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Fremont utility manager outlines major power, water and gas projects in CIP
Summary
Utility Manager Jeff Shanahan presented the utilities’ CIP priorities, including an EPA-required effluent project (~$2.6M), a scheduled rewind of the critical Unit 8 generator, replacement of aging ash-water pipes, a distribution transformer on order with NPPD, an AMI meter rollout and a proposed $15M well field with lead-service-line replacement estimated at $8M (with substantial federal/state reimbursement).
Utility Manager Jeff Shanahan presented the utilities portion of the draft Capital Improvement Plan, identifying projects the utility expects to prioritize through the five-year cycle and describing timing, dependencies and funding implications.
Shanahan said the city is completing an EPA-required effluent limitation guidelines (ELG) installation and expects final commissioning in late fall; the project will carry a remaining payment of approximately $2.6 million. He described Unit 8 — installed in 1978 — as the utility’s most critical asset for regional voltage support and said a generator stator rewind is scheduled, with timing adjusted because another unit experienced a boiler-tube failure.
Other production needs include replacing decades-old ash-water transport piping that has experienced erosion and leaks, and a 50-ton emergency black-start generator that will be evaluated alongside a larger generation study. On the distribution side, Shanahan said the utility has an OPD–NPPD transformer on order and is pursuing substation and switchgear upgrades (substation G) to rebalance load across the system. A $1.9 million grid-resiliency grant will fund relocation of a transmission line to reduce the risk that a single event would remove two-thirds of the city’s interconnect capacity.
Shanahan described an AMI (advanced metering infrastructure) meter replacement program to modernize customer interactions and storm response. He also testified about a potential ~20-megawatt generating unit under study (options include reciprocating engines or aeroderivative turbines) to address accreditation and capacity margins as demand grows.
On water, Shanahan said a proposed well-field project (horizontal-well option under study) could provide roughly 10–13 million gallons per day of peak capacity and is currently estimated near $15 million. He also detailed a lead service-line replacement program, estimated at about $8 million overall, with state and federal reimbursement programs covering about 60–70% of eligible costs and a long-term low-interest loan for the remainder; staff plan a staged, block-by-block replacement with homeowner notification and contractor mobilization.
On natural gas, Shanahan said the city will pursue host-system upgrades to raise allowable pressure and add peak-shaving capacity (propane-air plant) at a second border station to improve winter reliability. He raised that warehouse and customer-service building renovations are planned and currently under architectural assessment.
Shanahan and council members answered technical questions about contingency and post-contingency transformer ratings, the benefits of relocating transmission lines for resiliency, and tradeoffs in different generation options. No utility-related votes were taken at the meeting.
