Gresham Wastewater Treatment Plant Receives Project of the Year Award! 

In the May edition of Peterson's internal newsletter InSIGHT, we ran an article titled, “Gresham Wastewater Plant and Peterson Power Team Up to Achieve Net-Zero Goal.” The Gresham Wastewater Treatment plant, with the help of Peterson Power, embarked on a groundbreaking project to bring their net energy usage to 0 kilowatts.

Through the use of anaerobic digesters that turn wastewater into methane gas by means of a bacterial reaction, the Gresham Wastewater plant began producing its own fuel, which was then fed into two Cat G3508 generators. These generators then provide power back to the plant for further wastewater processing. The combination of this cogeneration system with solar panels also installed on the site provide the Gresham Wastewater Treatment plant with 100% of the power needed to keep the plant open.

What’s even more exciting is the fact that further reductions in the power usage of the plant are providing the opportunity for the Gresham Wastewater Treatment plant to become a power provider themselves! Now, wastewater, which was once a problem that the plant solved on a day to day basis, has become a renewable resource all to its own!

The promising developments in this project have not gone unnoticed. Recently, the Gresham Wastewater plant received a Project of the Year award from the Oregon Public Works Department. This award recognizes the monumental achievement reached by the Gresham Wastewater Treatment Plant in reaching net zero energy usage. A quote from the American Public Works Association Oregon Chapter reads as follows:

As the Pacific Northwest’s first energy net zero Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) and one of only a handful in the U.S., the Gresham WWTP is getting national and international attention. As such, it is helping to promote the use of this reproducible technology. It is estimated that only eight percent of WWTPs in the United States with anaerobic digestion generate electricity or hot water as a renewable energy resource. According to the U.S. EPA up to 400 MW of additional renewable electrical power could be generated with the installation of cogen units (or other combined heat and power systems) at facilities where it is currently feasible. 400 MW of biogas-based renewable energy would prevent approximately three million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually, equivalent to the emissions of approximately 596,000 passenger vehicles (U.S. EPA Combined Heat and Power Partnership, 2011). 

While the success of this project was due to the efforts of many partners, Peterson Power played a pivotal role in the installation and setup of the two Cat G3508 cogenerators that provide 800 kilowatts of renewable power. These units are the heart of the Gresham Wastewater Treatment Plant’s renewable energy project, and their successful operation is a fitting example of the hard work put in by the Peterson Power team to provide reliable power in some of the world’s most challenging circumstances!

For more details about the project, click here!

Peterson Trucks Moves Used Trucks Facility to 2595 Alvarado Street, San Leandro

San Leandro, CA — Peterson Trucks, a division of Peterson Holding Co., has moved its used trucks facility to 2595 Alvarado Street in San Leandro. The San Leandro lot has been the base of operations for Peterson Idealease, the rental and lease arm of Peterson Trucks, for several months. This facility replaces Peterson’s former location off of Highway 880 in Oakland

Steve Sundberg, General Sales Manager for Peterson Trucks, commented on the reasons for the move: “We want to give our customers the opportunity to take full advantage of our range of services. Now, fleet managers can come to a single location, view our used truck inventory as well as our rental and lease vehicles, and make the decision that best fits their business strategy. And the new lot is right around the corner from our International truck dealership, and parts and service center.”

Additionally, Peterson Trucks’ new facility is next door to Peterson Cat’s earthmoving sales and service facility, and is only a few blocks from Peterson Power Systems, which offers generator sales, rentals, and service. “We’re a one-stop shop,” Sundberg explained. “We have virtually any piece of equipment our customers might need, the technicians to fix it, and the parts to maintain it. And on top of that, we have purchase, rental, and lease options to fit a range of business plans.”

Peterson Trucks’ Executive VP and GM, Larry MacDonald elaborated on the advantages of moving Peterson’s Used Truck Center: “We’re now in a position to offer used trucks from our own lease and rental fleet. This means our technicians have been maintaining the vehicles since we acquired them, and it’s in our best interest to keep them in pristine condition. In short, we can assure that our used truck customers are getting a quality product.”

About Peterson
Peterson has been a family-owned Caterpillar dealer for seventy-five years. The Peterson family of companies serves over one hundred thousand square miles of the American West with an expansive line of equipment: Caterpillar machinery and on-highway trucks, International trucks, agricultural equipment, rental equipment, portable and stationary diesel-powered generators, natural gas turbines, air compressors, and advanced equipment guidance systems. With more than forty locations throughout northern California, Oregon, and southwestern Washington, Peterson employs over one thousand employees. For more information about Peterson Idealease, visit www.petersonidealease.com.

Peterson Power Provides Project Management and Engineering for Projects Big and Small, from Start to Finish!

In 2009, the single largest piece of gear that Peterson Power Systems ever sold was delivered: a fully self contained electrical switchgear building measuring over fifty feet long, sixteen feet wide, and sixteen feet tall. The unit weighed nearly one hundred thousand pounds, and was the primary piece of equipment in a multimillion dollar electrical upgrade project for the City of San Francisco’s Water Department.

