P1 Connection November 2022

OPPORTUNITIES

MEGA

Green Energy Creates Big Opportunity for

WATTS

When Associated Electric Coopera tive Incorporated (AECI) needed to add capacity to their grid by making use of some idle generating equipment, the P1 Electrical Preventative Maintenance team was the one for the job. AECI had two 20 megawatt generating stations, each measuring 18’ long x 12’ wide by 12.5’ tall, and weighing 28,000 lbs. These units act as small power houses that supply a little extra boost when the demand on the grid is high.

P1 Electrical Preventative Maintenance Team

“We wouldn’t be able to service this opportunity if we didn’t have the Breaker Shop and staff with superb skills and expertise.”

-Jeff Gardner, Electrical Preventative Maintenance Manager

AECI is in Springfield, MO, although the Generator Accessory Compart ments (GACs) reside in AECI’s Unionville, MO power generating station.

The GACs provide power generation and high-voltage transmission to six transmission co-ops. They supply 51 local electric cooperatives in Missouri, Iowa and Oklahoma serving about 935,000 homes, farms, schools and businesses.

AECI relies on a mix of generating resources and technologies to deliver electricity and balance that mission with hydropower when it’s available, then coal, natural gas and wind energy.

Due to the closure of coal-fired power plants, AECI needed to find ways to add additional capacity to the grid and decided to make use of some idle equipment.

On site they had two 20 megawatt generating stations, measuring 18’ long x 12’ wide x 12.5’ tall and weighing 28,000 lbs. These units act as small powerhouses that supply a little extra boost when the demand on the grid is high. They were brought online in the 1970s, decommis sioned in the 1990s, and have been dormant ever since.

The project to refurbish these units went out to bid and AECI didn’t have anyone in mind for the work, but through a former co-worker of P1 Project Engineer Wade Buck, P1 got the recommendation, and subsequently joined late in the bidding process.

According to Electrical Preventive Maintenance Manager Jeff Gardner, it was a herculean effort just to assemble the bid.

“There were a lot of components that needed pricing in addition to a plan for execution and a project schedule. We relied on a lot of internal resources to help with that,” Jeff said.

Jeff also mentioned that one of the key factors for being awarded the project was having the support of experienced negotiators, including P1 Vice President Tony Whited, P1 Vice President Rusty Roderick, and P1 Service President Phil Nehring.

“It was great to see them in action and see how they got excited for an Electrical Preventative Maintenance (EPM) opportunity,” Jeff noted.

“It was clear they have been through many negotiations like this before, so it was a unique learning opportunity for Wade and myself.”

And P1 dazzled the customer, earning us the bid.

Once the contract was secured, the first order of business was to get the units moved into the Lenexa warehouse. Due to the size and weight of the units, Belger Cartage Service was used to pick the units off of a trailer with a crane and roll them into the warehouse.

After the units arrived on site, a detailed inventory of the contents was taken and catalogued, and then the contents were removed. The outer shell will be taken to a painting contractor.

The current color is gray, but it will be restored to the original sea foam green, giving it a vintage 70s flare with state-of-the art components when complete.

Pictured, right: Getting the units into the warehouse was a herculean effort according to Jeff Gardner.

Pictured, front and left: Belger Cartage Service was used to pick the units off of a trailer with a crane and roll them into the warehouse.

Jeff says a significant part of this project is the refurbishment of two very large breakers

“We wouldn’t be able to service this opportunity if we didn’t have the Breaker Shop and the staff with superb skills and expertise,” Jeff said. He says the Breaker Repair Shop, developed last year and located in the Lenexa warehouse, was a fortuitous investment because it paved the way for a big opportunity like the AECI job.

“As this project gets underway, the team is excited about it, and you see every one’s

together toward a common goal. This project really is the

sets

of

Many,

Power of One.” 

“The

The

WEIRD Thanksgiving Traditions

Turkey Toss

In Indianapolis, IN, people have started an annual tradition of dressing their turkey in a baby onesie, dousing it in lighter fluid, attaching it to a long chain, lighting it on fire, and throwing it across the length of a football field.

Black Friday

Although we are all familiar with it…why do we do it? It's basically just an excuse for people to wrestle in a Macy's parking lot over a discounted Keurig. Like Mother's Day and Valentines Day, Black Friday wasn't even a thing until Americans decided it was.

