Greenville Utilities Commission

Greenville Utilities Commission

Greenville Utilities Commission (GUC)

Greenville Utilities is guided and managed by an eight-member Board of Commissioners.  These local citizens represent the interests of all GUC customers and help made decisions that support local needs and values.  The City Manager serves as a full-voting member; five other Board members are nominated by the City Council, and two are nominated by the Pitt County Board of Commissioners.  All Board members are approved by the City Council.  Board members serve three-year staggered terms with a maximum of two consecutive terms. The Chair and Vice-Chair are elected by the Commission and serve one year terms. The Board’s primary responsibilities are to set and maintain competitive rates and approve development plans and the annual budget.  The Board also establishes all operating and extension policies carried out by the General Manager.

The General Manager/CEO has the overall management responsibility for Greenville Utilities.  The Assistant General Manager/COO works directly with the General Manager/CEO and has management responsibilities for day-to-day internal operations and assist in policy formulation, research and implementation.  Additionally, the Management Team consists of directors of the three operating departments ( Electric, Water Resources, and Natural Gas) and four support departments (Information Technology, Finance, Customer Relations, and Human Resources).

The General Manager is Ron Elks. He may be reached at 401 S. Greene Street, Greenville, North Carolina, 27834 (telephone 252-551-1500), www.guc.com

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Electric

Greenville Utilities provides electric service to 63,467 customers in the City of Greenville and 75% of Pitt County. Purchased power is supplied through 230 kV transmission lines to two point-of-delivery substations.  In order to distribute electricity to its customers, GUC owns and operates high voltage transmission lines at 115 kV and 34.5 kV, as well as overhead and underground distribution lines at 12.5 kV. The electric system operates 19 distribution substation sites with a combined base load capacity of 540 MVA, two subtransmission sites at a combined base load capacity of 50 MVA, and two 115 kV transmission substations with a combined base load capacity of 480 MVA.

GUC is a member of the North Carolina Eastern Municipal Power Agency (NCEMPA) and participates in the purchase of electricity from generation facilities jointly owned by NCEMPA and Progress Energy. As the largest of the 32 cities participating in NCEMPA, Greenville holds a 16% individual interest in the facilities which provide base load power to the NCEMPA membership. The electricity purchased in FY 2011 by GUC represented 21.5% of NCEMPA’s total load.  For additional information on NCEMPA, go to www.ncpublicpower.com/AboutUs/NCEMPA.aspx

Rates: Retail rates are based on a true cost-of-service philosophy and each class of customer pays its own fair share. There are no tilt rates providing fictitiously low rates to one class at the expense of another. Industrial customers participate in GUC’s Coincident Peak (CP) Rate Program.  This rate program enables the customer to achieve significant savings on their energy costs.  Economic Development Rate incentives are also available to new qualified customers.  For additional information on rates, go to www.guc.com/About/ElectricRatesandRegulations.aspx

Customer Mix: GUC has a broad base of customers with demand allocation of 42.5% residential, 7.6% small general service and 48.9% medium/large general service. Critical customers such as WNCT-TV, Vidant Medical Center, DSM Dyneema, and DSM Pharmaceuticals are provided with redundant backup power sources should an emergency occur.

Load Management: In 1978, GUC was one of the first municipal utilities in the nation to implement load management (Beat-the-Peak) to control the demand component of its cost of power. Residential customers voluntarily allow GUC to install radio-controlled switches on their central air conditioning units, heat pumps, heat pump supplemental strips, electric furnaces, and water heaters. During periods of peak demand, these devices are cycled off to lower total demand, significantly reducing wholesale power costs. A portion of these savings is credited directly back to the participating customers; the remainder is reinvested and used to hold down overall electric rates. GUC currently has over 43,000 devices controlled.

As part of the Load Management program, GUC operates diesel-engine peak-shaving generators at 12 industrial and large customer sites. These units are used to reduce the electrical demand during coincident peaking periods. The host customers receive a credit each month equal to a percentage of the demand savings accrued when the devices are operating. Additionally, the generators are available to supply limited standby power in the event of extended interruption of electric service. These efforts resulted in avoided demand costs of $1,494,288 during FY 2011.  The participating industries received credits of over $600,000.