Naturally, equipment this big doesn’t just walk itself onto a site. Before this unit arrived on the job, its contract was received (with all Ts crossed and Is dotted), the terms and conditions of the job were thoroughly negotiated, work schedules were reviewed and accepted… And then the whole thing was sent to upper management for approval. Finally, with ink dry on all the necessary signatures, the job was handed to the Project Management team. This was when the fun started.

Beginning in March 2009, the Project Management team worked to get the project off the ground. This meant organizing engineering meetings, visiting the site, and preparing preliminary coordination and arc flash hazard study reports.

A project of this magnitude calls for us to create many documents, both electronically and in print; the submittal review and approval process of these documents begins early in the project’s life and can continue right to the point of delivery. Several meetings with the customer and vendors help to expedite the process and reduce the paper volleys.

In any project, this portion of the job keeps the Project Managers and Project Engineers fully engaged until all questions are answered and all submittals approved. This project relied heavily on guidance from our now retired Chief Engineer Steve Cushman. In mid-June 2009, the customer’s equipment was released for production.

Part of the Project Management team’s job is to monitor production of the gear to insure an on-time delivery, avoid any liquidated damages, and arrange shipments to packagers as needed. As you can probably imagine, this requires constant vigilance with our vendors.

In the months that followed the initial release for production of the equipment, the team made numerous trips to various manufacturers around the country to observe testing of the unit’s components: In September, we visited a factory in Bland, VA with the customer to witness a test of the system’s utility tie 15kv transformer. Later in September, we joined the customer for a visit to a factory in Portland, OR to witness testing of the system’s utility tie 15kv switchgear. Also in September, we went to Atlanta, GA with the customer to witness a test of the unit’s paralleling switchgear (and flew into Atlanta during a major storm and flood!) Returning from Atlanta we stopped in Houston, TX (without the customer this time) to inspect the enclosure manufacturer’s progress and arrange shipment of paralleling switchgear and other components to the packager. Finally, in November, we returned to Houston with the customer to witness a test of the finished product.

On December 7, 2009, the unit was ready to ship; however, due to its size, it required a special permit and Highway Patrol escort through each state to travel from Houston to San Leandro. The five-state, 1,900-mile trip took two weeks of travel (at restricted speeds and hours of operation). The project management team monitored the truck’s route and progress on a daily basis.

The unit was delivered to Bigge Crane yard and reloaded for delivery to the customer’s site on December 21. The customer inspected it at Bigge on the 22nd, and was delivered on December 27—four days ahead of our December 31 deadline. Considering all the potential for delays in manufacturing and transportation, four days of breathing room was still cutting it close.

With the primary scope of the project completed, a substantial amount of upgrade modifications to the existing generators was completed by our Service Department over the next year. Throughout this entire process, the Project Management team kept detailed records of any changes made to the system, and provided the customer complete operation and maintenance manuals for everything Peterson Power Systems provided them.

Even in today’s electronic age the job isn’t finished until the paperwork is done—and, as you can see, the Project Management team will be involved from start to finish!

New Product Link Capabilities Include Mobile Application and Productivity Functionality

Source: cat.com

Caterpillar recently announced the availability of a new version of VisionLink: version 2.7. VisionLink is the Trimble-powered software that interfaces with Product Link, the performance and maintenance monitoring system installed on many Cat machines. Updates to VisionLink in version 2.7 include a multi-platform mobile user interface, a payload-tracking system for wheel loaders and off-highway trucks, and the ability to schedule automated delivery of VisionLink reports.

The new Vision Link mobile application is available for the iOS, BlackBerry, Android, and Windows mobile operating systems. It allows users to view the location of Product Link-equipped assets on a map, track scheduled services for their equipment, view fault codes and open alerts, and access idle, working and runtime… All through their smartphone!

Vision Link 2.7 also includes a payloadmonitoring system for wheel loaders and off-highway trucks equipped with payload-management systems capable of interacting with Vision Link. Managers of these machines can now use Vision Link to remotely monitor information such as total payload moved per day and total payload per hour and per unit of fuel. This new integration adds to VisionLink’s current productivity capabilities, which include the ability to track load counts and cycle times based on switch and machine movement input, as well as advanced integration with onboard grade control systems to enable detailed monitoring of earthmoving, grading and finishing projects.

Finally, version 2.7 of VisionLink now provides users the ability to schedule delivery of daily, weekly and monthly reports in advance. These reports are delivered via email to email addresses prespecified by the fleet management.

Join us at EUCI Oil and Gas Conference

Peterson Power will be at the EUCI conference in Dallas, TX on June 24-25, 2013. The title of this year’s conference is “Supplying Electricity for Oil and Gas Operations,” and the event will feature talks on latest power solutions available to oil and gas producers. Peterson will be extending a 15% discount on registration fees to its clients.

