What we know
Engineered Utility Solutions Inc., which led the study, said the city’s distribution system is currently “adequate” but faces a critical weak point at the North City Gate, where supply limitations have previously caused outages during winter weather.
“It is inevitable ... there will be no gas getting to North Gate,” Engineered Utility Solutions representative Jeff Rogers told council, referencing the city’s dependence on a CenterPoint-owned pipeline that serves other customers first.
During a 2022 freeze, Tomball received more than 380 calls for appliance relights due to pressure drops, Public Works Director Drew Huffman said.
Engineers modeled the system at its established peak load of 225 thousand cubic feet of natural gas per hour, based on historical winter storm performance plus a 25% growth factor, and found that if the North Gate goes offline, “the majority of the system goes into a critical range that is not acceptable,” said Diana Perossa, chief engineer at Engineered Utility Solutions.
Under that scenario, gas cannot reach all users during freezing weather, especially as natural gas backup generators add new demand.
Diving in deeper
The master plan identifies 24 capital improvement projects, grouped into categories for system strengthening, resilience and growth, Perossa said. The top priority is the construction of a new City Gate 4, located on the west side of the system to avoid the upstream supply constraints affecting the North Gate.
Once built, modeling shows City Gate 4 would significantly stabilize pressures during peak conditions and maintain service even if North Gate fails.
According to the presentation, additional high-priority recommendations include:
- North-south arterial flow connecting the Grand Parkway City Gate to the northern system limits
- East-west arterial flow to balance distribution
- An outer loop creating continuous circulation
- The connection of one-way feeds to add redundancy
The cost
The full set of recommended projects totals $33 million, phased across multiple years. City staff said implementation will align with growth-driven funding availability and enterprise fund capacity.
To reduce cost burdens, Engineered Utility Solutions suggested the city pursue federal programs, including:
- Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration Natural Gas Distribution Infrastructure Safety & Modernization Grant
- Pipeline Emergency Response Grant
- Public Works and Economic Adjustment Assistance Program
City officials said that the priority projects, especially City Gate 4, are essential to ensuring Tomball can continue supporting new development without risking systemwide outages.
“If we don’t do this, it starts becoming very problematic as we have more commercial businesses on the system,” City Manager David Esquivel said.
The final master plan report is being completed and will return to the City Council for review and future funding decisions.
