[Addressed to L-169 BM-ST Bob Hutsell] — Consumers Energy’s Major Projects & Construction (MP&C) leadership . . . congratulates you on your excellent work during the J.H. Campbell Unit 1 boiler outage. Your results in the area of safety and quality were world class!
Our . . . outage, at 88 days, was longer than normal. The duration was based on the complexity and scope of the outage. As you know, 100 tons of boiler parts were cut out, rigged, and removed only to be replaced with new parts. In addition, a complete asbestos abatement of the penthouse was performed, with 12 dumpsters or approximately 10,000 bags of asbestos-containing materials removed. The new boiler parts and the asbestos-free areas set the stage for over 5,100 pressure welds. Completing this hazardous work safely, with approximately 200,000 craft-hours without an occupational or environmental incident, is outstanding. With respect to quality, one of our measures was the reject rate goal for tangent tube welds. We established an aggressive 5% reject rate. Boilermakers, both local and travelers, led by Local 169, not only accepted this goal but went beyond expectations, completing all welds with a remarkable reject rate of 3.44%.
Consumers Energy considers this outage a great success. Despite a cold winter and many challenges with work coordination, the team managed to complete the boiler outage scope ahead of schedule. The real success story here will be how well J.H. Campbell Unit 1 operates going forward. Based on current performance, we are very optimistic. Another important key to your success is that the work you performed did not challenge the operations of J.H. Campbell Units 2 and 3 or other balance-of-plant operating systems. As you know, our customers expect value for their hard-earned money. Your efforts help us continue to provide reliable, predictable, and low-cost electric generation.
The above-described performance starts with the right skills, technology, and work habits. The [tripartite approach through the Mobilization, Optimization, Stabilization, and Training (MOST) fund] was evident on our project. The MOST team assigned to our J.H. Campbell Unit 1 boiler project was instrumental in maintaining great safety performance, and for that we thank them.
We look forward to continued strong working relationships in the spirit of tripartite.
“We can’t make it without you!”
RICHARD B. CASPER
Manager of Construction, West
MATTHEW R. RAY
Project Manager, Unit 1 Boiler Outage
Consumers Energy
