HOUSTON -- The North Fort Bend Water Authority ("NFBWA") has announced that it has entered into an agreement to ensure continuous operations of the NFBWA's Bellaire Pump Station, a surface water pumping station, and uninterrupted service throughout its service area. Enchanted Rock's clean and quiet natural gas-powered resiliency microgrid solution will provide the NFBWA with redundant power to prevent potential disruptions due to grid outages.
"We are excited about partnering with the NFBWA to help ensure reliable water supply for Fort Bend County," said Thomas McAndrew, Founder and CEO of Enchanted Rock. "Water is such a critical resource, and the Enchanted Rock solution ensures resilient operations and water for the residents, even during extended power outages."
The NFBWA selected Enchanted Rock based on their years of experience in providing resilient backup power during utility outages due to events such as Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Enchanted Rock delivers long-duration backup power with the cleanest technology available. The company's integrated Reliability on Call (iROC) service will provide the NFBWA with worry-free reliability because Enchanted Rock operates and maintains the systems. The unique iROC model allows the NFBWA to receive full-facility backup at a fraction of the cost of a standard reliability system.
"We are delighted to find a trusted solution that addresses our reliability needs," said Peter Houghton, NFBWA Board President. "This partnership enables us to better protect our community during grid outages."
The NFBWA joins the list of other governmental entities served by Enchanted Rock's resiliency microgrids, which include the Fort Bend County Levee Improvement District No. 2 and Gulf Coast Water Authority. This service is expected to be in operation in Spring of 2021.
The NFBWA resiliency project will be the latest addition to Texas Microgrid, a Houston-based, natural gas-powered distributed generation and microgrid platform. This new project demonstrates the commitment of the Texas Microgrid partners, Basalt Infrastructure Partners, LP and Enchanted Rock to advance the scale of Texas Microgrid's existing 220 MW portfolio. The additions will be funded through the senior-secured construction and term financing that Texas Microgrid entered into during 2019.
