BWL December 2013 Ice Storm Outage Report

8/13/2019 BWL December 2013 Ice Storm Outage Report

1/80

BWL December 2013

Ice Storm Outage Report


2/80


3/80

BWL Board of Commissioners:

Pursuant to Board Resolution 2014-01-02, attached herewith please find a copy of the top

to bottom review of the BWLs ice storm response. The review incorporates comments,

recommendations and answers questions raised during the three Community Forums. It also

identifies 54 actions that the BWL has undertaken, is in the process of undertaking, or will

undertake in the near future to improve its storm response.

J. Peter Lark

February 18, 2014

Lansing, Michigan

1201 S. Washington Ave PO Box 13007 Lansing, MI 48901-3007 517-702-6710 www.lbwl.com


4/80


5/80

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

I. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PAGE 15

A. Overview of Severe Storms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 16

B. Description of BWLs Service Territory and

Electric Distribution Infrastructure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 19C. The Ice Storm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 20

D. Impact of Ice Storm on BWLs Service Territory and

Electric Distribution System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 22

II. STORM PREPARATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PAGE 24

A. Response Plans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 24

B. Monitor Weather Forecasts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 25

C. Training Personnel and Securing Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 26

D. System Hardening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 27

III. OUTAGE RESTORATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PAGE 31

A. Damage Assessment and Spotter Crews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 31

B. Crew Deployment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 34

C. Restoration Priorities and Timing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 37

D. Logistic Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 41

E. Internal Communications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 42

F. Outage Assessment Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 43

G. Lessons Learned . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 46

IV. CUSTOMER COMMUNICATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PAGE 47A. BWL Call center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 47

B. Twenty-First Century Call Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 50

C. BWL Internet Website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 54

D. BWL Email System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 54

E. BWL Outage Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 55

V. MANAGEMENT OF STORM RESPONSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PAGE 57

VI. EXTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PAGE 60

VII. SUMMARY OF RESPONSES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PAGE 63

VIII. SUMMARY OF PUBLIC COMMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PAGE 70

ATTACHMENT A: COMPARATIVE RELIABILITY INDICES . . . . . . . . . . . . . PAGE 72

ATTACHMENT B: BWL ELECTRIC SERVICE TERRITORY MAP . . . . . . . . . . PAGE 74

ATTACHMENT C: BWL CUSTOMER RESTORATION CURVE . . . . . . . . . . . . PAGE 75

ATTACHMENT D: TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY CUSTOMER LIST . . . . . . . . . . PAGE 76

APPENDIX: TRANSCRIPTS FROM COMMUNITY FORUM


6/80

6 x Page

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The December 2013, ice storm was the most catastrophic event to ever hit the Lansing Board

of Water & Lights (BWL) electric service territory. While the duration of the restoration effort

was neither better nor worse than other similar restoration efforts based on national data, it

did cause signicant hardship and suffering for customers who were out of service during the

holiday season. The combination of disrupted holiday plans, the duration of outages and the

cold weather was particularly difcult for the BWLs customers. In the wake of the storm the

BWL pledged a top-down review of its performance during the ice storm and its aftermath. This

report fullls that pledge.

Ice storms frequently result in a large number of extended outages because falling branches

and trees take down individual services, secondary distribution lines, single and three phase

primary lines, and can even damage high voltage transmission lines. Simply stated, they impact

every segment of a utilitys transmission and distribution system. These storms typically occur

during the year when daylight hours are at a minimum and temperatures are below freezing, so

crews must protect themselves from exposure. They may be accompanied by snow storms that

further hinder restoration efforts. Unless the ice melts quickly, branches and trees continue to

break days after the storm has passed damaging lines that had been repaired only days earlier.

The BWLs crews experienced all these difculties and in their restoration efforts.

The ice storm resulted in approximately 40% of the BWLs customers losing power; there has

been no comparable loss among Michigan utilities. The BWL sustained over 2,400 downed

power lines and replaced 5 miles of service lines, or half the normal annual volume, in the tenday restoration period. The volume of restoration work was unprecedented.

The BWL conducted a special public hearing to take comments from its customers on January

7thand the BWL also received comments from its customers at a meeting of the Committee

of the Whole on January 14th. The staff of the BWL then conducted three Community

Forum meetings on January 15th, 16th, and 17thin East Lansing, Delta Township and Lansing

respectively. During the Community Forums, staff requested that BWL electric customers

provide comments regarding their experiences during the storm, make recommendations to the

BWL to improve its storm response, and to ask questions, which the staff pledged to answer in

this top-down review.1

The BWLs storm response is designed around industry best practices. This begins with storm

preparations which include monitoring weather, training personnel, and hardening the system

for storm impact. Prior to the ice storm, the BWL operations staff was monitoring the storm and

preparing for its impact, but could not anticipate the unprecedented damage that it created.

1See Appendix 1 for transcripts from the three Community Forum Meetings


7/80

Page x7

The BWL followed its restoration plan and restored power to all of its system in ten days. Two

important components of the BWLs Outage Management System (OMS), however, were not

working, the conductor cut and Integrated Voicemail Response (IVR) call processors, which

resulted in inaccurate and contradictory information being provided to customers. Because the

OMS is also used to provide an estimated restoration time for customers, that information was

also unavailable. Although the conductor cut was awaiting a patch when ice storm occurred,

this was a critical component of the OMS needed to convey outage information to the BWL Call

Center and customers. The BWL should have been more diligent in assuring this issue was

resolved sooner.

Customers complained about long telephone wait times and difculty contacting anyone at

the BWL to inquire about their outages. Customers were uncertain if their outage reports

were being acknowledged, and local ofcials were unhappy with the lack of information being

supplied by the BWL on restoration progress and times. Prior to the ice storm, the BWL did

not have a crises communications plan. During a crisis, the BWL should be able to respond

promptly and accurately to different audiences with information specic to their needs. The

BWL did not have such a plan.

The BWL has worked hard to gain a reputation for reliability and safety. Having a storm

response time on par with other utilities facing similar conditions is not good enough for the BWL

or its customers. This report identies 54 actions that the BWL has already undertaken, is in

the process of undertaking or will undertake to improve its catastrophic storm response. Most

of these are renements to existing practices and procedures that have worked well in previous

storms. Others are new initiatives that will be part of ongoing practices and procedures.

The following list is represents the actions to improve the BWLs storm response capabilities.

They cover every aspect of a severe storm from preparation to communications.

A. Storm Preparation:

1. The BWL will include its distribution plan in its annual table top tests designed to

stress its emergency response and will use the results to continually improve its

emergency plans.

2. The BWL will consider implementing a set of triggers into its distribution plan.

3. The BWL will consolidate its Transmission and its Distribution emergency

response plans into one document.


8/80

8 x Page

4. The BWL will investigate the benet of collaborating with other Michigan utilities

to track and estimate the impact of inclement weather.

5. Based on the BWLs experience with the impact of the ice storm, the BWL

will make use of additional secondary role employees and these roles will be

discussed in subsequent sections.

6. Most utilities have not found placing overhead lines underground to be cost

effective. Instead reviewing maintenance practices and construction standards

seems to be a more reasonable method for improving the resiliency of the BWLs

distribution system. However, for those customers who want and are willing to

pay for undergrounding existing services, the BWL will provide the service.

7. The BWL will strictly adhere to a 5 year trimming cycle and is in the process of

modifying its tree trimming standards and procedures to remove all branches

located above distribution lines and better protect its lines during a major storm.

8. The BWL will begin to use multiple tree trimming contractors and assign work to

contractors based on past performance. The contractor with the best record of

performance will get a larger portion of the work. Recently, the BWL temporarily

increased the number of tree trimming crews under contract to eighteen.

9. The BWL will publish the contact information for its supervisor responsible

for trimming scheduling so customers can contact the supervisor directly withquestions or complaints regarding tree trimming procedures and workmanship.

