Deuel Vocational Institution will accept bids through Dec.

11 for a $2.5 million power substation that will supply electricity to the

prison and its still unfinished wastewater and groundwater treatment plants.

The mini power plant, paid for by the state, will take about

10 months to complete, and construction should begin late summer next year on

property near Bird Road and 11^th Street.

A PG&E plant across the road supplies the prison with 4

megawatts of power — enough for the prison alone. The new substation will

supply an additional 7.4 megawatts of energy, which will mostly power the new

water treatment plant.

“The only way we could power the new water treatment plants

was to build a new power station,” prison spokesman Ray Munoz said.