A look back at 2011

Throughout 2011 all departments made significant upgrades and improvements to our system. Even with decreases in our total operations budgets over the past two years, together we have managed to complete scheduled work plans systemwide for reliability and have expanded our natural gas and telecom services to reach additional customers.

With our vision focused on enhancing utility services, we have accomplished the following in 2011:

• Constructed a secondary gas supply line across the Elk River to provide an alternate source of natural gas to customers who live in the southeast portion of our system. This line consisted of roughly two miles of six-inch steel high pressure main on Winchester Highway and 6.5 miles of six-inch Polyethylene main on Rambo and Lees Creek roads. In addition, we built the new Kelso Natural Gas Regulator Station which allows us to backfeed 30 psi to the Industrial Park on Winchester Highway if a problem arises with the primary gas feed.

• Upgraded 2.45 miles of electric three-phase conductor on Elora Road for redundancy.

• Upgraded 1.5 miles of three-phase conductor and replaced numerous poles and transformers in Petersburg to improve service and reduce losses.

• Transferred electric circuit 2-4 from the Brogan Avenue Substation to a new circuit installed at the Hamilton Substation to improve system reliability. This circuit supplies power to those who live north of Fayetteville.

• Converted 2.2 miles of single-phase line to three-phase power to accommodate the solar collection site built at 564 Old Huntsville Road.

• Implemented the dewatering process for biosolid disposal at the FPU Wastewater Treatment Plant after voluntarily discontinuing the land application process.

• Completed underground camera inspections and smoke testing of sewer lines in the Laten Bottom area. This area includes Radio City, Twin Oaks, Bagley Drive, Markham Drive, the area near the Fayetteville Country Club, many of the avenues and parts of William D. Jones Boulevard. In these areas we continue to monitor flow and check for infiltration during heavy rains. We plan to continue sewer line inspections and repairs in the Laten Bottom area to enhance service.

• Continued to expand our cable TV, Internet and digital phone service in areas of new construction in Park City.

• Upgraded the Prospect and Eufala Regulator Stations to ensure safety and pressure of natural gas service.

• Completed a natural gas system expansion along L Mitchell Road that included roughly 2.1 miles of two-inch Polyethylene main and 1,400 feet of four-inch Polyethylene main.

• Worked diligently with local contractors, investors, and the Tennessee Valley Authority through the Generation Partners program to help bring solar power collection sites to Lincoln County.

• Moved a step closer in constructing the new Water Treatment Plant. We expect the new plant to be operational by 2013.
Aside from system upgrades, other important goals were reached in fiscal year 2010-2011.

In 2010, FPU held a 1.68 hours per customer for outage duration. This is well below the national standard of 5 hours per customer. This alone is a notable accomplishment for our electric department that serves nearly 18,000 customers.

FPU’s Water Treatment Plant continues to record well-below the daily allowable standards for water turbidity. (Turbidity is the condition of suspended matter such as dirt and other particles in drinking water.) Daily turbidity levels of the FPU drinking water delivered from our plant’s clearwell to our customers have been recorded as low as .03 Nephelometric Turbidity Units or NTU, but normally average between 0.03 to 0.05 NTU; governing state regulations allow turbidity levels of 0.30 NTU. (The lower the turbidity level, the clearer the drinking water.)

Our natural gas department reports continued growth as customers schedule new gas connections to their homes and continue to purchase quality heating products and gas grills from FPU.

We began a pilot youth program, the FPU Student Utility Board, which is the first of its kind across the state. This program targets high school seniors to give them better insight to how FPU operates and how we serve the community. Because of the youth board’s  success, we are continuing the program locally and encouraging other electric utilities across the state to invest in similar programs in their hometowns.

Last year, we continued to make improvements with our SCADA and mapping systems, our 24/7 dispatch service, metering department and more.

Everything we do to enhance service at FPU directly affects our customers and the quality of service we provide. We realize that the achievements for 2011 would not have been possible without the support and trust that our customers give to FPU and the good workmanship by our employees. Our goal has always been to do the right things to benefit our customers - by offering the most reliable and safest utility services at the lowest possible cost to our customers. And this will continue to be our benchmark for the New Year.