Project Highlight: Control Panel Decommissioning and Upgrade

AEC Engineering recently completed Field Services at large Wastewater Treatment Plant to support the successful transition from a legacy control panel to a modern replacement, designed and built by AEC in an earlier project. For this phase of the project, AEC Engineering provided on site field services to safely decommission the original panel and migrate active field wiring and I/O into the new system. The project was led by AEC’s master electrician, Nate B, and technician Garrett P assisted with the field work.

AEC Engineering previously designed and built the new control panel at our Freeport, Maine facility, building it to the customer’s SCADA standards and UL 508A requirements. The new panel features a modern Allen Bradley CompactLogix control platform, operator touchscreen interface, UPS, surge protection, and updated operator controls. AEC also provided all the PLC programming, as well as assistance with integrating the new panel into the customer’s SCADA system.

AEC’s scope for the decommissioning of the old panel included site review, coordination with operator staff, field wiring identification and tagging, physical relocation of conduits and wiring, removal of abandoned components, and thorough testing and commissioning as each system was brought online. The project affected critical systems with limited windows of downtime, therefore work was completed with a strong focus on maintaining plant operations while ensuring a clean, well documented transition to the new control infrastructure. Unfortunately we don’t have the “before” photos but trust us, the difference between the Before and After were significant.

This project reflects AEC Engineering’s ability to deliver full end to end solutions, combining control panel design & engineering, fabrication, programming, field execution, and commissioning to support critical upgrades in live municipal infrastructure.