(Long Island, NY) As Long Island enters the 2013 hurricane season, National Grid servicing Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) customers and LIPA are storm ready.
In preparation, a number of activities have been completed including the execution of a rigorous maintenance and upgrade plan to ready the transmission and distribution system for the storm season, implementation of several capital projects to further harden the system against subsequent storms, completion of comprehensive annual storm response training drills and the introduction of a number of initiatives to enhance storm response as a result of a post-Sandy After-Action-Review.
On June 18, National Grid and LIPA conducted their Joint Annual Hurricane Preparedness Drill. This drill, based on real world scenarios, simulated all planning, execution and follow-up activities associated with such events and required participants to make real time decisions as if they were responding to an actual event. Various emergency response organizations, including the New York State Office of Emergency Management and the emergency management offices of Nassau and Suffolk counties, the New York Power Authority, the Department of Emergency Service and members of LIPA’s Major Storm Review panel (MSRP) observed the drill, helping to ensure the thoroughness in testing all activities.
As further evidence of National Grid’s commitment to preparedness, the Company, along with LIPA, hosted a two day LI-NYC Emergency Management Conference where over 500 Long Island emergency professionals attended to discuss cross functional preparedness and other current key issues facing emergency response professionals. This conference also served as an exceptional venue for those in attendance to further cultivate partnerships with those professionals committed to ensuring emergency preparedness, response and coordination. Additionally, National Grid also hosted the first storm preparation call of the season with elected officials and municipal leaders to review emergency plans and protocols and share many of the new initiatives that have been adopted to further enhance the storm restoration process.
“National Grid is ready for the upcoming storm season and remains committed to continuing to provide all contracted services and storm support to LIPA and its customers through the term of its current agreement which expires at the end of 2013,” said John Bruckner, President of Long Island Transmission and Distribution for National Grid.
“As LIPA’s service provider, National Grid is the incident command lead – with LIPA personnel supporting all efforts for major storm events – which includes overseeing all operations and communications for storm preparation and storm response to the public. LIPA’s updated storm plans will ensure the consistency of all timely and relevant messaging to our customers, “said John McMahon, Chief Operating Officer for LIPA.
Through lessons learned and by implementing after action reviews, National Grid and LIPA have made numerous improvements including: reinforcing the system, storm hardening, capital improvements, and enhancing communications. Some improvements include:
Communications Improvements
- Increased use of Press Conferences and press releases as well as social media more prominently to convey pertinent information to customers and other key stakeholder groups.
- Regionalization of Municipal Storm Call(s) to enable dissemination of more localized and geographic specific information to elected officials and municipal leaders.
- Assignment of Divisional Liaisons to assist with the collection and dissemination of more localized information from divisional operations and substations.
- Expanded access to customer e-mail addresses for direct communication with and to broaden reach to customers during storm events.
- Utilization of iFactor outage map in manner that is consistent with its capabilities to set expectations and improve value and clarity of information provided.
- Expanded government and community outreach to provide further education on the restoration process and re-set customer expectations regarding the level of information to be available at various times throughout the restoration process.
Operations Improvements
- Securing select fire houses to allow for increased visibility/accessibility to information and LIPA/National Grid leadership during storm events.
- Prioritizing critical roadways by working with towns, villages and the respective county Emergency Operation Centers (EOC) through the utilization of CountyEOCs to prompt all townships to develop an agreed protocol that governs the use and ultimate release of these crews.
- Working with municipal and county officials to progress formalization of Flood Restoration Plan.
- Launched pilot program to introduce use of tablets for field data collection (i.e., field damage) and enhanced visualization of damage.
National Grid will serve through its contract with LIPA until December 31, 2013. As of January 1, 2014 PSEG will assume responsibility for the operation and maintenance of LIPA’s electric T&D system, including all storm restoration activities.
LONG ISLAND POWER AUTHORITY
LIPA, a non-profit municipal electric provider, owns the retail electric Transmission and Distribution System on Long Island and provides electric service to more than 1.1 million customers in Nassau and Suffolk counties and the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens. LIPA is the 2nd largest municipal electric utility in the nation in terms of electric revenues, 3rd largest in terms of customers served and the 7th largest in terms of electricity delivered. In 2011, LIPA outperformed all other overhead electric utilities in New York State for frequency and duration of service interruptions. LIPA does not provide natural gas service or own any on-island generating assets. More information about LIPA can be found online at http://www.lipower.org.
NATIONAL GRID
National Grid (LSE: NG; NYSE:NGG) is an electricity and gas company that connects consumers to energy sources through its networks. The company is at the heart of one of the greatest challenges facing our society – to create new, sustainable energy solutions for the future and developing an energy system that underpins economic prosperity in the 21st century. National Grid holds a vital position at the center of the energy system and it ‘joins everything up’.
In the northeast US, we connect more than seven million gas and electric customers to vital energy sources, essential for our modern lifestyles. In Great Britain, we run the gas and electricity systems that our society is built on, delivering gas and electricity across the country.
National Grid delivers electricity to approximately 3.3 million customers in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Rhode Island. It manages the electricity network on Long Island under an agreement with the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA), and owns over 4,000 megawatts of contracted electricity generation, providing power to over one million LIPA customers. It is the largest distributor of natural gas in northeastern U.S., serving approximately 3.4 million customers in New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.
For more information please visit our website: www.nationalgridus.com, Follow us on Twitter, Watch us on You Tube, Friend us on Facebook, Find our photos on Flickr.
