PHOTO PROVIDED / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
DIAMOND AWARD … Bryan Municipal Utilities recently received the American Public Power Association Reliable Public Power Provider Diamond Award during the APPA Engineering and Operations Conference held March 29-April 1 in Huntsville, Alabama. Presenting the award to BMU Director of Utilities Derek Schultz (right) is Jeremy Ash (left), RP3 Review Panel Chairman, Kansas City, Kansas Board of Public Affairs General Manager.
By: John Fryman
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
john@thevillagereporter.com
Bryan Municipal Utilities (BMU) was recognized for earning the Reliable Public Power Provider Diamond designation at its Bryan Board of Public Affairs meeting held on Tuesday, April 7.
Director of Utilities Derek Schultz received the award on behalf of BMU during the American Public Power Association Engineering and Operations Conference held March 29-April 1 in Huntsville, Alabama.
The RP3 designation is held by just over 250 public power utilities nationwide over three different levels: Gold, Platinum, and Diamond, with the Diamond designation being the highest of the three.
It also recognizes excellence in key areas including reliability, safety, workforce development, and system improvement.
“I’m proud to share that we received that designation (Diamond),” said Schultz. “We also had a perfect score of 100 out of 100 on our application and being among the top utilities nationwide.
“A big thank you and a big shout out to our team that works hard every day and their commitment and professionalism and the services they provide.”
Bryan Municipal Utilities also received the APPA Certificate of Excellence in Reliability Award for 2025. The award is designed to help utilities find outage restoration data through a subscription-based reliability service.
“Each year the APPA through its reliability team compares this data to the national statistics collected by the EIA (Energy Information Administration) for all types of electric utilities,” mentioned Schultz.
“Based on the data that was provided, BMU was in the top 25 percent of utilities nationwide for the system average interruption and duration. Another kudos to the electric department.”
The board gave approval for Schultz to advertise bids to replace two transformers at the Lorntz Substation, which is located off County Road C on the south side of Bryan.
Schultz told board members that the current transformers at the substation were manufactured in 1981. They are also reaching the end of their useful life and are critical for powering the City of Bryan and its customers in and around the city.
“They are a part of a multi-year capital improvement project in which we have discussed for a number of years,” noted Schultz.
He commented that BMU has been working with Entrust Solutions Group, which is completing the transformer engineering and design work and will assist with the competitive bid specifications and selection process.
The transformer lead times are typically three to four years out, making it essential to begin a competitive bid process for this portion of the project. Schultz is hoping to secure more funding for the remainder of the project.
“The current transformers are 50 MVAs (Megavolt-Ampere) and we are looking for transformers to put out 100 MVAs, which would increase our capacity,” he added.
Schultz pointed out that the total project is probably upwards of $8 million. The project has been appropriated in the 2026 Electric Capital Budget to allocate approximately 10 percent of the transformer costs for the initial purchase order. It will include bid specifications and future payment schedules.
“Once the bids are received, Entrust Solutions Group will help us to review those and to select the best bid,” Schultz said.
“The city attorney (Marc Fishel) does have the documents right now for a final look over. Once we get his (Fishel) and BPA board approval, we look to advertise starting this Thursday (April 9) with the bid being awarded in the middle of May.”
Board member Karen Ford questioned Schultz about how long this project has been in the works. “It’s probably been close to five years ago, and we’ve been having discussions the last several years getting multiple.