As a provider of rental and refurbished Solar turbines - and Cat natural gas generator sets - Peterson Power will be at this year’s conference to discuss mobile power units to meet the needs of the oil and gas sector. As a total solutions provider, Peterson has extensive experience in designing and engineering power projects in the remote locations that are often the sites of natural gas and oil extraction. We offer a range of services such as turbine rental, transportation, setup, training, fuel handling.

Join us at the conference to learn more. If you are a Peterson Power client and would like to receive a 15% discount on your registration fee, contact Vern Booth at cvbooth@petersonpower.com 

Or learn more about Peterson’s power solutions at http://bit.ly/ZVA3Cm

Peterson Cat is now your Soucy Track Dealer

Wondering what Soucy Tracks can do for your ag equipment? Peterson Cat would like you to find out!

As the new authorized Soucy Track dealer throughout our Oregon and southwest Washington territory, we’ll be hosting an open house with a BBQ lunch to give our customers the opportunity to learn about these revolutionary track systems.

Join us on one of the date below:

June 5, 11:30am
30815 Highway 34 SW
Albany, OR

Note: Our Soucy Track event on June 6 in Salem has been cancelled.

What are Soucy Tracks?
Soucy Track is a manufacturer of rubber track systems used to improve flotation, traction, and comfort for wheeled ag equipment like tractors, combines, and sprayers. The system uses an ingenious arrangement to turn each wheel on a machine into an individual track, thus combining the reduced footprint and improved soil compaction of a track machine with the maneuverability of a wheeled machine. Learn more…

Looking for a Career? Think Diesel

by Jim Knowles, Managing Editor of the San Leandro Times

The following article, which ran in the San Leandro Times on March 21, provides a number of reasons why a career in diesel would be worth pursing for a motivated student.

When Clint graduates from college he won’t have to wait around for the economy to recover. Most likely, if he studies and learns his stuff in the one- or two-year program, there will be a job waiting for him - a job that pays better than most recent college grads can expect. Clint is going to diesel college. The current high school student will go to Universal Technical Institute (UTI) in Sacramento in June to learn to be a diesel technician.

“I graduate from high school on June 13 and I start at UTI in June,” said Clint, a driven young man who works two jobs while going to high school and hopes to buy his mom a house someday. Clint and around thirty other students came to a career day on Saturday, March 9, at Peterson Cat in San Leandro, a joint program by Peterson and UTI to show students the opportunities open to them in diesel mechanics.

Several of Peterson’s mechanics were on-hand to speak and answer questions and talk honestly about the field, both the good and the bad. It’s tough work that isn’t for everybody, but a hard-working mechanic not only is well paid, he can get lots of overtime and travel—a lot of jobs are in Antarctica, Alaska, Guam, and around the South Pacific: remote places that need diesels to run generators for electricity.

“This day and age it’s all about electricity,” Peterson Trucks Service Manager Ted Fleming told the students. “All backup electricity runs off generators. If you want to work hard, you got a job.” Right here in the Bay Area, a lot of businesses need backup generators run by diesels: hospitals, TV and radio stations, supermarkets, and computer Companies... Any operation that can’t afford to lose power.

“Not all the diesels come into the shop in trucks and tractors. Diesel mechanics have to go where the generators are—on the tops of buildings, for instance—to do what they call field work, which means plenty of overtime.

“There’s a need for mechanics right now, and that will only grow in the future,” Fleming said. “As the economy comes back, there will be a huge demand for people in this industry.”

And diesel mechanics isn’t an old-fashioned occupation. It’s as computerized as any field these days. The first thing a technician does is hook up a computer to the diesel. Industrial-strength Dell laptops are on stands all around Peterson’s shop, ready for use. “The technology is always advancing, so you’re constantly going to school to learn each new technology that comes out,” Fleming told the students. “Mechanics have to know how to figure it out on their own, to diagnose the problem and fix it,” said Joseph Junta, a technician at Peterson.

Junta later led a group through the shop, where truck and tour buses sat waiting to have their engines pulled out and repaired. All the new diesels are equipped with special filters to reduce emissions. The filters are then healed to bum off the particles, Junta explained. Of course, these new filters have problems and need repairs, but that’s more work for diesel technicians.

“The pay is hourly, not a flat rate for each job, so there is no incentive to rush or cut comers; it’s more important to do the job right,” Junta told the students. “The job is a combination of working with everybody as a team and being able to solve it on your own,” he said. Junta said he did well by taking the jobs that nobody else wanted to do. Repairing RVs is tough because the engines are hard to get to, and the owners don’t want the inside of their vehicles to get dirty. So Junta said he volunteered to take every RV that came in. “I decided to take the jobs nobody else wanted and that paid off,” Junta said.

To learn more about pursuing a job with Peterson, visit http://www.petersoncat.com/employment.