Major Service Outage Report

State of Maryland

Major Service Outage Report

July 27, 2005 Storm

August 24, 2005

Table of Contents

Executive Summary

At the height of the storm, approximately 64,943 customers system wide were affected by power outages at 6:57 PM on July 27, 2005. The State of Maryland experienced a maximum of 59,074 customers affected at 6:57 PM. A total of 5 distribution substations were shut down system wide for a period of time and over 176 feeders tripped and 230 operated. A majority of these trippings were the result of storm damage to the 13 kV and 4 kV power distribution systems largely in lower Montgomery County and north/north western Prince George’s County. Pepco patrols of the affected feeders indicated significant damage due to lightning, downed trees and tree limbs. This event resulted in significant damage to the electric distribution system.

A storm was declared on the Pepco System at 5:50 PM on July 27, 2005 and the Storm Restoration Plan was activated; after an initial assessment a Level “3” Storm was declared. Extra crews were already on standby due to expected thunderstorm activity and additional crews were called into service as the storm arrived in the service area.

Approximately 80% of the customers affected by outages were restored within the first 24 hours of the peak outage time, and all but 1% had been restored within 48 hours of the peak. All remaining customers were restored by 9:07 PM on Saturday, July 30, 2005. A second weather event came through the service territory at approximately 2:00 PM on July 29, 2005 causing 9 more feeders to trip affecting additional customers and interrupting the storm restoration.

The attached report documents the damage to Pepco’s electric system and Pepco’s response to this event. Through the coordinated efforts of Pepco field personnel, contractors, Mutual Assistance crews, Customer Care and Operations teams electric service was restored to the affected customers in a safe and timely manner consistent with Pepco’s service restoration philosophy and policies.

Customers Affected

1. Event

Severe thunderstorms with frequent lightning and high gusting winds in excess of 50 MPH were associated with this event.

Storm on system: 5:50 PM, July 27, 2005

Storm off system: 10:00 PM, July 27, 2005

2. Major Storm Restoration

3. Number of Customers Affected

Peak System wide

Peak State of Maryland

Level “3” Storm Declared. The Pepco Storm Response Plan defines a Level “3” storm as a major storm event with winds of between 35 and 50 MPH where over 50,000 to 100,000 customers system wide are affected and the estimated time of full restoration is in excess of 48 hours.

4. Sustained Interruptions

Time Date(hours)	Total Customers Out
	Pepco System	Maryland	Montgomery County, Md.	Prince George’s County, Md.
7/27/2005 1800	2,574	2,556	2,556	0
* 7/27/05 1857	64,943	59,074	43,703	15,371
7/27/2005 2400	46,470	41,673	32,194	9,479
7/28/2005 600	31,032	28,609	23,306	5,303
7/28/2005 1200	24,374	22,009	17,585	4,424
7/28/2005 1800	12,629	12,032	9,658	2,374
7/28/2005 2400	7,251	6,792	6,176	616
7/29/2005 600	3,323	3,298	3,216	82
7/29/2005 1200	2,322	2,311	2,299	12
7/29/2005 1800	697	688	682	6
7/29/2005 2400	212	211	210	1
7/30/2005 600	91	90	90	0
7/30/2005 1200	70	70	70	0
7/30/2005 1800	1	1	1	0
7/30/2005 2200	0	0	0	0

5. Customer Interruption Hours

Maryland 861,387

Montgomery County 692,593

Prince George’s County 168,794

Outside Assistance Resources

6. Outside Assistance Contacts

7. Outside Assistance Resources

Resources

7. a) Organization (s) Providing Crews

• 
  Delmarva Power (PHI)
  
• 
  Allegheny Power
  
• 
  Duquesne Light Company
  
• 
  Asplundh (Tree Trimming)
  
• 
  K.W. Reese (Tree Trimming)
  

7. b) Date and Time of Crew Arrivals and Departures

	Arrived		Departed
Delmarva Power	July 29, 2005 9:30 AM		July 31, 2005 10:00 AM
Allegheny Power	July 28, 2005 7:00 PM		July 31, 2005 9:00 AM
Duquesne Light Company	July 29, 2005 7:00 AM		July 31, 2005 9:00 AM
Asplundh		July 28, 2005 7:00 PM		July 31, 2005 2:00 AM
K.W. Reese		July 28, 2005 4:00 PM		July 31, 2005 1:00 AM

