City of Buffalo Municipal Electric Utility Energy Emergency Response

City of Buffalo Municipal Electric Utility Energy Emergency Response Table of Contents Page 1. Goals 2 2. Types of Energy Emergencies..3 3. Utility Emergency Operating Plans.4 4. Link to General Reliability/Outage Prevention...9 1

1 Goals The Context for City of Buffalo Utility Emergency Response: 1.1 Buffalo Municipal Utility is to endeavor to avoid interruptions and to reestablish service with a minimum of delay. Maintenance BMU shall maintain its plant and system in such condition as will enable it to furnish adequate service. Interruptions of service BMU shall endeavor to avoid interruptions of service, and, when such interruptions occur, to reestablish service with a minimum of delay. 1.2 The City of Buffalo actively seeks to reduce minor electric outage times for any customer to an average of 30 Minutes. This is a statement and goal realizing the critical nature of our service and that achieving this goal depends on a culmination of technology, training, and planning. 1.3 Buffalo Municipal Utility will respond to emergencies with other public and private agencies and local, state and federal authorities. Agencies participate depending on the nature and extent of an emergency. For example, utilities respond alone to minor power outages. More severe emergencies engender greater involvement by others, culminating in federal response in the case of a major disaster. 2. Types of Electrical Energy Emergencies Minor Electrical Outages: On a daily basis utility respond unaided to minor 2

outages. On occasion they must coordinate their efforts with local authorities such as police, fire, public works and other utility service providers such as telephone, natural gas, and cable television. Major Electrical Outages and Disasters: As outages become more severe they have greater potential to impact large numbers of people. Electrical outages can affect all types of appliances and services. In an extended, widespread outage during cold weather, life, health and property are at risk with heating that require electrically driven fans for warm air distribution. Extend outages in hot summer weather affect life, health and property with air conditioning, refrigeration and freezing. Likewise the operation is impaired of other essential services that require electricity such as; pumps (water, sewage and fuels); lighting; motors; traffic signals; security systems; computers, cash machines and communications. This can be exacerbated if the outage is the result of a natural disaster that has caused additional infrastructural damage, such as damage to roads. Electricity Supply Shortages: During most power outages the problem is not one of electricity supply but of distribution; power (generation) is plentiful but transmission or distribution lines must be repaired before it can be delivered. It is possible, however, to have a shortage of electricity because of insufficient supply. Emergency Operating Plans address electrical outages only; utilities have alternative plans for addressing curtailment to deal with regional supply shortages. The Emergency Response Plan addresses curtailment only as it relates to curtailing customers for which the utility has interruptible contracts. In a regional curtailment, most of those options have already been implemented. 3. Utility Emergency Operating Plans A. DAMAGE TO UTILITY FACILITIES The key variable on which all service restoration lies is having the up to date resources to respond effectively and safely. Loss of utility facilities, trucks, equipment and supplies can severely hamper restoration efforts. In the event that the building does sustain serious damage, the utility is prepared to move its central operations to a selected alternative location. In addition, the utility has Mutual Aid Agreements (MAA) with many of Minnesota s Municipal Utilities and with private contractors. In the event that 3

trucks and equipment are lost, the utility would turn to its MAA contractors for assistance, similar to what it does now when it needs additional crews. B. STORM ANTICIPATION Major Outages are usually weather related. Though storms cannot be avoided, foreknowledge of approaching storms can enhance recovery by facilitating a more rapid response; additional personnel can be called in, emergency procedures can be reviewed, etc. Knowledge of weather conditions may also allow for better communication with customers - warning them that continuing bad weather may alter restoration estimates. C. EMERGENCY RAMP-UP AND EMERGENCY OPERATIONS CENTER ACTIVATION In the normal course of utility business certain operations are centralized and others decentralized. In an emergency, normal operations may change. Buffalo Municipal Utility recognizes three levels of emergency: Level I An incident or incidents requiring immediate action to prevent actual or potential loss...limited in scope such that normal operations and routine procedures can handle it...average restoration time is normally less than16 hours. Level II An incident...somewhat beyond the scope of normal operations...usually affects more than one construction area average restoration time is normally between 16 and 48 hours. Level III An major incident...of such magnitude that it is far beyond the scope of normal operations...requires extensive interdepartmental mobilization of personnel, materials and equipment in addition to contract line and tree crews... restoration time is normally more than 48 hours. D. COMMAND & CONTROL During an emergency, management efficiency is at a premium. The situation must be assessed, decisions made and actions implemented - very quickly and on a continuous basis. Generally, the kinds of decisions that must be made, who 4