B. Outage Restoration Actions:

10. The BWL is in the process of carefully reviewing spotter duty during the ice

storm and determining how many additional trained spotters would be needed

to efciently secure down lines and provide timely damage assessment during

an event with the destructive impact of the ice storm. Based on this analysis,

the BWL will survey its staff for additional personnel who would be suitable for

spotter duty and train personnel for both spotter and damage assessment duty.

11. The BWL will also utilize retired line workers to perform damage assessments

and serve as spotters.

12. The BWL will consider contracting with electric service rms for damage

assessment services to supplement its own staff.


9/80

Page x9

13. The BWL is developing common reporting forms and methods to be used by all

spotters and damage assessors and will stress the importance of adhering to

these during the annual training sessions.

14. The BWL will evaluate the use of damage predictive tools to determine if these

tools could help in assessing possible damage earlier in a storms approach.

15. The BWL will remind customers that lines marked with red and white tape are

power lines and the tape indicates that the BWL is aware that the line is down.

The BWL will publish this information on its website and Customer Connections

newsletter.

16. The BWL has expanded the number of utilities and non-utility electric

service contractors with which it has mutual aid agreements or service

contracts. The list is shown below.

Existing Agreements

Michigan Municipal Electric Association (35 Municipal Utilities)

Consumers Energy

New Agreements

American Public Power Association

Asplundh

Kent Power Hydaker-Wheatlake

FEMA Mutual Aid (Upon a Declaration of a State of Emergency)

Pending Agreements

DTE Energy (Under Negotiations)

These agreements both increase the number of potential crew sources

and provide geographical diversity as well. For example the APPA

agreement would enable the BWL to bring crews in from a number of

different states. In the event of a declaration of emergency, the FEMA

agreement would allow the BWL to bring in crews from nearly anywhere

in the United States.

17. The BWL is in the process of hiring 3 additional line workers and an

additional dispatcher to supplement its workforce and to help manage

crews during the restoration process.


10/80

10 x Page

18. With the addition of 3 line workers, an additional dispatcher, more trained

spotters, and the new mutual aid agreements the BWL has tripled the number of

line crews that are available for immediate deployment and can be used safely

and efciently during a major outage event.

19. The BWL does update its critical and public safety lists periodically to

ensure that it is up to date and complete. The BWL will share its overall

restoration plans with local public ofcials so that they can be kept up to

date on the BWLs restoration plans. If another catastrophic storm does

occur, local ofcials will be better able to respond to citizen inquiries

regarding the restoration progress.

20. The BWL will review its storm inventory based on the recent ice storm.

21. The BWL will investigate connecting its line truck laptops to its OMS system as atool to assist crews with storm responses.

22. The BWL has resolved the matters related to the OMS functionality. The

conductor cuts are now operational and the OMS performs to design standards.

23. To avoid this situation with other outage tools that may be employed in the future,

the BWL will conduct annual stress tests of all its restoration tools including, but

not limited to the OMS, outage call in number, Customer Service Center, and

Communications plans.

24. The BWL is moving forward with a project to implement smart grid and smart

meter technology, which will allow it to identify individual customer outages. It will

also develop a policy that will allow customers to opt out of smart meter use.

C. Customer Communications:

25. The BWL is hiring additional call center staff.

26. The BWL has implemented a process to assure call forward to the 877 number

occurs during large outages. This will allow CSR and supporting staff to

concentrate on line down, voice mail and other communications mediums.

27. The BWL will trigger the IVR in the 877 system to direct non-matched callers to

voicemail during major outage events.


11/80

Page x11

28. The BWL has recongured the Call Center to send messages in the voice

mailbox to CSRs automatically.

29. The BWL is aggressively advertised the 877 number for outages including all

available communications mediums, like magnets, social media, BWL Website,

and other customer communications.

30. During a major outage, the BWL Call Center staff will focus their efforts on

responding to email, texts, Facebook, Twitter, Nixle and voicemails left on the

outage reporting system with the goal of responding to storm related inquiries in

a timely fashion. The BWL has expanded the number of employees in secondary

storm roles to assist with these customer service functions.

31. The BWL will ensure that the distribution plan weather forecasting and storm

preparation function include employees who are directly or indirectly, through

secondary roles, responsible for customer service. This, along with other

changes, will assure that the BWL can respond to customer inquiries promptly.

32. The BWL is working with the 877 vendor to provide additional methods for

customers to be identied or matched when calling in to report an outage. This

may include using the last digits of an account number or social security number.

33. The interface between the 877 number and the OMS has been xed and alarms

will be added on each system to alert staff of any problems in the future.

34. The BWL has added text outage reporting to the 877 system to offer customers

another method for reporting outages.

35. The BWL is working on a method to provide quicker updating of customer data

from BWL system to 877 system. This is intended to provide better matches of

customers to service addresses.

36. The BWL is working to improve its ability to automatically call back customers

and provide them with updated outage information.

37. The BWL will continue its enhancements to its phone system. The

enhancements will use newer technology to increase Internet bandwidth,

increase available phone lines, and make the system fully redundant across

the BWL private city-wide network. This upgrade will allow the system to


12/80

12 x Page

dynamically increase the number of available lines to the call center during a

large outage, using many of them to forward calls to the 877 vendor site which is

designed for large volumes.

38. The BWL has increased the TFCC voice mailbox size to 8,000 messages and is

in the process of contracting with another vendor to assist in responding to voice

mailbox messages during a large outage.

39. The BWL is investigating a separate site created just for outage information

(including outage maps). This will help ensure that the BWLs outage website

will be available to customers in the event that a catastrophic outage disables the

BWLs main website.

40. Although the external email to Customer Service functioned normally during the

storm, the BWL is investigating establishing a redundant external email system.

41. The BWL has developed a temporary web-based outage map for its website.

The BWL is also working with a local vendor for a permanent outage map linked

directly to the BWLs OMS system. Phase I of the project covering functionality

has been completed and development is underway. Phase I is expected to be

completed soon.

42. In Phase II of the project, the BWL plans to continue enhancements to all of

its Information Systems that interact with customers. The next phase of theoutage map product for BWL will include further interaction with BWL customers,

allowing them to identify themselves to learn if our system shows them

specically out as well as possibly reporting an outage through the map system

to our OMS system. Other enhancements and features are being evaluated.

43. In addition to using twitter and Facebook, the BWL is investigating the use of

Nixle to communicate outage and other information to its customers.

D. Management of Storm Response:

44. The BWL will work with customers and local ofcials to determine how to

make local ofcials aware of seniors, customers with medical alerts, and other

vulnerable populations during extended outages.


13/80

Page x13

45. The BWL will be more proactive informing customers of where their responsibility

for service ends, the service mast, and the BWLs begins.

46. The BWL will maintain a list of qualied electricians who can repair service masts

and the BWL will help customers nance the cost of mast repair by allowing

customers to pay it off on their bill over a one year period without interest. A list

of qualied electricians will appear on the BWLs website.

47. During events like the ice storm, the BWL will work with local organizations to

maintain warming centers in the winter and cooling centers in the summer for

Lansing area residents.

48.As an integral part of the Lansing community, the BWL will work with other

organizations to respond to crisis that may affect mid-Michigan in the future.

The BWL is supporting work by The Power of We and others to help empowerneighborhoods to react to any type of emergency. The BWL pledges to be a part

of that coalition and play its part in protecting the Lansing community and to meet

with neighborhood associations to explain the BWL storm response plans and

listen to their concerns and questions.

E. External Communications:

49. Since ice storm outage restoration, the BWLs service territory has experienced

a number of severe winter weather events, and four separate outage eventsranging from 100 outages to 7,400 outages. In all of the severe weather events,

the BWL has posted, on all communications channels, at least two days prior

to the forecasted weather, warning customers about the impending storm and

directing them to call the BWL 877 outage number if they lost power. The

BWL has also continuously posted updates, cold weather safety tips, and City of

Lansing updates.

