SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory Substations

In 2010, Cupertino Electric (CEI) served as the general contractor to replace two Department of Defense SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory substations without impacting the facility. The utility substation replacement project was funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

Cupertino Electric took a sequenced approach to replacing the two substations for SLAC. This involved building a complete 12 kV temporary substation to feed Substation No. 26, while the new replacement substation was constructed. Once the new permanent substation was built, CEI installed cut-overs, de-energized the old substation and transferred the temporary power to Substation No. 40, which would be replaced next.

As part of the project scope, Cupertino Electric also performed structural improvements at the substation sites, including painting and lead abatement. Cupertino Electric completed the project two months ahead of schedule and was able to value-engineer $200,000 in savings out of the project to return to the customer.