1975-07-07 Regular Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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i !~ HOUSTON LIGHTING ~C POWER COMPANY 2000 NASA 1, P. O. BOX 597, SEABROOK, TEXAS 77566 June 25, 1975 Honorable Mayor E. A. Thomas City of La Porte Post Office Box 1115 La Porte, Texas 77571 Dear Mayor Thomas: As you know, we filed a letter in April informing the city of our plans to construct a fuel oil pipeline system, a portion of which will pass through the City of La Porte and will inter-connect several of our existing generating stations. In reviewing our original letter, we have determined that there are several important matters which we need to make you aware of, and it is the purpose of this letter to acquaint you with our situa- tion as it presently exists. Houston Lighting & Power Company has for many years burned natural gas as a primary fuel at its generating stations. However, due to the energy crisis and the expected worsening of the gas supply situation, the company has built some generating units that are capable of burning not only natural gas but also fuel oil on a continuous basis. Other units have been and are being converted so that they also will have the capability of continually burning fuel oil when necessary. At the plants in question, there are large storage tanks which are presently being filled from barges where possible, and otherwise the oil must be brought to the tanks by truckline. This type of operation is comparable to trying to fill a washtub with an eyedropper. When prolonged curtailments of natural gas deliveries begin an opera- tional pipeline will be essential #or continuous service in our area. The origin point of the pipeline network will be a ter- minal facility located on the Ship Channel. From the terminal the pipeline will be built mostly along right-of-way presently owned by the company. None of the plants in question are located within the city, however, parts of the pipeline will have to be built through the City of La Porte and at one location a city street will be crossed. The company has an accepted procedure for notifying the Public Works Department, furnishing plans and specifications, and working out other details when it is necessary to build an under- . ground facility across a city street. This procedure has been