Private Sector Project Overviews:

Northeast Utilities

Michael Haeflich

Director, Emergency Coordination

Connecticut Light & Power

Environmental Business Council of New England

Energy Environment Economy

© Copyright 2012. All Rights Reserved. Paid for by NU Shareholders.

Storm Preparedness

and

Electrical Safety

September 25, 2013

PREPARATION RESTORATION ENHANCEMENT SAFETY

Agenda

• Preparation Before a Storm

• Storm Restoration

• System Enhancements

• Safety (Electric and Generator)

• Questions

CL&P Service Territory

149 towns

1.2 million customers

CL&P Never Quiet

Before a Storm

CL&P Prepares & Coordinates

Municipal and Emergency Teams

• CL&P Emergency Operations Center (EOC) Team (Storm Preparedness) monitors approaching storm every day

• Operations checks staffing levels

• Confirms materials are sufficient

• Reaches out to vendors for supplies

Storm Preparation - 5 Days Before

CL&P Prepares & Coordinates

Employees

• Begins mutual aid calls to vendors, utilities

• Prepares Customer Care Center (CL&P

customer service) staffing

• Prepares for crews’ food and lodging

• Secures generators for company use

Storm Preparation - 4 Days Before

CL&P Organizes Storm

Specific Communications

• Begins internal conference calls

• Issues executive order for storm duty assignments

• Shares preparations with CATV and AT&T

• Begins communications with CT EOC, CT DEMHS, FEMA,

• Alert the Town Liaison Organization (confirm accuracy of maps, contacts and town critical facilities)

Storm Preparation - 3 Days Before

CL&P Begins Storm Specific

Communications to You

• Begin publicity campaign

for customer preparedness

• Issues safety warnings to

customers

• Secure all materials at facilities

• Completes storm duty

assignments and rosters

Storm Preparation - 2 Days Before

CL&P Final Storm

Preparation Check

• Verify all actions

are complete

Storm Preparation - 1 Day Before

Stay Updated with CL&P

Twitter

• twitter.com/CTLightandPower

Facebook

• Facebook.com/CTLightandPower

Web Site

• www.cl-p.com/StormCenter/

How to Report an Outage

• 1-800-286-2000

Text for Restoration Status

• For updates on outages in your town,

text OUTAGE leave a space then enter

your zip code to 24612 for Storm and Non-Storm Events

Emergency Items to Pack

• Water – One gallon per person per day

• Medications

• Food – non-perishable (per day)

• Manual Can opener

• Car charger – mobile phone, etc.

• Flashlight – Extra batteries and bulbs

• Whistle to signal for help

• Radio – Battery operated

• First Aid – Kit and manual

• Moist towelettes, feminine products

• Garbage bags and ties for personal sanitation

• Wrench or pliers

• Gasoline for generator

• Dust mask

• Cash

• Local maps

Your Storm Preparation

Emergency Checklist

Infants, Seniors, Pets and Evacuation

Recommended Additional Items

to Pack:

• Family documents, insurance policies in waterproof container

• Sleeping bag or blanket for each person

• Complete change of clothing, sturdy shoes

• Chlorine bleach and medicine dropper for water disinfectant

• Watches in waterproof container

• Writing instrument and paper

Special Needs Storm Preparation Checklist

Individuals Requesting Additional Assistance

or with Medical Needs

• Medically protected does not mean restoration priority

• Have a back-up plan

• Complete “Residential Customers With Life-support Equipment” form – English/Spanish

You may obtain a copy of the form by calling 800-286-2000 or 860-947-2000

Special Consideration

Storm Preparation Checklist

Storm Restoration

CL&P

in Action

http://youtu.be/h5i_6D90B5Y

CL&P Storm Restoration Video

2:25

Electricity Restoration

Gets Started

Some Out-of-State Crews

Take Several Days to Arrive

Immediately After

the Storm

Crews from Other

Towns or States Assist

Ensure Everyone’s Safety

• Line and tree crews

work together to cut

and clear trees from

power lines

Assess the Damage

Towns Do Tree Work and

Clear the Roads

The First Steps

to Restoring Your Electricity

We Take Safety Seriously; You

Should Too.

Safety is Number 1

• E-911 calls, life threatening

• Clearing blocked roads of electrical hazards

• Critical Facilities (Hospitals, critical care facilities, police

and fire stations, EOCs)

• Transmission lines, substations

• Largest # of CL&P customers

• Longest duration outages

Storm Restoration

Priorities

Have You Ever Asked?

• Different electric circuits

• Malfunction in transformer to your

home

• Check main breaker, service wire

and meter

Storm Restoration

Answers to Your Questions

My neighbors have power.

