3. MOSS WILL NO DOUBT REPORT STONES' REACTIONS TO YOU. STONES
WAS CLEARLY DISAPPOINTED THAT BALFOUR BEATTY APPEAR TO HAVE BEEN CHOSEN AS PRIMARY CONTRACTORS WITHOUT ANY COMPETITION BETWEEN BRITISH FIRMS. IN ESSENCE HE MADE FIVE POINTS :-
A. WHILE HE DID NOT QUESTION BALFOUR BEATTY'S EXPERTISE AND
ABILITY TO SUPPLY TRANSMISSION CABLE, CLP HAD NO KNOWLEDGE OF THER WIDER ACTIVITIES AND SERIOUSLY DOUBTED THEIR COMPETENCE
TO CONTROL THE TOTAL ENGINEERING PACKAGE. AS THE SUPPLY OF CABLE
WAS A MINORITY PORTION OF THE TOTAL PACKAGE, HE WAS SURPRISED THAT BALFOUR BEATTY HAD BEEN CHOSEN AS MAIN CONTRACTOR.
B. HE WAS UNSURE ABOUT THE DEGREE OF COMMITMENT BY THE CEGB TO
CLP. HE SAID THAT ELECTROWATT'S EXPERIENCE OF NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE BEI ON THE CONTRACTUAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE CEGB AND CLP/PEPCO FOR THE NEW GENERATING STATION SUGGESTED THAT THERE WAS UNCERTAINTY AT SENIOR LEVELS ABOUT THE ROLE OF THE CEGB IN HMG'S PACKAGE. HE STRESSED THAT HE REMAINED IMPRESSED BY THE CEGB'S DESIGN AND ENGINEERING ABILITIES: HIS CRITICISM RELATED SOLELY TO AN APPARENT LACK OF COMMITMENT FOLLOWING SUGGESTIONS BY
CERTAIN SENIOR BEI OFFICIALS THAT THEY WERE DOING CLP A FAVOUR WHEREAS HE (STONES) MAINTAINS THAT CEGB ARE SIMPLY ALLOCATING IN-HOUSE RESOURCES TO THE GENERAL BENEFIT OF THE UK POWER PLANT
INDUSTRY.
C. HE THOUGHT THAT THE CEGB'S EXPERIENCE OF SF6 SWITCH GEAR WAS LIMITED AND REPEATED THAT HE WOULD HAVE PREFERRED THE APPOINTMENT OF A CONSULTING ENGINEER (EG KENNEDY AND DONKIN OR MERZ AND MCCLELLAN) TO DESIGN THE 400 KVA SYSTEM AND CALL FOR TENDERS. THE SPECIFICATION AND THE BIDS COULD THEN BE CHALLENGED
BY THE CEGB ON BEHALF OF CLP.
D. HE RECOGNISED THAT BALFOUR BEATTY WOULD PROBABLY BE NOMINATED BY HMG FOR THE CABLE AND OVERHEAD LINES AS CLP'S CRITICAL PATH REQUIRES AN EARLY SUBMISSION OF A BID FOR THIS SECTION OF THE SYSTEM. HE WELCOMED A HINT FROM MOSS THAT HE WOULD BE IN A POSITION TO SUBMIT A BID ON OR ABOUT MARCH 3. HE SUGGESTED THAT A ROUGH FIGURE BE CONVEYED TO HIM THROUGH ME SO THAT HE COULD GIVE AN OFF THE RECORD INDICATION OF ITS COMPATIBILITY WITH CLP'S ESTIMATE OF COMPETITIVE INTERNATIONAL PRICES. HE WAS NOT AVERSE TO SPLITTING
THE PACKAGE IN THIS WAY.
E. ALTHOUGH NOT STRICTLY RELEVANT TO OUR TRANSMISSION BID, STONES
COMPLAINED THAT BOTH GEC AND REYROLLE HAD DECLINED TO SUBMIT BIDS FOR CLP'S TENDER FOR 132 KV SF6 SWITCHGEAR.
4. BOTH MOSS AND I DID OUR BEST TO REASSURE STONES ABOUT BALFOUR BEATTY'S TOTAL ENGINEERING CAPABILITIES. IF WE GO AHEAD
WITH THE NOMINATION OF BALFOUR BEATTY AS PRIME CONTRACTORS, THEY
HAVE TO MOUNT" A CRASH PRESENTATION DROODAIME TO CODRECK THE