50. During the outages, the BWL has acknowledged the time the outage began, the

number of outages, the cause of the outage, the geographic area of the outage

that can be found on the outage map, the projected time of restoration, and full

restoration all clear.

51. Communication improvements have been noted on Facebook and Twitter with

positive comments by our customers.


14/80

14 x Page

52. The BWL has retained the communications rm of Martin Waymire to help

develop a crisis communications plan based on an examination of best practices

across the utility industry to make sure it has a strong crisis communications

protocol in place in the very near future. Martin Waymire will also assist during

emergencies if needed. In the meantime, the BWL has a working interim crisis

communications plan.

53. The BWL has also hired a social media specialist, a newly created position. The

social media specialist will help develop strategies on how to best communicate

with our customers over all social media channels.

54. The BWL will provide information to state and local ofcials on a regular basis.

During an event like the ice storm, it will assign a liaison to state and local

ofcials to answer questions that they may have from their constituents.


15/80

Page x15

2See Appendix for transcripts from the three Community Forum Meetings

I. INTRODUCTION

The December 2013, ice storm (hereafter referred to as the ice storm) was the most

catastrophic event to ever hit the Lansing Board of Water & Lights (BWL) electric service

territory. While the duration of the restoration effort was neither better nor worse than other

similar restoration efforts based on national data, it did cause signicant hardship and sufferingfor customers who were out of service during the holiday season. The combination of

disrupted holiday plans, the duration of outages and the cold weather was particularly difcult

for the BWLs customers. In the wake of the storm the BWL pledged a top-down review of its

performance during the ice storm and its aftermath. This report fullls that pledge.

The BWL also conducted a special public hearing to take comments from its customers on

January 7thand also received comments from its customers at a meeting of the Committee

of the Whole on January 14th. The staff of the BWL then conducted three Community

Forum meetings on January 15th

, 16th

, and 17th

in East Lansing, Delta Township and Lansingrespectively. During the Community Forums, staff requested that BWL electric customers

provide comments regarding their experiences during the storm, make recommendations to the

BWL to improve its storm response, and to ask questions, which the staff pledged to answer in

this top-down review. 2

In addition to this report, Mayor Virg Bernero has also asked a Citizens Review Team (CRT),

headed by Michael McDaniel to perform an independent review of the BWLs response to the ice

storm. This report will be made available to the CRT to aid in their investigation. This report will

also be reviewed by the Michigan Public Service Commission (PSC), which is also investigating

the ice storm responses of Consumers Energy Company and DTE Energy. Finally, this report

is being made available to all BWL customers who requested a copy and will also be available

to the general public on the BWLs website. The BWL looks forward to the review by the CRT

and the PSC and any recommendations that they might make to improve the BWLs electric

distribution storm response plans.

This report is composed of three broad parts. First is a general discussion of winter storms,

their impacts, and the BWLs service territory, Section I. Second is the actual restoration, most

of which conforms closely to utility best practices in the aftermath of a major storm, Sections

II and III. Third is a discussion of customer and external party communications and the BWLs

crisis management followed by a summary of actions and recommendations for improvement,

Sections IV through VII. In total, this report identies 54 actions that the BWL has already

undertaken, is in the process of undertaking or will undertake to improve its catastrophic storm

response. Most of these are renements to existing practices and procedures that have worked

well in previous storms. Others are new initiatives that will be part of ongoing practices and

procedures. Substantially all the questions posed by commenters during the Community Forum


16/80

16 x Page

meetings are answered in the discussion that follows. A brief summary of customer comments

received by the BWL at the three Community Forums is included in Section VIII, with the full

texts found in Appendix A.

A. Overview of Severe Storms

The ice storm was exceptionally destructive to the BWLs distribution system and its

reputation. The BWL has worked hard over the years to improve the safety and reliability

of its electric distribution system. This commitment is evidenced by the BWL consistently

outperforming other Michigan utilities on standard reliability metrics. Attachment A shows

the BWLs reliability performance relative to other Michigan utilities.

The compact nature of the BWLs service territory normally provides the BWL with an

advantage in routine maintenance and outage restoration. The historical performance of

the BWLs reliability indices demonstrates that the BWL has taken advantage of its serviceterritory to be one of the most reliable service providers in the state and the nation. One

major disadvantage of this service territory, however, is its vulnerability to a direct and major

storm impact. Severe storms can impact 100% of the BWLs customers; however utilities

with a wider geographical service territory may have a much smaller percentage of their

customers out of service. While other utilities may have resources spread throughout their

service territory to draw on in a storm, smaller geographical utilities, like the BWL, do not

have additional internal crews to draw upon.

This effect is evident from the ice storm. One of the most common measures of the impactof a severe storm is the percentage of customer outages caused by a storm. The ice storm

hit the entire BWL service territory and resulted in 40% of the BWLs customers being out of

service. The same storm hit Consumers Energys and DTE Energys service territories and

resulted in approximately 23% and 10% of their customers being out of service respectively.

The BWL has never experienced comparable damage to its service territory, nor has any

other Michigan utility experienced such extensive damage to their system.

Since 2003, the PSC has required utilities under its jurisdiction to annually report information

on catastrophic storms. The Commission denes a catastrophic storm as a storm that

results in 10% or more of a utilitys customers being out of service or for which a state of

emergency has been declared by a unit of government. Figure 1 compares the impact

of previous catastrophic storms on Michigans largest utilities with the ice storms impact

on the BWLs service territory. In some years, Consumers Energy and DTE Energy have

experienced more than one storm that resulted in 10% or more of their customers out of

service.


17/80

Page x17

Figure 1

Since service restoration time is related to the severity of the damage done by a storm, it

is difcult to judge, or benchmark, the BWLs restoration effort by the experience of otherMichigan utilities, as none have experienced a storm of comparable severity. Storms that

can create this severity do occur elsewhere in the country. These include tropical storms,

ice storms, and other particularly severe or unusual weather events.

Although these severe storms have unique features, they also have some similarities,

particularly ice storms. Ice storms result in a large number of individual outages because

falling branches and trees take down individual services, secondary distribution lines, single

and three phase primary lines, and can even damage high voltage transmission lines.

Simply stated, they impact every segment of a utilitys transmission and distribution system.

These storms typically occur during the year when daylight hours are at a minimum and

temperatures are below freezing, so crews must protect themselves from exposure. They

may be accompanied by snow storms that further hinder restoration efforts. Unless the

ice melts quickly, branches and trees continue to break days after the storm has passed

as weakened branches and trees nally give way and break. The BWL and its crews

experienced all these difculties in their restoration efforts.


18/80

18 x Page

These characteristics of ice storms mean that outage restoration times following ice storms

are frequently prolonged. Figure 2 below shows restoration times for other utilities in

the United States that have also experienced severe ice or winter storm events and the

percentage of their customers who were out of service.3 This data compares to the BWLs

40% customers out of service and ten day restoration.

Figure 2

Restoration times following the catastrophic storms depend on the utilitys transmission and

distribution design, construction and maintenance, the geography of the service territory,

and type of storm to name just a few factors. For winter storms, it also depends on whether

the ice melts quickly or not after the storm, any additional snow or ice accumulation duringthe restoration period, crew working conditions, hours of daylight, type and scope of

damage incurred, and other factors all impact restoration times. This makes benchmarking

restoration times after severe storms impossible without numerous qualiers. Nevertheless,

while not exhaustive, Figure 2 demonstrates that winter storms similar to the ice storm

typically require an extended restoration period and based on the experience of other

utilities, the BWLs ten day restoration period does not appear to be exceptional, neither

good nor bad.

