City of Houston- Northeast  Water Purification Plant Microgrid Solution 2020.

The city’s initial plan was to purchase emergency only generators for $30 million and assume responsibility for all operations and maintenance which was going to cost and additional $5 million over a twenty-year period.

However, a local energy advisor recommended they city consider a microgrid option that would reduce costs and dramatically improve reliability.The energy advisor suggested that they could solicit bids for a design/build project that would increase the existing plants capacity 5-fold.

The advisor then executed a microgrid contract for the NE Water Purification plant (NEWPP).

The strategy and project resulted in a $30 million savings in capital costs because the microgrid solution could collect revenue from grid activities.

It also was determined that it would result in a $5 million savings in operating costs over a 20 year period.