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Consultants tell Tomball council $33M in gas projects would reduce outage risk
Summary
Engineered Utility Solutions presented a natural gas master plan modeling a 25% growth case and recommended a package of capital projects — including a new City Gate 4 and interconnects — to reduce critical-pressure outages; consultants estimated a roughly $33 million program and urged pursuing grants and phased implementation.
City consultants from Engineered Utility Solutions told the Tomball City Council on Dec. 1 that the city's natural gas distribution system is adequate for current loads but vulnerable under peak winter conditions, particularly if the North City Gate loses supply.
Diana Perosa and Jeff Rogers presented phase two of a master plan that sets a baseline system delivery of 180 MCF per hour and models a 25% growth scenario (225 MCF per hour). Using historical peak events, consultants showed maps where, if the Northgate station goes offline, large parts of the system would drop into critical pressure ranges that could prevent burners from relighting and leave customers without service.
To address the vulnerability, consultants prioritized 24 capital improvement projects and singled out three as highest priority: a new City Gate 4 (a new supply point connected to a large trunk line), a Grand Parkway interconnect to tie the Grand Parkway City Gate into the city system, and a Zion/Smith interconnect to fortify northern supply. "With City Gate 4, the risk improvement that you gain ... you don't have to worry about upstream affecting us anymore," one consultant said, noting the city would be tied to a stronger trunk-line supply.
Consultants estimated the full program at roughly $33 million phased across years; they recommended prioritizing projects by function (system strengthening, resilience, growth) and pursuing grants to offset costs. Council members asked how the city would recover costs; consultants said rate-structure changes, differentiated tiers for large commercial users and amortization into rates are typical tools, but noted the city's enterprise fund bundles water, gas and sewer and that financial modeling would be needed.
No formal vote followed the presentation; staff said they will continue to refine project phasing and pursue funding opportunities.