As a supplemental tool in the operation of the load management system, as well as normal operations, the Electric Department has used a weather radar receiver system since 1987. The 24-hour weather radar system has proven a valuable tool in deciding when to begin load management operations. An additional benefit of the system is the ability to detect and track storm activity that poses a threat to the GUC service area. On the basis of information from the radar system, as well as from a lightning detection system, GUC is better able to initiate storm restoration activities and dispatch repair crews to areas likely to be most heavily damaged. GUC’s weather system is available to cable subscribers and can currently be seen on local cable channel 35.

Underground: GUC installed its first residential subdivision underground in 1965 and has provided underground electrical service to subdivisions, commercial developments and industrial complexes since that date. GUC has on hand a fully equipped trailer for rapidly locating and correcting underground problems should they occur.

System Control and Reliability: The Commission’s transmission and distribution substations are monitored and controlled by state-of-the-art computer-based supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) equipment. System loading and equipment status is continuously monitored by this equipment with all disturbances and deviations from prescribed limits immediately reported to GUC’s dispatch control center for analysis. This facility is staffed twenty-four hours a day, providing the ultimate in customer service.

System reliability and availability is extremely high, particularly for the industrial sector. Most industrial customers are served by high-capacity dedicated distribution feeder circuits engineered for maximum service reliability. Redundancy of design is often characteristic of these facilities. Overall system availability for FY 2011 was 99.996%.

Staffing: Design and engineering for the 34.5 kV transmission and 12.47 kV distribution system is performed by GUC’s own engineering staff; outside consultants provide engineering services for the 115 kV transmission and substation projects. Additionally, the department’s line operations personnel perform most major construction, utilizing contract crews for short-term needs and major substation and transmission projects.

Contact: Roger G. Jones, Director of Electric Systems (252) 551-1580

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Water Treatment/Distribution

The Water Treatment Plant (WTP), placed in service in January 1983 and upgraded in 2002, provides the majority of the drinking water for GUC customers with a limited amount of water supplied by deep wells. Current capacity is 22.5 mgd. The deep wells bring the total water available on any one day to 24.5 mgd. Average day treatment is 12.06 mgd with a peak day demand of 17.44 mgd.

Raw water for this plant is drawn from the Tar River. The raw water pump station has a rated pumping capacity of over 22.5 mgd and can be expanded. The Tar River has always provided more than adequate flows to meet all peak system demands.

Water is pumped from the river to an 8 acre, 63 million gallon impoundment basin where the water is kept for five days while solids settle to the bottom. A coagulant is added to facilitate further settling of solids as the water enters the WTP. The settled water receives ozone for primary disinfection. The water then passes through filters, receives chlorine and ammonia to form chloramines for secondary disinfection, and is pumped into two 3 million gallon ground storage tanks. Treated water enters the distribution system via 36 and 24 inch mains from the water plant. Water is delivered to customers through more than 616 miles of piping ranging in size from two to thirty-six inches in diameter.

Storage: GUC has a two-tank elevated storage system consisting of 1.5 million gallon and 1 million gallon tanks, providing increased water pressure and a reserve for fire protection. Total storage, including the two 3 million gallon ground storage tanks at the water treatment plant, currently amounts to 8.5 million gallons. Plans include the addition of two more 3.0 mg ground storage tanks in the next five years to increase water storage capacity.

GUC also is nearing completion of its industry-leading Aquifer Storage and Recovery Project, the first of its kind in North Carolina. ASR is the storing of treated drinking water in underground aquifers (sand deposits) during low system water demand periods and recovering or using the water during the high system demand periods. This process allows GUC to store large volumes of treated drinking water for a fraction of the cost of storing water in above ground tanks. ASR has the potential to provide in excess of 300 million gallons of stored drinking water for use in emergencies or for peak shaving. To date, the construction phase of the ASR facility is essentially complete and a period of cycle testing has begun.

