The Opportunity

Located along the coastal plains of Texas and the Guadalupe River, the City of Victoria, Texas, has long been a trading hub for the region, as well as a large water consumer. However, due to outdated metering systems, the City’s water facilities were unable to capture the full revenue of servicing its community. The City wanted to modernize their metering infrastructure, and turned to ENGIE Services U.S. (ENGIE) to help realize this goal.

The Partnership

In May 2011, the City of Victoria selected ENGIE to conduct a comprehensive energy analysis of the City’s water metering system. ENGIE innovated ways to generate new revenue for the City’s water facilities, as well as reduce operating costs. Under a 15- year guaranteed savings performance contract, 23,200 multi-jet meters were installed along with a two-way, automated fixed base data recording system, bringing 21st century technology to the City’s water metering system. Fiber optic cabling was installed, enhancing water management by transmitting data from the meters to the City for analytics and system optimization.

3 Dimensions of Impact

ENGIE is committed to building three dimensions of impact in every customer’s future:

• Supporting People
• Saving Money
• Protecting the Environment

The new water meters deliver $477,000 in increased annual revenue, in addition to reducing operating and maintenance costs by $200,000 annually. Better performance in data collection decreased the expense of meter reading and errors in data entry. As a result, the City is able to issue accurate utility invoices based on actual usage, reducing the costly need to estimate or adjust billing. The City benefits from increased data accuracy and security, and residents benefit from improved customer service.

Through the comprehensive water infrastructure upgrades, this program is expected to generate $12 million over the life of the program. Additionally, environmental benefits translate to nearly 2,200 metric tons of CO2 avoided per year, which is equivalent to the carbon sequestered annually by 1,783 acres of average U.S. forest. These carbon offsets support the state’s clean energy goals.