Why don’t I?

Have You Ever Asked?

• Crews may not be CL&P

• Circuits being worked

on out of town

Storm Restoration Answers to Your Questions

Why haven’t I seen a crew

since the storm started?

Have You Ever Asked?

• Planning

• Safety tailboard

• Crews waiting for

“all clear” order

Storm Restoration

Answers to Your Questions

Why do I see crews

just standing around?

Have You Ever Asked?

• Circuits taken down

to repair others

• Not all outages

reported

Storm Restoration Answers to Your Questions

“The Map” online keeps

changing. Why do we

have more outages than

we did at the start?

Other Causes

of Power Outages

• Weather/Heat/Lightening

• Nature/Animals

• Motor Vehicle Accidents

• Planned Maintenance

Storm Sandy Impact

Storm Sandy 2012 – By the Numbers

• Strongest Recorded Wind Gust 85 MPH

• CL&P Customers Without Power at Peak 497,000*

• Number of CL&P Circuits Affected 779

• Number of emergency calls responded to 277

• Workers Restoring Power to CL&P Customers 9,000*

• Customer Calls 661,836

• Average Time to Reach a Call Center Rep 6.5 sec.

• Miles of Power Cabling Restrung 105

• Damaged Utility Poles Replaced 1,727

• Crossarms Replaced 4,745

• Transformers Replaced 2,198

• Locations requiring repair work 16,000

• States represented in restoration effort 24

• Canadian Provinces represented in restoration effort 4

• Electric Edison Institute Awards 2 * Approximate figures

Storm Sandy – 2012 – Connecticut Storm Impact

Connecticut sustained the most damage within NU’s service territory,

due to a combination of high winds and historic flooding

• Sustained winds over 50 mph with peak hurricane force gusts of 85 mph

• Thousands of roads blocked by fallen trees and electrical infrastructure

• Unprecedented coastal flooding caused by multiple ‘full moon’ tides intensified by strong easterly winds and historic storm surge

• Caused 4th largest peak outage in CL&P’s history

506000

275000

671000

831000

497000

Peak Impact - Customers Out

CL&P - Top 5 Storms of All Time

Storm Sandy – 2012 – CL&P Distribution System Damage

No part of CL&P’s service territory was spared, but damage

was most extensive along the coast

• Storm damage caused customer outages in every one of the 149 municipalities served by CL&P

• Restoration of customer outages required repairing over 16,000 trouble spots statewide

• Over 850,000 customers experienced outages (almost 70% of total customer base)

Hurricane Sandy Trouble Spots

Storm Sandy – 2012 – Resource Acquisition

• Widespread nature of damage limited our ability to rely on mutual aid

• Strong contractor relationships facilitated acquisition of significant resources

• Early decision to secure external resources allowed us to reach well beyond eastern seaboard

• Over 50 percent of targeted external line resources were secured before the event

• Resources from other NU operating companies allowed CL&P to exceed initial target

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

Line

Target - Line Resources

Landfall

Exte

rnal

Re

sou

rce

s (F

TEs)

Line Resource Acquisition

Almost 3,000 external line resources from 25 states and

4 Canadian provinces assisted CL&P’s restoration efforts

Resources begin to arrive from other NU operating companies

CL&P’s Ongoing System

Improvement

What is Resiliency?

1. Improving Ruggedness of Equipment

• Upgrade design standards for extreme weather

• Expand existing automation/smart grid

system

• Enhance post-storm data collection

2. Managing Vegetation

• Planned trimming and clearing

3. Pole Resiliency

• Address heavily loaded poles

• Focus on older poles

• Replace tops, cross-arms, pins, ties, etc.

• Replace bare wire in heavily treed areas

Storm Resiliency

After enhanced tree trimming Trimmed to specifications,

but with overhangs

Storm Resiliency Enhanced Tree Trimming (ETT)

How does enhanced tree trimming reduce the impact of storm events?

CL&P’s Plan to Strengthen the Electrical System

• Five-year, $300 million plan

• Enhanced tree trimming

• Vegetation management budget increased by $28.5 mill over 2011 to $53.5 mill in 2012; increased to $57 mill in 2013

• More than half of the plan’s costs

• Additional $32 million added to 2013 existing vegetation management efforts

• Coated higher-gauge wiring

• Stronger utility poles and cross-arms

• Replace or refurbish

CL&P’s Plan to Strengthen the Electrical System – Expanded Tree Work

• When completed, the work is expected to reduce outages by 30-40%; 14%

reduction after 1 year.

• 80 tree crews added to our 110 local crews, 6 vendor arborists hired to

manage the additional workload

• Funded for a 4-year cycle – each circuit trimmed every four years