2Masking/Ragamuffin Day

In the 19th century, "masking" was a Halloween-like tradition where adults and kids alike would dress up on Thanksgiving. The tradition eventually devolved down to Ragamuffin Day, where children would dress down in rags on Thanksgiving, go door to door, and ask, "Anything for Thanksgiving?" They were rewarded with a piece of candy, a penny, or an apple. Sounds like…Halloween?

Pardoning a Turkey4

Another somewhat familiar tradition, turkey pardoning came about in 1947. A weird tradition known as the National Thanksgiving Turkey Presentation was founded under the Truman administration. However, Ronald Reagan was actually the first present to formally "pardon" one of the turkeys given to him.

A Dungeness Day

In San Francisco, CA, the usual Thanksgiving feast of turkey and stuffing is cast aside in favor of locally sourced Dungeness crab.

of these will probably happen this year, and some date back to much earlier times, but we can all agree these are some pretty bizarre Turkey Day traditions.

Project Developer Engineer Swapnil Shende grew up in the small city of Nagpur, India, where he loved playing sports from his early youth, going on to play cricket and baseball in high school.

Swapnil also loved watching robot and transformer movies, an interest which proved to be instrumental in forming his career path.

After high school, he moved to the city of Mumbai to attend the Technological Institute and study Electrical Engineering.

“I chose electrical engineering because growing up, we experienced a lot of power outages and it made me curious about the way things worked,” Swapnil said.

“I also grew up watching robot and transformer movies and they got me interested in working with robotics and power generation,” he said. “So my major was geared towards industrial robotics with electrical power and distribution.”

During school, Swapnil was working in a power plant, learning how distribution and transmission works, but knew he eventually wanted to work in the area of energy efficiency and electrical design at the building level.

He graduated from the Electrical Engineering program in 2016, and was hired as a software engineer due to proficiency with logic and programming. Working as a cross-platform application developer, he helped create applications for Android, Microsoft, and Apple phones, along with some web development.

“Coding wasn’t what I really wanted to do, but opportunities were slim at the time, so I decided to pursue graduate school in energy efficiency so I could get into that field,” Swapnil said.

He applied to universities abroad and decided on Northeastern University in Boston, Mass., where he moved in 2017.

At Northeastern, Swapnil entered the Master of Science in Systems Engineering program, specializing in energy

"I chose electrical engineering because growing up, we experienced a lot of power outages and it made me curious about the way things worked."

systems which is connected to HVAC, building energy efficiency, and energy modeling.

He graduated in December 2019, and the following months proved a difficult time to find work, with many potential employers cancelling interviews due to Covid 19.

He discovered P1 Group on LinkedIn, and applied for the position of Energy System Analyst Engineer. Human Resources called and he interviewed through video calls with P1 CEO Smitty Belcher and Vice President Dave Beebe.

He was originally hired to work in energy analytics with P1 Group’s SetMetrics energy simulation platform. While he still does some of this work, he transitioned into the position of Project Development Engineer, working with the P1 Performance Solutions Team, in February 2021.

Swapnil said what he does now is completely different than energy analytics and, according to Vice President Rusty Roderick, Swapnil is a very quick learner.

“He came in as an electrical engineer but has picked up the

fundamentals of mechanical engineering very quickly,” Rusty noted. “He has also become efficient with the auto CAD program, and has recently been an integral part of several large projects.”

Swapnil says he loves his job because of the variety of projects he has to work on.

“One day I’m designing steam boiler systems, the next day I’m doing an air distribution system for a locker room, and another day working with a health care system’s double unit installation and design,” Swapnil said.

“The diversity of all the projects I work on keeps it very interesting.”

He says that every system is different and every site and location has different parameters which keeps the work challenging.

“It keeps me motivated because I am learning new things every day but most importantly, I like taking on challenges to figure out solutions for energy efficiency and sustainability. This is how P1 gives our customers the best recommendation to solve their problems.” 

Getting Out There

Picking up and moving to another country might seem intimidating to some people, but it didn’t stop Swapnil from becoming involved and making new friends.