The BWL, however, is not content with a typical response. It has worked hard to be amongthe very most reliable utilities in the state and country. This report documents changes that

the BWL has already undertaken, is in the process of undertaking, or plans to undertake in

the near future to improve its storm response plans, procedures, and capabilities.

3In order of low to high customer outages Kentucky Power, Public Service Electric & Gas, Kentucky Utilities, JerseyCentral Power & Light, Toronto Hydro, Unitil, National Grid, Public Service of New Hampshire, and Connecticut Light

& Power.

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

10 29 30 39 40 51 60 61 65 65

Restoration Days

Percentage of Customers Out of Service


19/80

Page x19

B. Description of the BWLs Service Territory

The BWLs electric service territory comprises the cities of Lansing, East Lansing, as well as

portions of Delta, Delhi, Dewitt, Lansing, Meridian, Watertown and Windsor townships. The

BWL has a total of approximately 96,000 electric customers. Attachment B shows the BWLs

electric service territory.

To serve this area, the BWL maintains 48 miles of overhead 138 kV transmission lines and

1,198 miles of overhead distribution lines. The BWLs primary distribution system operates

at 13.2 kV. The BWL also maintains 681 miles of underground distribution circuits, 25

substations, and 242 circuits. It is interconnected to the interstate bulk electric system (the

grid) at two interconnection points, the Enterprise and Davis substations.

The BWLs distribution system has been designed with several features to maintain

distribution reliability, especially when faults occur on the system. A fault occurs when

the normal ow of electricity along a circuit is interrupted, for example by a line break or a

tree contacting the power line. When a fault occurs, customers can lose power and utility

distribution and generation equipment can be damaged or destroyed. The BWL employs a

variety of measures to protect equipment and minimize the impact that a fault may have on

its customers. One such measure is that most of the BWLs primary circuits have multiple

feeds, so if one fails an alternate feed can supply electricity. In addition, to minimize the

impact of a fault (circuit interruption) on customers, the BWL makes use of switches, fuses,

reclosers and breakers to sectionalize its circuits. Switches are used to isolate a portion

of a circuit in the event a fault occurs on the circuit. By isolating a section that has beeninterrupted by a fault, power can be quickly restored to the remaining portions of the circuit,

limiting the number of customers without service.

The BWL also makes use of faulted current indicators to assist in detecting where faults

occur on its distribution system. These devices can either be read remotely or must be

viewed on location to determine if they detect a fault. Faulted current indicators can reduce

outage restoration times by reducing the time needed to locate a fault on the distribution

system.

Circuit breakers (breakers) are devices that operate to protect electric substation equipment

in the event of a fault occurring on a circuit. When a fault occurs, the breaker will open,

interrupting the ow of electricity to the circuit in order to protect the substation equipment

from being overloaded. Once the fault is cleared, restoration can begin immediately

because the substation equipment has been protected by the breaker.


20/80

20 x Page

4 Ice Storms: Hazardous Beauty, Dr. Keith C. Heirdorn, 1998. See also

www.islandnet.com/~see/weather/elements/icestorm.htm.5 Ibid.

Reclosers operate to protect distribution equipment and customers located upstream of

a fault. If a fault does occur, for example, a tree contacts a distribution line; the reclosers

will initially open the circuit interrupting power to customers downstream of the fault. After

briey opening and interrupting power, the recloser will make one or more attempts following

preprogramed protocols to close the circuit and restore power. Most of the time recloser

operations are successful with service preserved and equipment protected after normal

tree or branch contact with a power line. If the circuit cannot be restored, only customers

downstream of the fault lose power.

These features have worked well in the past to help the BWL isolate and minimize the impact

line breaks or other faults on customers and maintain reliability indices consistently better

than industry averages. The strategy helped bring approximately 90% of customers who

lost power back during the storm into service within four days. The scope of the ice storm,

however, with more than 2,400 lines down and an enormous number of tree and branch

contacts with distribution lines meant that the sectionalizing strategy was of limited use to the

10% of customers who remained without power for the last six days.

C. The Ice Storm

Ice storms form when multiple layers of air of different temperatures are present. They

begin with precipitation, as snow in an upper layer of air that is at or below freezing. As the

snow falls, it passes through a second layer of air with a temperature that is above freezing.

Passing through the warmer layer, the snow turns to rain and then falls through a third layer

of air, which is below 32 degrees. As it falls through this cold layer near the earths surface,it either freezes again, becoming sleet, or it super cools while remaining in a liquid state and

contacts tree limbs and power lines. After contacting these items, which are below freezing,

the precipitation turns to ice.

Ice storms frequently occur in a narrow band, typically thirty miles wide,4with precipitation

occurring as snow or rain on either side of the freezing rain. Slight variations in the path

of a winter storm can make a big difference in the type of precipitation falling on a service

territory. The Lansing community was hit directly by freezing rain from the storm on

December 21st. The freezing rain combined with an air temperature near the surface of 25

to 32 degrees can cause the accumulation of glare ice on surfaces.5

Conditions in mid-Michigan were beginning to be favorable for glare ice on the morning of

Saturday, December 21st. Precipitation for the day was light and freezing rain totaling .54

inches. Temperatures remained at freezing until about 9:00 a.m., when they fell to between


21/80

Page x21

6 Ibid.

30 and 31 degrees. Wind speeds also increased through the evening of the 21st, with hourly

speed averaging 12 with gusts up to 38 mph. These winds add to the loading stress on tree

limbs and power lines thus increasing the likelihood of breakage or failure.

Light freezing rain continued into Sunday, December 22nduntil approximately 6:00 a.m. The

total precipitation for Sunday was .26 inches. Temperatures throughout much of Sunday

remained between 30 and 31 degrees. Average wind speeds on the 22ndwere 7 mph with

gusts up to 64 mph. Temperatures began to drop in the late evening hours of the 22ndand

continued to fall through Monday the 23rd. By the end of the day on the 23rd, temperatures

dropped to the upper teens.

The estimated ice accumulation the Lansing area was approximately .5 inches. This amount

of ice adds 100 to 200 pounds of weight to distribution lines, depending on the span length

between poles. The BWLs distribution system was designed and built to conform to the

National Electric Safety Codes (NESC) heavy designation. These standards specify

construction to handle .5 inches of ice and with winds up to 40 mph. However as limbs and

trees covered with ice fell onto distribution conductors, the added weight caused lines to

break.

The weather following the ice storm added to the restoration challenges. Temperatures

remained well below freezing until December 28thand the ice accumulations did not melt.

In the four days comprising December 23rd through December 26th, 1 inches of snow

fell adding to the weight of ice on branches and trees. As a result, branches continued to

break and impact distribution lines for days after Sunday, December 22nd

. For example, oneprimary circuit needed to be repaired three times as branches and trees continued to fall on

the line days after the storm passed. This resulted in repeated outages for some customers.

The effect of this type of ice and snow on electric distribution lines has been described by

Dr. Keith C. Heidorn:

Hanging wire cables collect ice until the cable breaks or the rain

stops. Diameters of these ice-coated cylindrical cables may reach ve

centimeters, adding a weight of 15 to 30 kilograms per meter (10-20 pounds

per foot) to the wire. Lines not broken directly under the ices weight may

succumb to the combined forces of ice and wind, or by trees and branches

falling across them. Even days after the storm has abated, lines may break

when they react to the sudden change in their load as the ice falls from

them. Vibrations, often violent, may also occur as the ice falls, snapping

weak points in the line under the added strain.6


22/80

22 x Page

The damage to trees and other vegetation alone required a massive debris removal

operation that had to occur prior to or during line repair activity. The BWL had 15 tree

trimming crews assisting line crews by removing trees and branches. Adding to the difculty

was the location of many lines in backyards which made access more difcult, especially

with many fences encumbering access.

D. Impact of Ice Storm on BWLs Service Territory and Electric Distribution

SystemThe ice storm had a devastating impact on the BWLs electric distribution system.

