Upgrading a Natural Gas Utility Operator’s Outdated Infrastructure

Evaluating design, supply, installation, and commissioning activities in an international dispute

When a natural gas utility operator initiated arbitral proceedings against a contractor hired to upgrade its vast, aging infrastructure, disagreements arose regarding the project's execution, costs, and alleged delays. Ģ��tv was asked to provide an arbitral tribunal with an independent expert assessment of certain design, supply, installation, and commissioning activities.

The Challenge

The utility operator contracted a third-party entity to complete key, sequenced tasks related to:

Corrosion control, including upgrading the cathodic protection system (CPS) for more than 1,000 miles of buried pipeline
Communication capabilities, including designing and implementing a new, enterprise-wide supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system
Power transmission, including modifications to the operator's power transmission line (PTL) network to achieve higher service reliability.

After work commenced and was well underway, the operator — alleging defects and delays on the part of the contractor — sought to terminate the contract before the completion of the work.

A dispute ensued around purported deficiencies and contract interpretation issues, with a focus on whether the contractor received sufficient information and data to complete the work.

Ģ��tv's multidisciplinary Solution

Combining expertise in materials and corrosion engineering, electrical engineering and computer science, and quantum analysis, Ģ��tv's multidisciplinary team assessed information and data made available to the contractor and evaluated impacts on project expenditures.

To assist the tribunal in understanding the issues at hand, Ģ��tv's team leveraged industry experience supporting natural gas utility operators with their CPS design and operation. This included providing expert opinions on what data and information the operator would be expected to provide about their preexisting infrastructure to permit the design, supply, installation, and commissioning of an upgraded CPS. The analysis included comparing the documentation that had been provided against the required standards and regulations governing CPS documentation.
The Ģ��tv team provided expert opinions on the SCADA system design and the extent to which the works had progressed under the contract on a detailed evaluation of engineering schematics, drawings, and photographs, as well as addressing contentions surrounding integrated factory acceptance testing.
As with the upgraded CPS, Ģ��tv's team evaluated what information and data a natural gas utility operator would reasonably be expected to provide to a contractor about their preexisting infrastructure to enable design, supply, installation, and commissioning of PTL modifications. The analysis involved evaluating multiple proposed PTL designs to assess their consistency with the relevant technical and reliability requirements.

Ģ��tv's Impact

Ģ��tv's interdisciplinary expert team brought a unique breadth and depth of technical and quantum expertise while providing exceptional value to our client. We assisted the arbitral tribunal in understanding the complexities involved in upgrading specific aspects of a natural gas utility network, facilitating their task of adjudicating submissions from both parties, and rendering an outcome that remained unchallenged at the conclusion of the proceedings.

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