PUBLIC UTILITIES ADVISORY BOARD AGENDA ITEM
ACTION REQUESTED:
title
Receive Electric Operations Exceptions Reporting
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DEPARTMENT: Electric Utility
SUBMITTED BY: Department of Electric Public Utilities
BOARD/COMMISSION REVIEW:
N/A
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this memorandum is to provide the Public Utility Advisory Board (PUAB) with a status update on Electric Operations Exceptions impacting the City of Naperville’s Electric Utility.
DISCUSSION:
1. Fiber Installations
Naperville is experiencing a surge in fiber-optic installations as three contractors expand their 'fiber to the home' initiatives. To manage the increased volume of utility locates and maintain compliance with state and federal laws, Utility Operations evaluated several strategies, including:
• Increasing internal staffing, outsourcing, or
• Allowing fiber companies to perform their own locates.
• Staff are currently drafting a legal framework that shifts full liability for infrastructure damage to the fiber providers and allows the city to terminate the agreement at will.
• Additionally, the Utility is refining its outage metrics to specifically track third-party strikes."
Update:
Right now, the issues we are having are with Ripple Fiber. They have multiple, (6 or 7), contractors working for them who do not abide by the requirements below 1-3 and are calling in to numerous JULIE ticket requests. They are also subcontracting the work out and the subcontractors do not follow the guidelines as well:
1. Get an approved permit issued prior to construction starting, and ensure you are listed on the permit as the contractor
2. All new contractors are required to Schedule a pre-construction meeting with City staff. We need an opportunity to meet and go over our requirements / expectations
3. Submit a Joint Meet JULIE ticket, attach or have maps of project scope available.
4. Submit JULIE tickets for construction.
2. Transformer Movement (30XA/10XA/75 Spare)
Approximately 17 months ago, a critical substation transformer(30XA) failed because of a through fault. This fault caused an irreparable short on one of the windings leaving two replacement options: Wait 3.5 years to obtain a new manufactured transformer or exercise our contingency plan. Due to the length of time to get through procurement combined with the manufacturing timeline we exercised our contingency plan. We moved the in-service sister transformer(10XA) to replace the failed transformer (30XA) and then moved our spare transformer (75XS) to retro fit for the vacancy. The contractors finished moving the two transformers on 3-31-26 and we both transformers online by the end of April. We anticipate 3 years to receive the replacement.
Update: Both transformers have been energized and online as of 5/12/2026.
Implementation of Utility Network GIS and Designer XI systems.
Key project workstreams will include System Architecture Design, GIS Build, Integration Build, Engineering Design Software implementation, Data Modeling and Migration (with two mock migrations prior to full, production migration), Organizational Change Management and Training, and rollout support.
The result of the project will be a fully functioning Utility Network GIS in production for EU’s Electric and Fiber datasets, for staff who edit data as well as read-only users. One of the most important aspects of this project is that it will ensure EU’s GIS is compliant with the City’s version of ArcGIS Enterprise, and its datasets will remain viewable by other departments, while Utility staff can continue to view data sets maintained by those departments. The Utility’s engineering staff will also be able to continue with GIS-based design, using a state-of-the-art design tool.
Update: Project has been underway since March and is still on track for a 2027 Q3 go-live for both the Utility Network GIS and Designer XI systems.
3. SCADA/OMS/DERMS status
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Planning/ Implementation |
Deployment |
Cut Over of Stations |
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Phase 1A: SCADA |
March 2026 - May 2027 |
April 2027 - Sep 2027 |
April 2027 - April 2028 |
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Phase 1B: GIS |
Sep 2027 - Nov 2027 |
Nov-27 |
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Phase 2: OMS |
Nov 2027-Dec 2027 |
Dec-27 |
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Phase 3: DERMS |
Dec 2027- July 2028 |
Jul-28 |
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Accomplishments: Kickoff, Architecture, and Graphics Workshop #1 completed on time.
Status: Hardware procurement and DNP point delivery in progress.
Adjustment: First substation DNP points delivered 4/1 (originally 3/13). To prevent future delays, we are decentralizing this task across the team to increase throughput.
Timeline:
4. Tollway Substation Work
Engineering Update:
Stage 1 design (L1200/L1050 breaker replacements) and the concrete building design are complete. We are now finalizing remaining physical aspects, including the new transformer and duct packages, alongside P&C design.
Bid Status:
The initial bid for the Tollway building was rejected. We received a single proposal that exceeded the engineer’s estimate by ~6-7x, which we deemed unjustifiable. We are currently moving to rebid to secure competitive pricing.
Construction & Schedule:
L1200 replacement is complete. L1050 is ready but pending the installation of Transformer 30XE to allow for the necessary outage. While our target remains Q2 2028, the building rebid may impact on the final completion date. Update: the bid was awarded at $4M. Initial estimates were $1.2M.
5. Transmission Pole Painting Warranty Work
The city owns and maintains a total of 117 steel transmission poles on 75th Street, Route 59, and a line that runs from the Westside Substation by the train station on Route 59 all the way west and along I88 to the Tollway Substation. In 2022, Morris Painting was contracted to repaint 24 poles, most of them on the line that runs along I88. In 2023, Electric Utility inspections identified warranty issues and Morris Painting returned in 2024 to perform the maintenance work. Our 2025 annual inspection using a drone resulted in finding defects on all 24 of the poles Morris painted, including complete degradation of what was just done in 2024. Electric Utility, Legal, and Purchasing have obtained a commitment from Morris to return and perform warranty work. Morris originally scheduled to return in March; however, field conditions and permit approvals were not conducive. Morris has proposed returning later in 2026 to repaint the 24 poles.
Update: Morris completed the warranty work in August of 2026. Substation will inspect the paint repairs next year using our drone to confirm that the repairs addressed the rust through issues and that the new paint is holding up.
RECOMMENDATION:
Receive the Operations Exceptions Reporting Update.