Approximately 40,000, or about 40%, of the BWLs customers lost power. The combination

of ice accumulation and wind gusts up to 64 mph tested the design limits of the BWLs

distribution infrastructure. This combination of ice and wind caused widespread destruction

and damage to trees and other vegetation causing them to fall onto power lines. The falling

limbs, trees, and other vegetation combined with the ice loading on distribution lines caused

more than 2,400 lines to break.

Since much of the Lansing area has overhead distribution lines and extensive tree cover,

line failures were extensive and included primary voltage lines, secondary voltage lines,

and individual services. More than 1,000 individual service line failures occurred and these

individual services required intensive one-on-one attention from restoration crews. In fact,

the BWL replaced approximately 5 miles of service wire during the ten day restoration

period. This accounts for nearly half of the BWLs typical annual replacement.

To get a better perspective of the extent of damage and amount of repair work needed torestore services, Table 1 shows repair equipment used during the ten day storm restoration

period compared to normal annual use:

CategoryQty Issued during

Ice Storm

Total Annual

Usage

% Increase over

Annual Usage

Deadends 2551 1579 162%

Fuse Links 347 184 189%

Service Entrance Sleeves 4,645 1,470 316%

Splicing Sleeves 1,106 705 157%

Meter Sockets 1,023 689 148%

Automatic Splices 3,922 494 794%

General Wire Holders 1,415 558 254%

Table 1


23/80

Page x23

There are many other examples evidencing the volume of work required to repair damaged

distribution infrastructure. For example, insulated service entrance sleeves (or insulinlk) are

used to connect two types of wire together. For storm preparation, the BWL warehouse

always stocks 100 of these. Typically, the BWL will use 850 of these insulinks annually for

all work including storm restoration, maintenance and new construction. During this storm

crews used 2,295 of these insulinks, or almost 3 times the annual use for this item.

Another example is a wire holder that connects service wires to a home or building. The

BWL warehouse policy is to always stock 50 of these in case of an outage emergency. In a

normal year, the BWL uses about 540 of these for storm restoration, maintenance and new

construction. During the ice storm crews used 1,337 of this particular wire holder. That is

almost 2.5 times the amount of wire holders used in a normal year.

The following photo provides insight into the type of damage created by the ice storm and

the working conditions to which line crews were exposed.


24/80

24 x Page

II. STORM PREPARATIONS

The BWLs outage restoration plan follows industry best practices and has proven to be effective

in past storms. These best practices include storm preparations, utility response, and lessons

learned. An effective outage restoration program begins with preparations well before a storm

approaches. Preparations include:

Having and following an effective restoration plan

Monitoring weather for possible storm events

Training personnel and securing resources to restore power

Hardening transmission and distribution facilities against severe weather

A. Response Plans

The BWL has an Emergency Action Plan (EAP) along with an Electric Transmission and

Distribution Restoration Procedures and Order of Restoration Plan (distribution plan) and

a Transmission Emergency Operations Plan (transmission plan). The transmission plan

is required of all transmission operating utilities and is enforced by the National Electric

Reliability Corporation (NERC). The transmission plan was developed in 2011 to comply

with NERC requirements. The BWL EAP was updated in October 2013 and covers

corporate response to a number of potential emergencies.

The electric distribution plan was last formally updated in 2005, but a draft update was

completed in December 2013, following lessons learned sessions conducted after theNovember 2013 wind storm. The components of that distribution plan are essentially

the same components followed as best practices by utilities today and has been used

successfully numerous times in the past. These plans detail the processes and procedures

to follow in the event of various emergencies or restoration efforts, personnel responsibilities,

storm response center stafng, the implementation of the incident management system, and

communications with the Lansing Emergency Operations Center (EOC) among other things.

Due to the BWLs size, its operations center (BESOC) also serves as its electric storm

operations center. The BWL does structure its storm response plan on the Incident

Command System (ICS). The ICS is a widely adopted process for addressing any

emergency, large or small, in any emergency eld, re, accident, earth quake, and other

crisis.

The BWL does not regularly test its electric distribution plan under conditions similar to the

scope or conditions of the ice storm. Table top exercises designed to push the scale of a


25/80

Page x25

potential contingency are a regular part of the BWLs Water Departments planning activity

and the electric transmission plan but have not been regularly undertaken for the electric

distribution plan. However the occurrence of several electric distribution outages each year

do keep all storm restoration personnel current with outage management plans. Table top

exercises can help identify areas of an emergency plan that need attention and prepare staff

for their roles during emergency conditions. Deciencies or weak components of a plan can

be identied, remedied, and the update plan disseminated to staff.

Larger utilities frequently make use of triggers in their emergency plans. Triggers represent

predetermined procedures and resource commitments designed to meet contingencies of

various scope and type. For example, a normal storm might be level 1, while a storm with an

impact similar to that of the ice storm might be a level 2 or 3. Once criteria are met and the

level determined, staff knows how to proceed to meet the contingency. The BWL does not

currently make use of triggers.

The transmission and distribution plans cover a variety of non-storm as well as storm

contingencies and the two plans have not created any difculty to date. To avoid any

potential future confusion over which plan is operative in an emergency, however, the BWL

should consolidate these plans into one transmission and distribution emergency response

plan.

II.A.1. BWL Response

1. The BWL will include is distribution plan in its annual table top tests designed tostress its emergency response and will use the results to continually improve its

emergency plans.

2. The BWL will consider implementing a set of triggers into its distribution plan.

3. The BWL will consolidate its transmission and its distribution emergency

response plans into one document.

B. Monitor Weather Forecasts

In order to prepare for possible damaging weather, the BWL subscribes to a private weather

service, monitors National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) weather

forecasts, and monitors other publicly available forecasts. Additionally, Lansings EOC

sends weather alerts to the BWL and others if severe weather is forecast to reach the

Lansing area. These forecasts are used by transmission and distribution (T&D) operations


26/80

26 x Page

7See Section III.B.1. for a list of new mutual aid agreements.

staff to continually monitor weather and identify possible events that could damage the T&D

system. In addition, each Thursday morning, the T&D and generation staff meet with market

operations and environmental staff to discuss any potential contingencies in the coming

week. These meetings are used to alert each department of possible storm damage and

adjust stafng levels to meet the contingency.

Whenever a potentially damaging storm is forecast, BWL operating staff discusses the

potential for storm damage, required resources if damage is possible, and logistical needs.

In addition to six BWL crews, a minimum of six Michigan Municipal Electric Association

(MMEA) crews and crews from a number of other utility and non-utility companies are

available to be called for support.

During the operations meeting on Thursday, December 19th, the impending ice storm was

discussed and personnel alerted to the possible impact on Lansing. By Saturday, the BWL

was prepared for storm restoration, but could not anticipate the scope of damage caused by

the ice storm.

II.B.1. BWL Response

4. The BWL will investigate the benet of collaborating with other Michigan utilities

to track and estimate the impact of inclement weather.

C. Training Personnel and Securing Resources

It is a nearly universal practice among electric utilities to maintain sufcient line crews for

normal operations and most storms. Utilities, however, do not employ crews to handle

catastrophic storms because the additional crews would be idle most of the time. Instead,

utilities enter mutual aid agreements with other utilities or private contractors when additional

crews are needed for storm restoration. Prior to the ice storm, the BWL had mutual aid

agreements with the MMEA and Consumers Energy. The BWL has subsequently entered

into agreements with additional companies and utilities for mutual aid. 7

Many utilities assign employees not directly responsible for storm restoration to a secondary

role in the restoration process. These roles include spotters, damage assessors, backup

Customer Service Representatives for taking and recording outage information, community

liaisons, and other functions. Secondary roles leverage existing staff during infrequent

events that require mobilization of many times more personnel than normal operations.