He is active in the Mechanical Contractors Association (MCA), and The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), and plays on several sports teams including soccer, volleyball, and softball.

“When I’m not playing sports, I like to watch them, especially European soccer, American football, and hockey,” he said.

He also makes time to spend with his girlfriend and friends, and go hiking or travel when he can.

With all of that, he’s also kept on his toes by an energetic addition to his family – Australian Shepherd “Gray”, who keeps him plenty busy.

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"One day I’m designing steam boiler systems, the next day I’m doing an air distribution system for a locker room, and another day working with a health care system’s double unit installation and design."

David

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WILLIAM CARRENO

JOSHUA CLARK

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9 SCOTT ANDRZEJEWSKI CHRIS CARR

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ADAM STEIN

10 PATRICK JOHNSON MIKE WESSEL

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LARYN WILSON KENNETH WINGENDER

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14 STEVEN EVANS NICHOLAS MILLER

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ERIC NOTT TAYLOR STEELE JOSHUA STEVENS

16 MICHAEL BRUNNING CAMERON LAMKIN ROBERT RAZO

17 DILLON CHRISTIAN KENYATTA DENSON JOSEPH ROSETTI JEFFERY SHAW TED SUPPLEE

18 JERRY CAREY STEVE GRAY DANIEL KORP

19 CHRIS BROXTERMAN NICK MICCOLI ELIJAH VERBICK

20 ERIC BAUGHER NATHAN PENDERGRAFT GAVIN VAN DYKE REBECCA VENABLE

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25 JASON KLEINSORGE

26 KYLE DILLINGHAM MICHAEL POWERS ROBERT KEITH PRUITT

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28 CHAD ANGST ROBERT BALABON

29 KYNDEL PAULSEN ROBERT SCHAEFER

30 KEVIN KIBBEE

P1 associates had a blast at the 2022 Annual Company Meeting – especially in the photo booth. Record numbers in revenue, maintenance base, and backlog were the theme of the day. Thanks to everyone who came out to share in all the good news!

You’re Reading an AWARD-WINNING newsletter: Congratulations to the P1 Marketing Team on earning an Excellence in Marketing Communications Award in the category of Internal Newsletter from the Society of Marketing Professional Services (SMPS), Kansas City Chapter. SMPSKC is made up of marketing and business development professionals from architectural, engineering, planning, interior design, construction, and specialty consulting firms throughout the Kansas City metro area.

CANStruction: P1 worked with friends from MMC and CJ Industries at a confidential jobsite to design and build a structure primarily out of canned goods. P1 associates helped the team collect canned goods for the CANstruction competition. The P1/MMC/CJ team created a “1” Team heart theme (above, left) before the cans were inadvertently knocked down by a rowdy passer-by the night before the judging. Project Manager Jason Larsen and Project Engineer Silvana Alcantara represented P1 (and the can crash aftermath). All food was ultimately donated to Feed Northland Kids.

Governor Kelly Tours Fab Shops: P1 CEO Smitty Belcher escorted Kansas Governor Laura Kelly around the P1 fabrication shops in early October. The P1 fabrication shops in Lawrence, KS, were chosen as one of several to be featured in one of the Governor’s upcoming political campaign commercials.

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HAPPENINGS

Chili Season: P1 associates prepared for the colder weather with chili cook-offs. While not all cook-offs have been completed, here are some of the winners. First place: Project Manager Jason Larsen, Lenexa; Service Coordinator Adriana Larios, Las Vegas; Sheet Metal Journeyman James Rose, Lawrence; Michelle Dunbar (General Manager Andy Dunbar’s wife), Wichita; and St. Joseph Plumbing and Heating Project Manager Josh Hayes, St. Joe. Runners-up included: VDC Specialist Joe Barajas and Electrical General Foreman Paul Groff, Lenexa; Receptionist Erica Rust, Wichita; and Shop Coordinator Terra Jones, Lawrence. Spooky Season: We were able to get a few pics in from the Halloween celebrations around P1, including Las Vegas and Lenexa. In Lenexa, HR took the Executive's Choice prize with "The Golden Girls" and Marketing took People's Choice with The "Sanderson Sisters" from Hocus Pocus. Looks like Vice President Brad Davis won "scariest" in Las Vegas...but we're not sure why.