Contact: Randy Emory, Director of Water Resources, (252) 551-1554

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Wastewater Collection/Treatment

The wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), located on a 700 acre site 1.5 miles east of the City’s extraterritorial limits on the north side of the Tar River, was placed on-line in 1985 as a 10.5 mgd capacity facility and was expanded in 1995 to a 17.5 mgd tertiary treatment facility with nitrogen and phosphorus removal capabilities. The expanded facility provides additional protection for the environment and public health while exceeding state and federal regulations as well as continued opportunity for the community to grow. The WWTP treats an average of 10 million gallons of wastewater per day.

The wastewater collection system includes over 403 miles of gravity pipeline and 76 miles of pressure pipeline ranging in size from four to 48 inches in diameter and 38 pump stations with their associated force mains. These pipes and pump stations collect and transport wastewater to the WWTP where it is treated prior to being returned to the Tar River. The discharged effluent adheres to the target limits for total nitrogen and total phosphorus as part of a membership in the Tar-Pamlico Basin Association.

Residual Management: In 2005, GUC completed construction of a dewatering facility to reduce the amount of water in the biological residue from the treatment process (biosolids). The biosolids are transported to a private compost facility where they are mixed with organic fillers and processed to produce compost.

Contact: Randy Emory, Director of Water Resources, (252) 551-1554.

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Natural Gas

The Greenville Utilities gas distribution system consists of approximately 602 miles of distribution mains and 429 miles of service lines supplied by four city gate stations and a liquefied natural gas (LNG) peak-shaving plant.  The city gate stations reduce the transmission pipeline gas pressure from 350-740 psig before it enters the 60 psig MAOP distribution system, which serves approximately 20,227 residential, 2,091 commercial, 14 firm industrial and 16 interruptible customers throughout an 88 square mile service area in Pitt County. During the FY 2011, Greenville Utilities sold 3,240,524 mcf of natural gas, 52.5% of which was to industrial/interruptible customers.

In January 2010, Greenville Utilities’ maximum daily quantity (MDQ) of pipeline capacity was increased from 15,500 DT/d to 20,000 DT/d through a 10-year contract with Piedmont Natural Gas.  This increased MDQ reduces the frequency of interruptible customer curtailments, minimizes the risk of exceeding MDQ during peak periods, and closes the gap between the MDQ and design peak day demand of approximately 27,000 DTs.  It also creates the opportunity to explore alternatives for utilizing excess capacity during off-peak demand periods.

Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Storage Facility: In 1997, GUC became the first public utility in North Carolina to construct a permanent LNG facility to meet peak demand. The LNG storage facility is located on Old Pactolus Road near GUC’s Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Since that time, the LNG plant has been expanded on two separate occasions.  The initial LNG Plant consisted of two 55,000 gallon LNG storage tanks and one vaporizer.  The original sizing allowed for a total of 8,200 DT to be stored at any given time with the capability of vaporizing LNG at a rate of 500 mcfh.

The expansions to the LNG Plant took place as part of a two-phase project.  In 2001, Phase I of the Expansion Project was constructed, which included the addition of two more 55,000 gallon LNG storage tanks and a new control room building, increasing the LNG storage capacity of the facility to approximately 15,200 dekatherms.  The Phase II Expansion Project was further divided into two parts, IIA and IIB.  Part IIA, completed during 2007, consisted of doubling the vaporization capabilities of the LNG Plant from 500 mcfh to 1,000 mcfh by adding a second vaporizer.  Also included in this phase were the addition of three water/glycol heaters, upgraded water/glycol pump skid with control panel, an upgraded instrument air compressor system, and the necessary expansion of the fire/gas detection and suppression systems.  Although  not yet implemented, Part IIB will consist of the installation of two additional 55,000 gallon LNG storage tanks (tanks 5 and 6) construction of a third LNG remote impoundment area, and necessary expansion(s) of the fire and gas detection, lightning protection, and security systems.

Contact: Anthony Miller, Director of Gas Systems, (252) 551-1590

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