Like other utilities, the BWL also enlists the assistance of staff not normally assigned to

storm related functions. For example, some BWL staff are trained to be spotters and safety


27/80

Page x27

personnel. Well trained spotters free up line personnel for other restoration services.

These individuals receive annual training to secure line down sites or assess equipment

damage for restoration planners. Three weeks prior to the ice storm, the BWL undertook its

annual spotter training.

II.C.1. BWL Response

5. Based on the BWLs experience with the impact of the ice storm, the BWL

will make use of additional secondary role employees and these roles will be

discussed in subsequent sections.

D. System Hardening

The goal of storm hardening is to protect the transmission distribution infrastructure from the

damaging effects of a storm. The BWL undertakes this goal through construction standards,system design, and vegetation management.

The sectionalizing component of system design has already been discussed. Sectionalizing

minimizes outage frequency and duration in most cases. The BWLs distribution construction

standards for ice and wind comply with the NESC designation for heavy with design

criteria for ice accumulations of .5 inches and winds up to 40 mph. The heavy criterion is

one of three criteria used to guide utility construction standards. The other two are light

and medium. The heavy standard is the most robust construction standard and adhering

to this standard is in keeping with industry best practices. Although the combination of iceand wind pushed the design limit of the distribution infrastructure, non-line equipment, like

poles and cross arms sustained less damage than anticipated. Lines, likewise, performed to

design standards. These lines only failed with the additional loading of ice laden branches

and trees. The BWL also uses hardening material in vulnerable areas. For example, in

some areas of its service territory, the BWL uses Hendrix wire to reinforce lines so as to

make them more resistant to failure. Hendrix wire is especially helpful in areas exposed to

thick tree canopies.

Another hardening construction option is to bury or underground lines and services. The

BWL received numerous suggestions to bury the distribution system during the Community

Forum meetings of January 15th, 16th, and 17th. Undergrounding existing lines and services

is a tradeoff between reliability, reducing the chance of outages during events like the ice

storm, and the nancial cost of undergrounding lines. It costs about $1,000,000 more per

mile to underground services rather than using standard overhead lines. Cost estimates of

undergrounding the Michigan system is in the tens of billions of dollars. The BWL has not


28/80

28 x Page

prepared a formal estimate of undergrounding its system, but an estimate of at least $500

million, based on the BWLs system and incremental cost of undergrounding, would seem

reasonable. The BWL does require underground services for all new construction, but the

cost of retrotting its system is prohibitive. However, the BWL is willing to place a customers

overhead service underground for those customers willing to pay the cost of doing so.

It should also be kept in mind that undergrounding services have other disadvantages. First,

contractors or home owners digging in a yard frequently hit lines, including electric lines.

This can occur even when Miss Dig has been called prior to digging. Second, although

an underground system is less likely to experience an outage than an overhead system,

outages that do occur on an underground system usually take longer to repair. When a fault

does occur, linemen are able to walk along an overhead line and readily ascertain where the

fault has occurred. In an underground system, it is much more difcult to locate and repair a

fault, thus increasing the time and cost required to make the same repairs.

Most damage incurred during the ice storm resulted from falling branches and trees. The

BWL has developed and maintains a vegetation management program that is designed

to protect its distribution system. Most of the damage done to distribution circuits and

customer services during the ice storm resulted from falling branches and trees. Vegetation

management, keeping trees and branches from power lines, is an important part of

maintaining distribution reliability during inclement weather and in protecting the public from

downed power lines. The goal of tree trimming is to create a large enough clear area around

power lines to protect them from contact with vegetation until the next trimming cycle while

still maintaining healthy and attractive vegetation growth. Vegetation management mustalso create enough clear space around utility poles and lines to allow access by line crews.

When vegetation contacts a power line, it either causes the line to break or creates a fault

that triggers a disruption in service or results in customer outages. The BWLs vegetation

management policy adopts minimum trimming distances that depend on the type of

conductors used and the span between poles. This policy also adopts a minimum vertical

and horizontal distance and requires trimming techniques that are suitable for various types

of vegetation. This policy is consistent with standards developed by the American National

Standards Institute (ANSI), specically ANSI 300 and ANSI 133.1, and was updated in June

2013. The BWLs policy is to create a buffer around its power lines to protect the lines from

the movement of branches due to wind. It is not designed to protect the lines from falling

branches located in the tree canopy above the power line, a situation common with higher

and more mature trees, unless these trees are dead or have dead branches and pose a

danger to the power line.


29/80

Page x29

The BWLs vegetation management program is planned and directed by the BWLs

forester. The BWLs policy is to perform clearance along its overhead lines on a 5-7 year

cycle although some lines may be trimmed more frequently if circumstances require more

aggressive trimming. This policy means that each circuit is inspected and cleared each 5-7

years depending on the type of line and the type and density of vegetation around each

circuit. Trimming is undertaken by crews that specialize in this service. The BWL normally

contracts with outside vendors to have four crews performing vegetation management in

addition to one of its own crews. Recently, the BWL has temporarily increased its contract

tree trimming crews to eighteen in order to clear storm debris and trim trees along trouble

circuits.

The BWL requires its contract crews to follow industry accepted practices to protect the

health of trees that are trimmed along right of way or easements. Occasionally, the BWL will

request permission from a homeowner to remove a dead or diseased tree outside a right of

way or easement if the tree poses a danger of falling onto a power line.

Like other utilities, the BWL also uses an herbicide that is not harmful to humans or animals

to control shrubs and shorter trees, less than 10 feet in height, in its right of way and

easements. However, it does not use an herbicide on private property without the consent

of the owner.

The Lansing area has experienced widespread destruction of ash trees due to the emerald

ash borer. Mature ash trees can grow to 65 feet in height with a width of 40 feet. Falling

branches and entire ash trees from outside right of ways and easements can cause powerlines to break and even cause pole or cross arm failures.

The BWLs vegetation management expenditures are shown below:

Year Expenditures

2009 $1,001,248

2010 $841,374

2011 $1,001,493

2012 $1,334,417

2013 $2,199,242

During the Community Forum meetings, a number of commenters criticized the tree

trimming performed by Wright Tree service and the BWLs overall vegetation management

program.


30/80

30 x Page

II.D.1. BWL Response

6. Most utilities have not found placing overhead lines underground to be cost

effective. Instead, reviewing maintenance practices and construction standards

seems to be a more reasonable method for improving the resiliency of the BWLs

distribution system. However, for those customers who want and are willing to

pay for undergrounding existing services, the BWL will provide that service.

7. The BWL will strictly adhere to a 5 year trimming cycle and is in the process of

modifying its tree trimming standards and procedures to remove all branches

located above distribution lines to better protect its lines during a major storm.

8. The BWL will begin to use multiple tree trimming contractors to assign work

to the contractor based on past performance. The contractor with the best

record of performance will get a larger portion of the work. Recently, the BWLhas temporarily increased the number of tree trimming crews under contract to

eighteen.

9. The BWL will publish the contact information for its supervisor responsible

for trimming scheduling so customers can contact the supervisor directly with

questions or complaints regarding tree trimming procedures and workmanship.


31/80

Page x31

III. OUTAGE RESTORATION

The BWLs restoration plan closely follows industry best practices. Responding to devastating

ice storms requires several simultaneous and co-dependent operations. Crews need to be

mobilized, trained spotters need to be deployed, restoration planners need to have reliable

information on the state of the system, logistics need to be in place to support the effort, and

the restoration progress must be communicated to customers, public ofcials, and the media.

These operations must all commence prior to staff knowing the scope, severity, and type of

damage created by the storm.

