This is a sketch of how a backup electrical generator works. A much larger version of this kind of generator supplies backup electricity to City Center. Backup electrical power is essential to our operations. In the event of a failure of our electrical power system, the City must be able to keep its essential operations up and running. We can’t turn off our 911, Police or Fire operations. Not even for a minute.
So, if electrical power is essential to our operations, how do we insure the generator will work when we need it?
This past Saturday, December 10, the City’s Facilities Division performed a full load test on the emergency generator that feeds electrical power to the east side of the City Center building. This is the first “full load” test done on this equipment since 1993. “Full load” testing means that we disconnect our regular power system and use only the power from the generator. It’s the truest test of the equipment. We have been “no load” testing for the past four months and have survived several power outages without incident, but it is the “full load” test that will tell us what we need to know about the reliability of our generator.
The test results came in better than we expected. We experienced no problems in our Police and 911 areas. We encountered some problems with our emergency lighting in the hallway leading to the Garden Room. We also had some problems with door security systems in a couple of areas.
We learned a great deal from performing this exercise. Some good. Some not so good. We will analyze all the data and call affected parties together and come up with solutions to the issues we discovered. We plan to participate in a similar testing event scheduled this Saturday for the west side of our building, which is occupied by C.H. Robinson Worldwide and the Eden Prairie School District. Their half of the building is served by a separate backup generator. We plan to perform this test twice a year starting in 2006, and each time we hope to be able to correct any and all issues.
Backup electrical generation is not an exciting topic, but it’s one of those services that must function when it’s needed most.