7. c) Number and Type of Vehicles

• 
  17 Bucket Trucks
  
• 
  6 Pick-up trucks
  

7. d) Total Number of Personnel

• 
  46 Personnel
  

Deployment

7. e) Primary Overhead Line Personnel

• 
  46 Personnel
  

7. f) Secondary Overhead Line Personnel

• 
  N/A
  

7. g) Tree Trimming Personnel

• 
  56
  

7. h) Primary Underground Line Crews

• 
  N/A
  

7. i) Secondary Underground Line Crews

• 
  N/A
  

7. j) Substation Crews

• 
  N/A
  

Electric Utility Resources

8. Electric Utility Crews

Resources

8. a) Number and Type of Vehicles

• 
  105 Bucket Trucks
  
• 
  14 Digger Derricks
  
• 
  169 Miscellaneous Vehicles [Trucks, vans, pick-ups, cars, etc;]
  

8. b) Total Number of Personnel

• 
  503 Personnel Deployment
  

8. c) Primary Overhead Line Personnel

• 
  259 Personnel
  

8. d) Secondary Overhead Line Personnel

• 
  12 Personnel.
  

8. e) Damage Assessment Personnel

• 
  35 personnel performed field damage assessment and wire down complaints.
  

8. f) Tree Trimming Personnel

• 
  56 contractor personnel and Pepco foresters worked tree complaints.
  

8. g) Primary Underground Line Crews

• 
  N/A
  

8. h) Secondary Underground Line Crews

• 
  N/A
  

8. i) Substation Crews

• 
  12 Sub-Station Operations Personnel.
  

8. j) Other Personnel

• 
  47 Materials & Stores Personnel
  
• 
  18 Personnel performed Wire Down duties.
  
• 
  64 Other
  

Communications

General

9. Customer Operations Statistics

“All Calls Answered” and “Total Calls” represent all storm and non-storm related calls received at the Pepco Call Center and handled by a Customer Service Representative, Voice Response Unit [VRU] or High Volume Call Answering System [HVCA].

Storm Damage Statistics

10. Interruption Causes & Interruption Hours

a) Fallen Tree or Tree Limb 84,545 405,708

b) Fallen or Broken Pole 562 18,950

c) Lightning Damage 9,831 76,137

d) Ice accumulation on conductors N/A N/A

e) Other Major Causes 99,367 956,799

11. System Damage

b) Distribution Transformers Replaced 30

c) Fuses Replaced 556

d) Downed Wires Reported 342

e) Substation with Equipment Damage 0

12. Materials

Self Assessment

13. Self Assessment

Pepco’s response processes included damage assessment, wires down procedure, augmented call center operations, evaluation of mutual assistance needs, planning and analysis, as well as the normal field restoration procedures. All notifications to internal resources went as planned and were received effectively. All Operations IT systems performed as expected with no system problems. Most importantly, the restoration was completed safely, and with no significant injuries reported by employees and no injuries reported by contractors or members of the public

Pepco was well prepared to respond to outages caused by the July 27 storm. Pepco’s Storm Response Plan, system maintenance practices, vegetation management, weather-tracking processes, and mutual assistance planning were reviewed, revised and practiced since the last major storm (Isabel) to efficiently and effectively prepare for this restoration. Following the August 2003 storms and Hurricane Isabel, Pepco commissioned James Lee Witt Associates to review Pepco’s storm response practices and provide recommendations for improving the restoration process. Since the report was issued, Pepco has implemented the numerous recommendations of the Witt Report to maximize its restoration capabilities. During 2004 and 2005, Pepco developed, revised or refined processes to respond to major storms. Drills were also conducted to determine where improvements should be made. Most recently, Pepco conducted a three day drill the week of June 6 to determine where enhancements should be made.

Processes associated with field operations include damage assessment (including wires down), restoration priorities, automated systems, resource management, and material and equipment availability. Pepco crews were held on standby status while waiting for the storm to pass through the system. Calls for mutual assistance went out as soon as Pepco had assessed the scope of damage from the storm. Pepco successfully conducted wires down and damage assessment assignments. IT systems, such as the Outage Management System (OMS), performed as designed and aided restoration planning and analysis efforts. Finally, there were no unusual issues concerning the availability of materials for service restoration.

These processes include call center operations, community outreach, coordination with Emergency Management Agencies (EMA’s), and news media interactions. At 5:50 PM the evening of July 28, Pepco activated its “Level 3” storm response plan. Pepco provided summary updates by phone to the Maryland Emergency Management Agency, Montgomery County Office of Emergency Management and Prince George’s County Office of Emergency Preparedness, Engineering Staff-Maryland Public Service Commission, Engineering Staff – District of Columbia Public Service Commission, District of Columbia Emergency Management Agency, District of Columbia Office of People’s Counsel through final restoration on Saturday, July 30. Pepco observed no unusual problems with call center operations.

In assessing the processes involved in storm restoration, there are still lessons that Pepco can learn and leverage to improve its performance in the future. Pepco is currently conducting lessons learned meetings with the various groups which participated in the restoration effort to determine ways to improve the process during the next storm restoration event.