A. Damage Assessment and Spotter Crews

To efciently and safely restore power after a storm has passed, crews must be dispatched

to the proper location with the right material, supplies, and skill level to repair the distribution

infrastructure. This begins with restoration planners knowing the scope, location, and typeof damage the distribution system has sustained. With this knowledge and restoration

priority policy, planners can dispatch crews efciently to restore as many customers as

possible as quickly as possible while maintaining public safety. This function of a restoration

plan is referred to as the damage assessment phase and begins immediately after a storm

has passed and it is safe to dispatch assessment crews into the eld. For severe storms,

like the ice storm, the damage assessment may continue for several days after the storm

has passed. It is undertaken simultaneously with the actual restoration.

Damage intelligence for restoration planners comes from the Outage Management System(OMS) as well as from damage assessors in the eld who conrm the damage predicted

by the OMS while also identifying its actual location and determining the type of damage.

Planners use this information to decide which crews are dispatched to which outage

locations. For example, the OMS may predict an outage on a segment of primary line.

Damage assessment crews will then conrm the outage, determine where it occurred on the

line segment, and ascertain the nature of the damage which could be a pole down, cross

arm down, blown fuse, line down, or other problems. Damage assessors may be line crew

members, spotters, or other trained personnel.

Spotters are critical to the damage assessment phase. While line crew personnel can

be used for spotter activity, it is common for non-line personnel familiar with a utilitys

distribution equipment, typology, and construction methods to ll some, or this entire role, in

the event of a severe storm. This frees up line workers to concentrate on repairs. The BWL

follows this practice and has trained employees who are not members of a line crew to ll

the spotter role. These employees are engineers, designers, and electrical service workers.


32/80

32 x Page

8 Best Practices For Storm Response On U.S. Distribution Systems, Lavelle A. Freeman, Gregory J. Stano, MartinE. Gordon, March 23, 2010.

To keep its spotters up to date on the BWLs distribution practices and technology, the BWL

conducts annual training sessions. The most recent annual training session occurred three

weeks prior to the ice storm.

Spotters also perform an important public safety function by safeguarding down power lines

to protect the public. Spotters both identify lines down and either guard energized lines

until a line crew can make the line safe or mark them with tape to warn the public. Spotters

also identify and tag foreign wires like cable or communications wire to prevent repeated

wire down calls. During the ice storm there were a record number of down lines causing

the spotters to spend a great deal of time securing as many downed line sites as possible.

This meant that damage assessment fell to line crews, who were tasked with both damage

assessment and repair.

Having sufcient, well trained spotters who can also perform damage assessments is

necessary for efcient restoration following a devastating storm. Without the work ofspotters, line crews may be sent to the wrong location, have the wrong material, may be idle

awaiting directions, or spend time performing damage assessments. The BWL deployed

twenty three spotter crews during the ice storm and they required nine days for the crews to

complete their work. Spotters were required throughout this period because branches and

trees continued to fall and break lines throughout the restoration period. While the BWL has

maintained sufcient spotter crews for previous storms, the scope of the ice storm meant

line crews had to spend time on damage assessment and spotter crews were challenged to

both secure down wires and provide damage assessments.

The importance of damage assessment cannot be overstated. In their paper Best Practices

for Storm Response on U.S. Distribution Systems, the authors state:

Damage assessment is effectively a bottleneck in the storm restoration

process. Since crews will not typically be dispatched until assessment

results are analyzed, foreign and local crews are idle while waiting for their

assignments.8

Although spotters and damage assessors are trained annually, not all use the same forms

and methods for reporting damaged equipment. This can lead to confusion or the need for

follow-up questions from restoration planners or line crews. Common forms and methods

for reporting damaged equipment would make the planning process more efcient.


33/80

Page x33

Customers calling in down lines sometimes confused BWL power lines with communications

or cable company lines. This diverted spotter crews who were responding to a record

number of BWL downed power lines. When spotters locate a down power line and are

unable to remain with the line, they mark it with a red and white tape. They mark down

communications or cable lines with orange tape. The BWL is responsible for down power

lines, while the cable or communications companies are responsible for down cable and

communications lines. Customers should direct calls regarding down communications or

cable lines to the cable or communications companies.

The BWL relies on damage assessment once the storm has impacted the service territory in

order to determine the number of crews and type of material needed for restoration. While

this practice is universal among electric distribution utilities, some utilities also attempt to

predict or estimate the storm damage prior to the arrival or during the storm. Larger utilities

in areas that frequently experience severe weather may use computer programs to estimate

the damage, while others simply use matrices based on the type of storm and historical

damage information. Although, the damage assessments undertaken by eld crews is

necessary and indispensable, the use of predictive tools may help determine if additional

outside crews may be necessary prior to the storms arrival.

III.A.1. BWL Response

10. The BWL is in the process of carefully reviewing spotter duty during the ice

storm and determining how many additional trained spotters would be needed

to efciently secure down lines and provide timely damage assessment duringan event with the destructive impact of the ice storm. Based on this analysis,

the BWL will survey its staff for additional personnel who would be suitable for

spotter duty and train personnel for both spotter and damage assessment duty.

11. The BWL will also utilize retired line workers to perform damage assessments

and serve as spotters.

12. The BWL will consider contracting with electric service rms for damage

assessment services to supplement its own staff.

13. The BWL is developing common reporting forms and methods to be used by all

spotters and damage assessors and will stress the importance of adhering to

these during the annual training sessions.


34/80

34 x Page

14. The BWL will evaluate the use of damage predictive tools to determine if these

tools could help in assessing possible damage earlier in a storms approach.

15. The BWL will remind customers that lines marked with red and white tape are

power lines and the tape indicates that the BWL is aware that the line is down.

The BWL will publish this information on its website and Customer Connections

newsletter.

B. Crew Deployment

For previous storm damage, the BWL has been able to restore power to customers quickly

using its own crews. For catastrophic storms, however, the BWL has entered into mutual

aid agreements with other utilities and secured contracts with private service companies

for additional crews. This is a near universal practice in the electric utility industry. It would

be cost prohibitive to maintain crews for a catastrophic storm that might only occur at 40 or

50 year intervals. Instead, sharing crews is more logical as a storm is not likely to have the

same severe and devastating impact on all utilities simultaneously. Prior to the ice storm,

the BWL had mutual aid agreements with MMEA and Consumers Energy.

The BWL typically has a crew on call 24/7 in the event of a power outage somewhere on

the system. On the evening of December 21st, the BWL increased that to three crews. By

Sunday morning, December 22nd, all available BWL crews were activated in addition to

spotter crews. At 8:00 a.m. on Sunday morning, the BWL began contacting MMEA mutual

aid cities for additional crews. Six crews arrived or were in transit on Sunday.

BWL crews were initially used for cut and runthat is securing or tying-off power lines,

for damage assessments, and as bird dogs for mutual aid crews. Bird dogs are assigned

to accompany crews from other utilities or outside contractors, particularly for work on the

primary distribution system. The use of bird dogs is necessary because outside crews

do not know the BWL system, primary prints, or even streets and other locations. The

number of qualied BWL bird dogs limits the number of crews that can be safely and

efciently managed during the initial phase of the restoration process. The use of bird

dogs is a standard industry practice, an important safety measure, and an integral part of

best practices for storm restoration. Electric line worker jobs are among the top ten most

hazardous jobs in the United States. To protect line workers unfamiliar with the BWLs

distribution technology, design, and construction methods, the BWLs safety procedures

require outside crews working on high voltage primary distribution infrastructure to be

accompanied by a bird dog. Bird dogs are not required for repairs to secondary voltage

lines, laterals, and individual services.


35/80

Page x35

After the damage assessment provided a scope of damage to the BWLs system, the BWL

determined that it would need additional outside crews. Four additional MMEA mutual aid

crews arrived Friday, December 27th. On Sunday the 29thtwelve additional crews arrived.

Figure 3 below shows crew status by day during the restoration period.