makes them, and the nature of communications and work required, is qualitatively no different during an emergency than during business as usual. It is the amount of work required and the extent of risk to life and property that demands a streamlined, no-nonsense, management process. Repair work is scheduled, crews are dispatched, and work is completed. The Utility Director during an emergency produces work alternatives (based on damage assessments rather than budget constraints) and communicates with crews who do the repair work. Crews work long hours and are supplemented by contract crews. A few tasks required during an emergency are different from business as usual. On the other hand, the crews must be fed and lodged. The ability to stage essential fluid intake, meals, and rotate crews are important to the dynamics of completing the work at hand. E. RESTORATION PRIORITIES Restoration priorities are the principles and criteria utilities uses to determine how to allocate resources during an emergency. Priorities are generally a matter of necessity and common sense, and are nearly identical among utilities nationwide. Actual implementation of priorities is a dynamic process and the results can be quite confusing to the public. Restoration resources are allocated to restoration tasks based on certain criteria. The criteria provide a general order for prioritization, but do not mean there will be no restoration out-of-order, nor must that one priority be completely restored before the next priority can be addressed. The criteria are to assist planners and service managers in the wise allocation of resources; they do not dictate where every crew will be sent. TRANSMISSION FACILITIES: The nature of the electricity grid dictates how some areas will be restored. Transmission presents the largest unforeseen vulnerability to the City of Buffalo electric distribution system. Our system is dependent upon the ability of generation and transmission providers outside of our control who own the grid that produces the power for the City of Buffalo. The City of Buffalo currently has one distribution substation which step-downs the voltage and act as hubs of the distribution system. Service lines run from the nearest pole to the home or business. Priorities SAFETY: The first priority is safety, for customers and employees. Designated personnel and crews are supposed to address damaged lines and equipment that pose a threat to life and health before they address any other assignments. This may mean de-energizing a line rather than repairing it, but the equipment is to be made safe in some manner. Not every crew will be pulled off assignment to 5

clear a dangerous line, but someone will be immediately assigned to address the danger. UTILITY FACILITIES: The second priority is to secure its own facilities and equipment. A utility must be able to operate in order to restore power to others. For example, loss of service center facilities would require the utility to secure an alternative location for staging, supply storage, and office operations. STAND-BY GENERATING PLANTS: The third priority of a utility is to ensure that Stand-by Emergency Power is operating sufficiently until normal power is available and systems are restored. DISTRIBUTION FACILITIES AND INDIVIDUAL SERVICES: The fourth priority of every utility is the restoration of the distribution system and the services connected to it. While this may seem far down the list of priorities, there are mitigating factors. In most outages utility facilities remain undamaged and power generation remains available. Transmission lines are also quite large and strong, and often survive storm damage. In addition, it is logistically difficult to assign every crew to transmission repair. Crews usually will begin repair of a damaged distribution system quite quickly. With the restoration of the distribution system come potentially conflicting priorities. Overall, utilities follow a general rule of prioritizing to bring up as many people as quickly as possible. This leads them to allocate resources to distribution circuits where small repairs can bring up large numbers of customers. On the other hand, utilities recognize certain types of services as priorities, even though it may require more extensive repairs to restore these services and fewer customers may be restored. Utilities attempt to balance these needs. On occasion it works quite nicely - minimal repairs are required to bring up a large circuit serving many homes, hospitals, fire and other essential services. At other times key services may be the hardest hit. Taking time to hook up an individual fire station and to repair the distribution line that serves it, takes time away from repair of other circuits that, if fixed, might bring up hundreds of homes. Resource allocation must balance system requirements, general principles and specific needs in a fluid situation where there may be new occurrences of damage at any time. A priority list represents services of key concern to a utility; it does not necessarily establish the order in which services will be restored. For example, a utility will contact a hospital early in an emergency. If the hospital s back-up systems are in good shape and look to hold for a couple of days, the utility may put off restoring the hospital and address other more pressing needs. In addition, a priority list represents those services that the utility believes are the best candidates for back-up generation or alternative location plans. For example, most utilities work with customers who have in-house medical needs to encourage them to make arrangements for back-up generation or emergency lodging. 6

