Volunteer group urges microgrid at Public Safety Building and resilient fiber choices

A community volunteer asked the commission to prioritize resilience investments, including battery storage at the Public Safety Building and attention to the proposed city fiber service's outage performance.

Hamilton, an online speaker who identified himself with Palo Alto Emergency Services Volunteers, said the Public Safety Building (PSP), which houses 911, the police department and the emergency operations center, currently has 72 hours of generator backup and an adjacent solar array. He asked the city to reinstate previously planned battery storage, which was removed for budget reasons, arguing lithium‑iron‑phosphate (LFP) battery systems are now safer and more affordable and would extend backup duration beyond 72 hours.

Hamilton also urged the city to ensure any city‑offered fiber service can match AT&T's passive fiber resilience; he said AT&T's network stayed online for at least 72 hours during past outages on the condition that residents keep their local modems powered. He asked staff how long city fiber huts and fiber infrastructure would remain powered in a full city outage.

Utility staff acknowledged the earlier battery removal for budget reasons and said restoring battery storage could extend PSP backup. Staff also provided a general fiber‑to‑the‑premises update: a secured "fiber hut" will be located at Colorado substation and contractor mobilization was planned in October. Staff did not provide a multi‑day powered guarantee for fiber huts during a full city outage during the meeting.

The comment closed with staff agreement to consider the volunteer group's questions as part of resilience planning and future briefings.