Figure 3

During the Community Forums, a number of commenters suggested that the BWL did not

secure enough line crews and, thereby, increased the duration of the outages. This was not

the case. With the need to allocate personnel to perform damage assessments, to serve

as bird dogs, to make safe downed power lines, and manage crews while switching circuits

on and off, the BWL had the optimal complement of crews on site at the right time. More

line crews earlier would have resulted in crews being idle or the safety of those crews being

compromised until damage assessments were conducted or bird dogs became available.

More crews were used later in the restoration effort after primary lines were repaired and

made safe and outside crews could concentrate on laterals, secondary voltages, and

individual services without the need for BWL bird dogs.


36/80

36 x Page

Standard industry practice is to perform damage assessments to assist planners in

managing the restoration process, make secure live wires, and use bird dogs to assist

outside crews, all of which limit the number of outside crews that can be safely and

efciently used in restoration. More trained spotters to do damage assessments and trained

bird dogs to assist outside crews would free up BWL crews to repair higher voltage lines

sooner.

III.B.1. BWL Response

16. The BWL has expanded the number of utilities and non-utility electric

service contractors with which it has mutual aid agreements or service

contracts. The list is shown below.

Existing Agreements

Michigan Municipal Electric Association (35 Municipal Utilities)

Consumers Energy

New Agreements

American Public Power Association

Asplundh

Kent Power

Hydaker-Wheatlake

FEMA Mutual Aid (Upon a Declaration of a State of Emergency)

Pending Agreements

DTE Energy (Under Negotiations)

These agreements both increase the number of potential crew sources

and provide geographical diversity as well. For example the APPA

agreement would enable the BWL to bring crews in from a number of

different states. In the event of a declaration of emergency, the FEMA

agreement would allow the BWL to bring in crews from nearly anywhere

in the United States.

17. The BWL is in the process of hiring three additional line workers and an

additional dispatcher to supplement its workforce and to help manage

crews during the restoration process.


37/80

Page x37

18. With the addition of three line workers, an additional dispatcher, more trained

spotters, and the new mutual aid agreements, the BWL has tripled the number

of line crews that are available for immediate deployment and can be used safely

and efciently during a major outage event.

C. Restoration Priorities and Timing

The BWL follows industry best practices and storm response plans that are followed by most

utilities in the United States to establish restoration priorities. The BWLs plan prioritizes

restoration based on public safety, criticality, and restoring power to the largest number of

customers as quickly as possible. The order of priority is as follows:

Public Safety

Clear and make safe all downed power lines

Energize communications centersFirst Priority Hospitals and urgent care facilities

Police and Fire

Water pumping facilities

Wastewater treatment plants and pumping stations

Then, restore service to the largest number of customers as quickly as possible:

First Restore and trim primary circuits and customers

Restore and replace blown fuses and transformers

Second Restore and replace secondary lines

Third Restore and trim services

Trim threatened wires

Fourth Respond to partial power or power quality calls

Non-critical trimming and cleaning

Once public safety priorities are met, the BWLs plan calls for restoring power to the largest

number of customers as quickly as possible. That means that primary voltages servinglarger numbers of customers, lateral lines, and large customers are restored rst. Restoring

one primary outage may bring 1,000 or more customers back into service, whereas repairing

a secondary lateral may only bring a few hundreds back, and repairing a secondary

transformer may only bring a few dozen into service. Individual services take the longest

time, since one crew is needed for each customer. Figure 4 provides a visual representation

of this plan.


38/80

38 x Page

Figure 4

Primary circuits carry power at higher voltages from substations to various points along the

circuit and may serve a number of lateral circuits or large customers. Lateral circuits move

the power from the primary lines to transformers, which serve individual customers.

During the Community Forums meetings, several speakers questioned why power was

restored to near-by residences, but not their residence. Once damage assessments

are complete, priorities are established based on the highest number of customers to be

restored in the least amount of time. If multiple primary circuits have opened (tripped ofine)

due to damaged equipment or severed wires, each downed circuit is ranked from highest to

least amount of customers connected. The circuit that has the highest number of customers

connected receives the highest priority until all circuits have been restored. If a lateral circuit

connected to a primary circuit is also damaged, it is cut and cleared (disconnected to the

primary circuit) until primary circuits are restored rst. This phase of the restoration process

may seem illogical to customers since the primary wires are restored and some customers

may have power while others, on the damaged lateral, do not. Customers remaining without

power observe crew leave without fully restoring the lateral circuits, or individual services.

Keep in mind that it may take a crew the same amount of time to repair one individual

service connection as it does to repair a primary circuit, which would restore power to

hundreds or thousands of residences.

Simplified Distribution Circuit


39/80

Page x39

The priority strategy followed throughout the BWL results in large numbers of customers

being returned to service early in a major outage and fewer numbers of customers taking

longer to restore power. Frequently, it takes as much time to restore power to the last 5-10%

as it does the rst 90-95% of customers. Figure 5 shows the geographic dispersion of

outages on the BWL system. Areas shown in red depict primary circuit outages. Consistent

with BWLs restoration priority, these were the rst to have service restored. Areas in yellow

were secondary voltage lines, laterals, and individual services that were out of service.

These were restored after the primary circuits were restored. This process brought 90% of

customers back into service in four days.

Figure 5


40/80

40 x Page

The BWLs ice storm service restoration ts the national experience. Figure 6 shows

restoration curves for a major summer storm that affected states in the Ohio Valley and

Mid-Atlantic area. The gure also shows the BWLs ice storm restoration curve. The curve

shows the percentage of customers who were out of service that are returned each day of

the restoration effort. The BWLs restoration curve ts the national experience even though

the BWLs storm was a winter storm.

Figure 6

This represents a common restoration experience for storms creating damage of this

magnitude in the United States.

III.C.1. BWL Response

19. The BWL does update its critical and public safety lists periodically to

ensure that it is up to date and complete. The BWL will share its overall

restoration plans with local public ofcials so that they can be kept up to

date on the BWLs restoration plans. If another catastrophic storm does

occur, local ofcials will be better able to respond to citizen inquiries

regarding the restoration progress.


41/80

Page x41

D. Logistic Operations

Logistics, having the right material and supplies in the right place at the right time, is an

important element of storm preparation. The Purchasing and Warehousing Department

(PWD) maintains a list of critical items that are stocked in the warehouse at all times in

case of a storm outage. These items and their respective storm quantities were identied

and approved by the Electric Transmission and Distribution (T&D) Department. On Friday,

December 20thin anticipation of the storm, BWL Purchasing personnel reviewed the storm

list and ensured that the required inventory quantities for the storm items were sufcient to

cover the amounts required for a typical storm outage response. The review indicated that

quantity on hand (QOH) on December 20thfor each storm item was sufcient to cover the

required amount on the storm list.

In addition to maintaining its own inventory for items needed in a typical response to an

electric T&D outage, the BWLs main electric line hardware supplier, Power Line Supply,

maintains large quantities of the various line hardware items in its Reed City, MI warehouse.

This provides an effective secondary source of materials should the BWL exhaust its

inventory.

On Sunday, December 22ndaround 7:00 a.m., the BWL opened its warehouse so crews

could acquire whatever materials they needed for their work. Warehouse staff quickly

determined that the warehouse should operate on a 24-hour basis to support the restoration

effort. This would ensure that materials would be accessible and readily available whenever

needed by the crews. This operation continued until Thursday, January 2nd

.

To assure that line crews had the materials and supplies they needed when they needed

it, PWD employees processed new material orders that were received every day and

often times at odd hours, issued materials to crews at all hours of the day and night, and

constantly checked inventory levels to ensure our system provided an accurate accounting

of stock on-hand.

The Warehouse staff also developed a streamlined process for distributing materials so our

crews did not have to complete the standard paperwork when obtaining items. Instead the

warehouse staff recorded and tracked materials removed fr

BWL December 2013 Ice Storm Outage Report

Documents

Transcript of BWL December 2013 Ice Storm Outage Report