HomeMy WebLinkAboutIR 10558INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 21-10558
To the Mayor and Members of the City Council April 6, 2021
Page 1 of 2 SUBJECT: CITY OF FORT WORTH CRITICAL LOAD FACILITIES
ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS
The purpose of this report is to provide information to the City Council regarding the City facilities
designated as Critical Load Public Safety or Critical Load Industrial Customer (Non-Residential)
Status pursuant to Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) Substantive Rule 25.497.
The City’s Critical Load facilities include the following:
Public Safety Facility Count
Major Telephone Switches / Central
Office/911 Center 13
Police Stations 13
Police Investigative and Support Under Review
Fire Station 45
Major Airport 3
Distribution System 19
Eagle Mountain Water Treatment Plant
(WTP)9
Field Operations 3
Holly WTP Complex 6
Water Treatment Plants 2
Collection System 7
Village Creek Water Reclamation
Facility 1
Spinks AP Beacon, Meacham IAP Fuel Farm, Meacham IAP Control Tower
Complex, Peak Flow Basin
Lift Stations
Rolling Hills WTP & Central Lab; Westside WTP
Facility Description
Water & Sewer
Radio Services - Chapin Rd, Eagle Mountain, Radio Services - Holly South
(Fournier), Radio Services - Rolling Hills (Tower), Radio Services - Trinity
Blvd; Joint-Use - City Hall & Service Bldg., Joint-Use - Public Safety &
Courts
Operations -Fire Stations, Admin.Bldgs.
Patrol & Crime Control and Prevention District, Shared facilities-Bob
Bolen Public Safety Training Complex - Admin.Bldg., Operations-
Communications ; Crime Investigations
Crime Laboratory I&S - Forensic Science
Emergency Flood Pump Station, Filter Gallery / Welding Shop, Raw Water
- Clear Fork Pump Station, Raw Water - Lake Worth Intake, SCADA
Building, Sub-Station – Middle, Sub-station – North, Sub-station - South
Telecommunications Bldg. (IT Solutions)
Electric Building & Raw Water Pump Stations
Pump stations, tanks, valves vaults, wells
The PUCT guidelines say that in order to be designated as a Critical Load Public Safety
Customer or a Critical Load Industrial Customer, the customer (the City) must notify the
Transmission Distribution Utility (TDU, in our case Oncor). To be eligible for the protections
provided under this section, the customer must have a determination of eligibility pending with or
approved by the TDU. All of the facilities listed above have been designated and approved as
critical load facilities except the Crime Lab on East Lancaster Avenue. This facility was added to
our list in 2020, and is still under review by Oncor at this time.
INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 21-10558
To the Mayor and Members of the City Council April 6, 2021
Page 2 of 2 SUBJECT: CITY OF FORT WORTH CRITICAL LOAD FACILITIES
ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS
With a Critical Load designation, Oncor must notify the City’s designated staff of power
interruptions or suspensions to those facilities. Designation of Critical Load does not guarantee
an uninterrupted supply of electricity. It is the responsibility of the Retail Customer (the City) to
make arrangements for alternative sources of electric power should a localized outage or load
shed event occur.
On-Site Power Generation
The vast majority of our designated Critical Load Facilities have permanent backup power
generation capabilities. For the designated critical public safety facilities, there are stationary
generators at all facilities except the Bob Bolen complex and three Police facilities. Property
Management Department has five mobile generators to augment critical facilities as needed.
There are also 12 other City facilities with fixed generators that are not classified as critical public
safety facilities. The ability of the generator to maintain all circuits varies from building to building.
Most facilities such as fire stations have generators to run only critical circuits such as lights,
refrigerators, and communication equipment. These generators are most often not big enough to
run the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems. For water and sewer critical
infrastructure, Water Department has 32 stationary generators and five mobile generators.
During the deep cold cycle that recently impacted the power grid, some of our generators, both
diesel and natural gas, had trouble getting started. For diesel generators, the most common
problem was gelled fuel. For natural gas generators, the most common problem was frozen
regulators. Many generators were able to start without assistance, but others required portable
heaters to be used to get them operational. Corrective action will be taken to look at best
practices for northern climates that use diesel fuel additives to prevent gelling, and insulation and
preheat options for natural gas regulators. Water is also evaluating options to improve
operational reliability to its water treatment and pumping facilities, beyond dual power feeds from
the electrical distribution system, to include dedicated substations from high voltage transmission
service, automatic switching between electrical feeders, and diesel and natural gas power
generation.
Working with the Joint Emergency Operations Center (JEOC), the most critical public safety
facilities, such as the 911 Call Center, receive top priority when services are impacted. Fire
stations are also at the top of this list. Property Management Department responds to the public
safety critical facilities, and Water Department responds to the water and sewer critical facilities.
During the deep cold cycle, the JEOC coordinated sharing of resources between departments to
ensure that the City met the goals of the Emergency Operation Plan to maintain continuity of
operations and to ensure all City departments maintain capacity to restore and conduct their
mission essential functions.
For any questions concerning this report, contact Steve Cooke, Property Management Director,
817-392-5134, or Juanita Rigsby, Energy Manager, 817-392-8518.
David Cooke
City Manager