Utilities share lessons learned

May 16, 2006 2:44 PM, By Erin Semple

           

The concept of a mobile command center for use in emergency response -- which includes a conference room, video cameras for filming the scene and worktables -- came out of the experience of Sept. 11, 2001, says Michael J. Spall, program manager of emergency management for Con Edison Company of New York.
"In order to have a successful emergency program, a company must work with government agencies, because the emergency affects the city's infrastructure," he adds.
Throughout its reactions to Sept. 11, the utility company considered environmental health and safety and customer operations. The relevant need for a corporate emergency response center and fuel resources caused the company to create the concept of a mobile command post.
Spall spoke at the Emergency Preparedness and Service Restoration for Utilities conference at the Hyatt Regency in Atlanta last week.
"We also learned that training is necessary, and there should be a single point of contact for environment health and safety operations," Spall says. "One should also have more than one way to communicate, such as a radio system as well as Blackberries and cell phones."
Spall recommends that companies build relationships with local companies before emergencies occur, keep a business continuity consultant on staff, and have a comprehensive hurricane and crisis management plan available.
"We must protect people, responders and the environment," he says. "We are in the people business now."
Some 52 people attended the conference, which also featured speakers from Alabama Power Company, Dominion, Exelon Corp., FirstEnergy Corp., James LeeWitt Associates LLC, Kansas City Power and Light, O'Neill Management Consulting LLC, Potomac Electric Power Company, Pepco Holdings Inc., Progess Energy, Twenty First Century Communications and SCANA.
"This conference offered an exchange of ideas about the best practices in emergency restoration," chairman Dan O'Neill said. " I hope the attendees learned a lot from this conference. There was good energy in the room."
The conference aimed to focus on five main topics: how to assess a company's emergency response plans; how to communicate with media and customers; how to learn critical practices for incident command systems; how to execute emergency response plans; and how to apply lessons learned in recent hurricane, storm and ice-storm incidents.
On May 10, a pre-conference workshop focused on assessing a company's readiness for an emergency. May 11 was split into three sessions: communicating with the media and customers in an emergency, sharpening the effectiveness of a company's emergency preparedness function and executing a restoration plan. Session one discussed issues such as community continuity, working with the media and the public, and working with regulators and government officials. Session two focused on issues such as preparing for future incidents, maximizing resources during emergences, employee accountability, and mobile command centers. Session three focused on how to avoid false alarms, when to pull the trigger on making a decision and the value of information about current status.
May 12 focused on case studies from recent disasters and disruptions. This session featured case studies related to Hurricanes Ivan, Dennis and Katrina, storms and ice and snowstorms.
Rob Stewart, process manager of emergency preparedness for Pepco Holdings Inc., discussed how to be ready for emergencies. Based on his company's experience of Hurricane Isabel, he recommended upgrading field computer technology systems, having corporate command centers, and having a way to share information to the public such as a Web site. Then Jim Kennedy, CEO of Twenty First Century Communications, shared his views on tele-communication challenges during an emergency.
Jim Anderson, manager of distribution asset performance for Progress Energy, shared his experience in logistics of restoration efforts.
"Lesson one is to leverage existing expertise within your company," he says.
Progess Energy's customers are located in the North Carolina hurricane valley. According to Anderson, in the case of a hurricane, a company should have available lodging and staging, more than one way to communicate and be well coordinated.
"Logistics management is tied to storm modeling, damage assessment and crew tracking," he says.
Attendees learned new techniques to bring to their companies.
"I learned that a Web site is an integral part of communication," says Dave Geiszler, supervisor of business technology operations for Sacramento, Calif.
Geislzer was among several people who said attending the conference was worthwhile.
"People must be put first," says Tom Murphy, emergency planner coordinator for New England Region for National Grid. "I plan to take what I learned here and apply it to our emergency planning infrastructure."
Christine McAlpine, manager of safety and risk management for Alaska Communication Systems, came to learn more about an issue that was relatively new to her.
"I'm in the process of writing a state-wide disaster recovery plan for tele-communications," she says. "I learned a lot of things to add to the plan, especially different approaches. I plan to integrate all of it with our incident command system."
For more information, visit the Web site, www.infocastinc.com.

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