Major Service Outage Report



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State of Maryland

Major Service Outage Report

July 27, 2005 Storm



Prepared By: Potomac Electric Power Company

701 Ninth St. NW

Washington, DC 20068-0001

August 24, 2005


Table of Contents


Table of Contents 1

Executive Summary 2

Customers Affected 3

1. Event 3

2. Major Storm Restoration 3

3. Number of Customers Affected 3

4.Sustained Interruptions 4

5. Customer Interruption Hours 4

Outside Assistance Resources 5

6. Outside Assistance Contacts 5

7. Outside Assistance Resources 5

Resources 5

Deployment 6

Electric Utility Resources 6

8. Electric Utility Crews 6

Resources 6

Communications 8

General 8

9. Customer Operations Statistics 8

Storm Damage Statistics 11

10. Interruption Causes & Interruption Hours 11

11. System Damage 12

12.Materials 12

Self Assessment 12

13.Self Assessment 12


Executive Summary


On July 27, 2005, the National Weather Service, Sterling Office posted a Severe Thunderstorm Watch in the Pepco service area.

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


The primary weather event was attributed to strong to severe thunderstorms in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. These thunderstorms produced frequent to severe lightning. A severe thunderstorm watch was in effect for the area until 10:00 PM.

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


9:07 PM on July 30, 2005

3. Number of Customers Affected

Peak System wide


64,943 at 6:57 PM on Wednesday, July 27, 2005

Peak State of Maryland


59,074 at 6:57 PM on Wednesday, July 27, 2005

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.


  1. 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

For six-hour intervals commencing at 1800 hours on July 27, 2005, except for peak indicated by ( * ).

5. Customer Interruption Hours


Customer Interruption Hours System 956,799

Maryland 861,387

Montgomery County 692,593

Prince George’s County 168,794


Outside Assistance Resources

6. Outside Assistance Contacts


Pepco participated in a conference call of the Mid-Atlantic Mutual Assistance Group at 9:30 PM on July 27th. Due to the nature of this front and the need to perform a preliminary assessment earlier conference calls were not possible and no mutual assistance was available at this time. Another mutual assistance conference call with the Mid-Atlantic Mutual Assistance Group was held at 7:30 AM on July 28th. The Mid-Atlantic Mutual Assistance Group is the first line of regional mutual assistance response. It is comprised of utilities serving Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, West Virginia and Virginia. Crews were offered by other utilities to be available the evening of July 28 as indicated in Section 7 below.

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


Based on preliminary damage assessments and reports from field personnel, Pepco implemented its Storm Response Plan for a Level “3” storm event. All corporate, emergency management and regulatory agency notifications were made in accordance with that plan. Pepco also 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. In addition, exemptions from U.S. Department of Transportation “Hours of Service” regulations for Commercial Motor Vehicle drivers were requested from and granted by the Maryland Department of Transportation and the District of Columbia Emergency Management Agency for July 28 through July 30 which permitted the restoration effort to proceed uninterrupted.

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


Customers Hours of Interruption

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


a) Poles Replaced 21

b) Distribution Transformers Replaced 30

c) Fuses Replaced 556

d) Downed Wires Reported 342

e) Substation with Equipment Damage 0

  1. Materials


There were no unusual issues concerning the availability of materials for service restoration. Material inventories were closely monitored to ensure the availability of necessary equipment and materials for restoration activities.

Self Assessment

  1. Self Assessment


At approximately 5:50 PM on July 27th, a severe storm hit the Pepco service territory where the majority (59, 074) of the 64,943 storm related service outages occurred in Maryland. Montgomery County was the hardest hit jurisdiction with 43,703 customer outages, while neighboring Prince George’s County incurred 15,371 outages. At approximately 1900 hours, the Company initiated its emergency response plan when it was apparent that significant storm damage to the distribution system had occurred. All of the Company’s storm restoration response organizations were alerted to initiate their emergency procedures for either immediate activation or activation at first light the next morning. A second weather event came through the service territory at approximately 2:00 p.m. on July 29, 2005 causing 9 more feeders to trip affecting additional customers and interrupting the storm restoration.

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



Storm Preparedness:

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.



Field Operations:

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.



Communications:

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.



Lessons Learned:

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.



Finally, given the extent of the damage and the number of customers restored, Pepco is proud of the overall restoration, with both the personnel and the time it took them to restore the system.




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