It’s been about seven months since Tropical Storm Irene cut power to hundreds of thousands of people in Connecticut, about 21,000 of which were in the lower Naugatuck Valley.
While state legislators are still reviewing proposals for stricter oversight of public utilities following Irene and a freak snowstorm in October, United Illuminating has gone on a road show talking with business leaders around the state about how the company responded to the two storms last year.
James Cole, the director of UI’s Operate The Electric System process, spoke to a group of business leaders at a Connecticut Business and Industry Association event at the Courtyard Marriott in Shelton April 13.
Other panelists at the event — including a representative from OSHA — spoke about what businesses can do to prepare for and respond to disasters.
A similar discussion was also held on April 3 in Cromwell.
United Illuminating serves 17 communities in Fairfield and New Haven counties. In the Valley, United Illuminating provides power to Ansonia, Derby and Shelton. Connecticut Light & Power serves Oxford and Seymour.
Cole outlined how United Illuminating Co. responded to the storms in August and October of 2011. After both storms, hundreds of thousands of people across the state were without power — some for longer than a week.
The following questions and answers were culled and edited from the discussion Friday morning and from the Valley Independent Sentinel’s coverage of the two storms.
What went wrong after the storms?
Communication.
Cole said while United Illuminating crews were following policies and working as quickly as possible to restore power around its coverage area, the company was not effective in communicating its work to customers.
“One thing utilities can improve on is communication to our customers,” Cole said.
Residents across the state had a hard time getting accurate information — or any estimates — on when their power would be restored.
That fact was painfully clear on the Valley Independent Sentinel’s Facebook page after the storms, where readers went to question the response to the outages and get information they weren’t receiving from the utility companies.
Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti called out UI for its lack of communication on Aug. 31.
Cole said part of the communication problem is that United Illuminating doesn’t have all of its data processes digitized. Workers are still using paper forms in many cases, he said, which makes it more time-consuming to distribute information to customers.
Even its efforts to reach out to customers with information — such as a series of YouTube videos of CEO Jim Torgerson, describing the company’s efforts to get power turned back on — didn’t reach a wide audience.
One update released on August 29, 2011, for example, only has 382 views registered by YouTube as of this week.
The company is working to update its communications processes, Cole said, including a move toward fully mobile and fully electronic data collection.
Where Was the Mutual Aid?
Both United Illuminating and Connecticut Light & Power brought in crews from other states to help with storm response.
Customers — and some business leaders Friday — questioned why those crews weren’t in Connecticut immediately after the storms, to start working right away. In Shelton, tree-cutting crews showed up on Monday, Aug. 29, about a day after Irene hit.
Cole said the delay came because those mutual aid crews were being held in their home states in case they were needed there.
“Once everyone along the East Coast knows a storm is coming, they’ll hold their crews,” Cole said. “Typically they won’t release the crews until after the storm is over.”
Why Not Just Install Underground Wires?
A big problem after both Irene and the October snowstorm was that trees fell on wires and utility poles, cutting power and causing a big mess.
So why doesn’t UI just install underground wires for its coverage area?
“To do it on a wholesale basis is very, very expensive,” Cole said Friday.
It would cost $1 to $2 million per mile — or about $6 billion for the entire UI system — Cole said.
Another thing it would mean, he said: rate hikes.
Cole said underground wires pose other problems, such as longer restoration times during outages and maintenance issues. In areas with coastal flooding, underground utilities are problematic, Cole added.
“Underground is not the panacea that you think,” Cole said.
What Went Right?
Despite the time and communication efforts, United Illuminating completed a monumental task without any employee accidents, Cole said.
The UI crews clocked 39,000 restoration hours, and visited 10,300 locations during the cleanup.
Cole said the company cannot sacrifice safety for speed.
While it took a long time for many customers to get their power returned, Cole said the company was still below federal Department of Energy standards for response times under the circumstances.
“From a federal government point of view, UI did a good job in terms of restoration,” Cole said.
What Has Happened Since The Storm?
Officials from both Connecticut Light & Power and United Illuminating have been meeting with the state’s Two Storm Panel about their response to both storms.
The panel made 82 recommendations on how the state can better prepare for future disasters — including tougher standards for tree trimming.
Two bills are pending before the state legislature regarding the storm response.
Click here to read a CTNewsJunkie article about a public hearing on the bills.
Cole said based on the state recommendations, UI will hold real-time exercises to prepare for another hurricane, and has created a group to review and improve its communication efforts.
UI is also reviewing plans for “microgrids” — or a small utility center that could remain functioning during storms for essential town services — and tree-trimming programs.