A. Significant variances in average outage duration should not be apparent among geographic areas. B. During storms, the main focus will be to correct problems that can be fixed quickly and restore the greatest number of customers. Generally, facilities should be restored in the following order: 1. Distribution substations 2. Distribution feeders 3. Distribution laterals 4. Individual service lines. Within this context, municipal request for restoration of hospitals, fire departments, police stations, emergency shelters, water treatment plants, sewage pumping stations and buildings that house large numbers of persons from which people cannot be easily relocated (nursing homes, etc.). Additional Prioritization Issues Utilities were asked about changes occurring in the residential sector, such as increasing numbers of home businesses or elderly persons, which might cause it to be considered a higher priority. Utilities replied that while demographics may be changing, the arguments for giving other services higher priority are valid still. F. MATERIAL RESOURCES During an emergency, BMU requires trucks, tools, equipment and supplies to restore the grid. They need these materials in greater number, and more quickly, than during business as usual. Generally, BMU utilizes the same kind of resources in an emergency as on a daily basis. Consequently, they rely on their own inventories or on their normal contract suppliers to meet their emergency needs. In the event these options fail, utilities can borrow from other utilities, as most electric industry materials are relatively standardized. Poles from one utility might not meet another utility s construction standards, but can still be used in an emergency. Wires, fuses and other supplies are often equally interchangeable. G. PERSONNEL RESOURCES A utility needs workers, in concentrating on specific tasks, to restore a damaged grid. Damage assessment, resource acquisition and allocation, grid repair and 7

re-energizing, and all aspects of communications and administration are the focus of a restoration effort. Workers must be assigned and trained for jobs they do not usually do. Their efforts must be supported and managed - in an extremely stressful environment. An Important aspect in working in these conditions is that the families of people reporting for work can be victims or out of power as well. It is important that utility workers have some sense of reassurance that their families immediate needs will be looked after even though they have to report to duty. A list of emergency response families with telephone numbers should be developed so that support agencies understand their roles and responsibilities, for example, that families of emergency response personnel may need assistance in relocating. While much of the work is routine, it must be done quickly and in a coordinated manner. This requires that BMU develop procedures to ensure work is done quickly and that mistakes are minimized. For example, outages called in by customers are reported on a standardized form that allows for continuous aggregation of outage information. H. INFORMATION MANAGEMENT AND COMMUNICATION Generally it is the handling of information and communications during an emergency that generates the greatest number of public complaints. Public complaints about communications generally raise several concerns. First, customers want to be able to reach the utility, and many prefer to talk to an individual, especially a local person, rather than a machine. Second, they want the truth, even if its bad news. Third, they want information to be consistent. Fourth, they want information quickly. Only designated individuals will be assigned to communicate with the media, in an accurate and truthful manner. 4 Link to General Reliability and Outage Prevention Outage restoration is an important, but small part of electric system reliability. As mentioned above, a full investigation of general reliability would address all systems (transmission and distribution) and would address electricity quality as well as outage prevention and restoration. However, prevention and restoration are the issues most important to most customers. The link between prevention and response is obvious - if outages are prevented there is no need to respond. In other words, could it be shown that the trees which fell, or the pole components which failed, were those which had gone the longest without attention and were the next scheduled for maintenance? Or, asking it a different way, were the areas which had received the most recent prevention attention, areas where the least damage occurred? It may be very difficult to answer these questions. During emergencies utilities 8

concentrate on restoration and do not record repairs with the same level of detail as they do during business as usual. Replacement numbers come from inventory and procurement records, not job reports. For sure, they do not keep the information in an electronic database easily reviewable. Utilities have been asked for such information and the Commission is working with them to identify available data and its form. The difficulties of undertaking such an analysis also must not be underestimated. 9