North Little Rock Utilities
Consolidated Water Department
North Little Rock
obtains its water supply from the publicly owned Little Rock system. Little
Rock's raw water supply comes from two man-made lakes (Lake Winona and Lake
Maumelle) in the area having a combined storage capacity of 82 billion gallons
in reservoirs. Two municipal treating plants at Little Rock treat the water
with combined rated capacity of 148 million gallons per day.
Pumping capacity for
the North Little Rock portion of the system is 44 million gallons per day,
with peak consumption of 27.5 million gallons per day. The city uses an average
of 16,000,000 gallons per day with a total amount of water reserve in the
city system of 5,000,000 gallons. A chemical analysis of city water is available.
(PSI) insurance bureau standards meet with total insurance coverage.
Waste Water
Department
North Little Rock
operates three secondary treatment plants with a combined capacity of 23.1
million gallons per day. Present usage is 3.3 MGD-23.1 MGD with a percent
of capacity used ranging from 14% to 100%. Future capacity of the sewer system
is 26 MGD. No restrictions have been placed on the Waste Water Treatment System.
The age of the sewer system is less than 1 year to more than 100 years.
Solid Waste
The city operates
a privately owned landfill but is looking at other sites. Types of waste materials
which can be disposed: Class II, IV authorized (Arkansas Department of Pollution
Control and Ecology).
Presently the city
has initiated a waste management-recycling program. Two collection bins separating
newspapers, aluminum, and glass are positioned throughout the city. Costs of
the program are defrayed by selling recycled materials. A countywide solid
waste management program is under consideration.
Electricity
The North Little Rock
metropolitan area is in the enviable position of having utilities in ample
supply. Electric service is supplied by the North Little Rock Electric Department,
which presently purchases its power wholesale from the Entergy System.
In 1988 the city constructed
its own hydroelectric cogeneration plant on the Arkansas River. The plant's
water turbines feature the single largest gear in operation anywhere in the
world. The plant's two generators are capable of generating 42 megawatts of
power at peak capacity, enabling the city to furnish fully 20 percent of its
own fixedcost-fuel electricity. With this plant on line, the city is in
the enviable position of having reasonably priced utilities. North Little
Rock rates are typically 15% lower for residents. There is no franchise tax
levied on businesses, consequently, rates for business/industry are lower than
surrounding municipalities.
During the months
of June, July, August, and September, the discount rate is 20% for residents.
Entergy recently completed
a 15-year construction program that added 1.7 million kilowatts of nuclear-generated
power and 1.2 million kilowatts of coal-fired generation to 2.6 million kilowatts
of gas and oil units. The company serves 65 of Arkansas' 75 counties, in addition
to 13 counties in Missouri, with more than 300,000 customers.
Transmission voltage
(KV rating) service the city: 115 KV
Distribution voltage
(KV rating) service the city: 13.8 KV
Sources of energy and a number of different feeds serve the city: Entergy Arkansas, Light North Little Rock Hydro Plant (Murray Lock and Dam #7) through Nine Switch Stations
Natural Gas
North Little Rock
is served by Reliant Energy/Arkla, a division of NORAM, a fully-integrated
gas utility serving well over 2.3 million customers in a ten-state service
area including Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, Mississippi,
Missouri, Illinois, Minnesota, and Iowa.
Reliant Energy/Arkla
normally offers up to 306 million cubic feet of processed gas to industries
daily, an allocation that can be increased to meet requirements of industry.
Heat value is 1,000 BTU per cubic foot. With one of the best reserved indexes
of any gas utility in the country, at about 18 years, Reliant Energy/Arkla
has received national recognition in recent years for the quality of its management.
The company's Arkansas headquarters are located at Little Rock.
Size of lines serving
city from without: 16"
Sizes of lines serving
city from within and pressure: 10" - 550 psi & 8" - 250 psi
There have been no line
service outages during the past five years. There are no franchise fees charged
by the city of North Little Rock; consequently, gas utilities are approximately
5% lower than surrounding cities.
|
