Electrical utilities and process industries are challenged to find methods to reduce costs from the raw material conversion process to the end-user. The continued cost overruns in electrical condition, capacity, and reliability project installation categories are an area where cost control methodologies are beneficial. Stricter regulations and environmental stewardship are the impetus for the continuous improvement efforts in the capital project arena to maintain consistent and reliable sources of power and minimize cost. This chapter explores how the lean quality principles and green initiatives are applied in capital project equipment installation of electric substations and line rehabilitation from the initial feasibility studies to the plant-in-service phase. Equipment installation process predicaments induce cost overruns and unnecessary extended electrical outages as well as extraneous strain on the bulk transmission system. The overall expenditures dedicated to capital-intensive projects are generally randomly prioritized as other rehabilitation and maintenance ventures take precedence. In fact, revenue and expense data compiled from one hundred and eighty investor-owned electric utilities (Table 1) exemplify the declining operating income relative to the rising expenses.
(In millions of nominal dollars (199,967 represents $199,967,000,000))