Electric
UBT owns, operates, and maintains an electrical transmission and distribution system providing service to approximately 7,300 customers in Macon County. UBT’s service area includes part of Macon County, the towns of Franklin and Shorter and the City of Tuskegee. Most of UBT’s customers are residential (90%). However, there are some industrial and commercial customers which includes some large governmental consumers such as the Central Alabama Veterans Health Care System Hospital and Tuskegee University.
UBT does not have any electrical generating facilities but purchases power for the customers through the Alabama Municipal Electric Authority (AMEA). The AMEA contracts with Alabama Power Company and other electric generating companies for a reliable source of electricity. UBT receives power at three (3) delivery points and at two different voltages. One of the delivery points is at the metering station at the City of Tuskegee Industrial Park on Notasulga Road (ALA Hwy 81) where UBT takes service at 46kV. The other delivery points are at the North Main Street Substation and at the Shorter Substation, both of which are at 115kV. UBT has a total of five (5) distribution substations. Three (3) of these substations are 46kV to 12.47kV and the other two (2) are 115kV to 12.47kV. The 12.47kV distribution system from these substations is used to deliver power to the customers. There is ample substation capacity available to serve additional load and the system can be expanded at any time if more capacity is needed.
UBT has electric rates for residential, commercial, and industrial customers including rates for unmetered outdoor lighting. These electric rates are competitive with rates of other providers of electric service in this area.
Water
UBT provides drinking water service to approximately 4,400 residential customers who are located primarily within the corporate limits of Tuskegee and portions of Macon County. Non-residential water customers include Tuskegee University, the Central Alabama Veterans Administration (VA hospital), Town of Franklin, Town of Notasulga, Star Mindingall Water Authority and Macon County Water Authority.
UBT owns and operates the potable drinking water system which consists of a raw water pumping station, a water treatment plant (WTP), and a water distribution system consisting of approximately 32 miles of cast iron and ductile iron water mains, 25 miles of PVC water mains, one (1) booster pump station, and five (5) elevated water storage tanks.
The elevated water storage tanks have a total storage capacity of 2,500,000 million gallons, and overflow elevations to 594 and 595 feet. In 2012, UBT constructed a clear well at the Water Filtration facility. This clear well gave UBT an additional 500,000 gallons of storage capacity. The water treatment plant was constructed in the 1970’s and is located about 9 miles northwest of Tuskegee on County Road 8. This facility is a conventional surface water treatment plant with permitted treatment capacity of four million gallons per day.
Treatment processes at the plant include flash mixing, flocculation, sedimentation, dual media filtration, finished water pumping, associated chemical feed systems and backwash storage and pumping.
Sewage
UBT provides wastewater service to approximately 3,500 customers who are located primarily within the corporate limits of Tuskegee. UBT owns and operates a wastewater system that consists of two wastewater treatment plants, a wastewater collection system, and seven (7) wastewater pumping stations.
Due to the topography of the Tuskegee area, the wastewater system is divided into two drainage areas. Wastewater from the northern drainage area is treated at the North Plant, and wastewater from the southern drainage area is treated at the South Plant. In 2012, UBT decided to implement a long-range plan that involves major construction to re-route all flow into the North Wastewater Plant. At the end of this project, the South Wastewater Plant was scheduled for closing.