Title
Energy Supply Department of Gainesville Regional Utilities Request to Add Permanent GRU Staff For Direct Operation of the Deerhaven Renewable Plant (NB)
Explanation
Under the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) between GRU and the former Gainesville Renewable Energy Center (GREC), staffing for the plant was supplied by North American Energy Services (NAES). When GRU bought out of the PPA in November 2017, and renamed the plant Deerhaven Renewable (DHR), GRU management felt it was prudent to continue staffing the plant with the existing NAES employees due to the specialized knowledge and skills required to operate the plant. Staff therefore requested and received approval from the City Commission to enter a contract with NAES for one year. In September 2018, the City Commission gave GRU permission to amend the contract to allow NAES to continue operation for an additional year while GRU management created a plan to transition the facility to staffing with GRU employees. The current contract does allows for termination of the contract with 60 days’ notice to NAES to facilitate transition. Approval of these positions will allow GRU to hire employees into permanent positions as positions become open through attrition, retirement or termination, and to decrease the overhead costs of the third party. GRU is working with the City Human Resources on the optimal methodology for considering DHR NAES employees for GRU employment. It is in the City’s best interest to retain an experienced level of employees who have working knowledge on the operation and maintenance of the facility to maintain safety and reliability of our newest generating unit.
GRU is seeking approval to staff directly with GRU employees to decrease the overhead costs of having a third party directly oversee its operation. This will allow GRU to operate DHR as GRU operates all the other generating units in GRU’s ownership.
Staff requests approval to create 38 GRU Energy Supply positions for DH...
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