Texas faces a growing infrastructure vulnerability as diesel fuel quality in backup generators becomes a significant reliability risk during extreme weather events and grid instability. While facilities typically maintain generator engines rigorously, the fuel itself is often neglected despite accounting for one-third of engine operation, according to Whit Runion of Fuel Perfect, LLC in a recent interview. Since a 2014 Environmental Protection Agency mandate shifted diesel to ultra-low sulfur fuel, shelf life has dropped dramatically, creating new vulnerabilities inside storage tanks that can remain undetected until generators are needed most during emergencies.
"Diesel doesn't fail loudly," Runion explained during the conversation. "It fails silently—through water, particulate, and microbial growth that clogs filters and shuts engines down." This degradation threatens critical infrastructure statewide including hospitals, utilities, nursing homes, data centers, and public facilities that depend on backup power during outages. The issue connects to broader Texas infrastructure challenges highlighted by Winter Storm Uri, the rapid expansion of AI-driven data centers, and increasing reliance on diesel generation to backstop grid demand during peak periods.
Fuel polishing—a process likened to dialysis for diesel—removes contaminants using filtration, centrifugal separation, and magnetic conditioning, restoring fuel quality without replacement. This approach offers a cost-effective alternative to draining and replacing fuel, which can cost tens of thousands of dollars and create dangerous downtime windows with no backup power available. The full interview discussing these solutions is available on YouTube as part of The Building Texas Show at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=example123 where host Justin McKenzie explores infrastructure resilience topics.
In some facilities, backup systems now include dozens of generators and hundreds of thousands of gallons of stored fuel—raising both financial and operational risks that extend beyond maintenance budgets. A lesser-known reality surfaces in the discussion: brand-new generators are not immune to fuel quality issues, as fuel tanks fabricated off-site and transported across long distances often arrive contaminated with moisture and debris, sometimes causing failures on first startup of expensive new equipment worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Fuel Perfect's work spans the I-35 corridor and beyond, serving hospitals, utilities, data centers, assisted living facilities, and industrial sites throughout Texas. Beyond service delivery, Runion emphasizes education—working with facilities teams, engineers, and risk managers to integrate fuel maintenance into annual preparedness planning rather than treating it as an afterthought. "This is about resilience," McKenzie noted during the episode. "Preparedness isn't just owning a generator—it's knowing it will work when everything else doesn't." The conversation offers a practical examination of how infrastructure risk is evolving in Texas and why fuel maintenance is becoming a core component of emergency readiness, economic resilience, and public safety protocols across critical sectors.
