fort collins electric utility ieee april 28, 2009

FORT COLLINS ELECTRIC UTILITY

IEEE

APRIL 28, 2009

Fort Collins Electric Utility FACTS

Area – Approximately 53.4 square miles

Population - Approximately 137,200

Customers – 63,900

Avg Electric Bill (700kwh)- $50.66

Peak Electric Use – 285.2 MW

Fort Collins Electric Utility DATA SHEET

Distribution Substations: 6 Underground Cable: 808 Circuit miles Percent of Primary System UG: 99.4% Percent of Services Underground: 98.4% Average System Availability (ASAI)-Percent

of time power is on: 99.9981% Average Outage Duration (SAIDI): 10.04

minutes

History of Underground Program

1948 - Pilot program to install underground system in 78-home subdivision

1948-1967 - Underground construction at developer option

1968 - Council mandates that all new installations be underground

1969 - Fiberglass vault successfully tested

1986 - Surplus of Reserves

1989- Recommendation to accelerate and expand program to a 15 year program to place all services underground based on:

Safety/Liability

Reliability

Economic Factors

Aesthetic Factors

Reliability Factors

Economic Factors

Aesthetics #1

Aesthetics #2

Aesthetics #3

Current Status

Program completed in 2006

$1-2 million per year – roughly 2.9% of

total budget

Have converted 7,200 services at a cost

of $25, 425,161 (avg. $3,531 each)

Common Obstacles

Conflicts with other utilities Conflicts with other City Departments Phone lines still aerial Installation delays after design

complete

Lessons Learned

Conduit backbones no longer used Flowfill used with discretion No longer converted services “on

demand” Shorter time between design and

construction Dedicate staff member to design Coordination with other dept/utilities

What Worked?

Council Support Customer Support Funds Available Increased value to customers Increased reliability – no storm

related outages since 2007

Questions????