction
• Bid Review and Recommendations
• Building Permit Submission
• Shop Drawing Submittal Review
• Construction Oversite with weekly construction meetings
• Contractor Pay Application Review
• Project Punch List and Closeout

The engineering design provided the substation layout as well as transformer and equipment specifications. A lighting protection system design was created by JDRM Engineering. Our Technology Group completed fiber optic communication design for the circuit switcher, transformer, nitrogen service area, and switchgear alarms.