How Duke Energy Prepares for Emergencies and the Restoration Process

North Carolina Emergency Management Association Conference

Marty Wright, Director Business ExcellenceJeff Riggins, Director Storm Governance

Randy D. Welch, District Manager

The New Duke Energy

• On January 10, 2011, Duke Energy and Progress Energy announced intent to merge

• Regulatory approvals were achieved and the Duke Energy and Progress Energy merger has created the largest utility in U.S. – 7.1 million customers

• The combined company is called Duke Energy and headquartered in Charlotte, N.C. and serves: NC,SC,FL,KY,IN,OH

• Market Cap of combined companies is $49 billion as of June 12, 15th 2012• The company now has more than a

quarter-million miles of primary and secondary distribution lines. That’s almost the distance from the Earth to the moon.

Safety is our top priority

Public Educate public before events Public service announcements Media messages Storm website

Personnel Tailgate sessions Safety briefings for non-native crews Field oversight of crews

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Safety

Planning is the Key to Success

Ongoing Process

Dedicated Resources

Continuous Improvement

Scalable

Relationships

Predetermined Staging Sites

Identify Internal Resources

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Plan, Train and Drill

Monitor and Forecast Weather

Predict Potential Damage and Resource Needs

Conduct Scheduled Conference Calls

Implement Emergency Plan

Prepare Employees and Logistics Providers

Initiate Mutual Assistance Discussions

Begin External Communications

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Prepare for Event

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Early assessment • Validate resource needs • Establish system ETR • Complete within 24 hours

Ongoing detailed assessment • Pole by pole

Provide follow-up actions (oil spills, lights, danger trees)

Assess Damage

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Plan delivers timely ETR so our customers can plan

Rigorous process for estimating restoration times• System Level• County level• Circuit level• Individual customer level

Press releases with system & county level ETR

Individual ETR available to customers

Estimated Time of Restoration

Service restoration is prioritized• Public safety related situations• Emergency services (hospital, fire, police)• Critical infrastructure (water, sewer)• Main distribution lines• Lateral neighborhood lines• Individual transformers and services

Duke leadership manages the restoration process

Resource plan managed continuously

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Service Restoration

Communications During a Storm are Critical

Target Audience

Governmental Communications Regulatory CommunicationsMedia CommunicationsCustomer CommunicationsOnline Information

Messages

Magnitude of Storm and DamageNumber of OutagesEstimated Times of RestorationSafety before, during and after the storm

Focused on Continuous Improvement of our Plan

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Internal critiques

Feedback from customers

Analysis of data

Best practices

2011 Damage in Gaston & Lincoln Counties

2011 Summer Storms / Extreme Flooding

Mutual Assistance

EEI Governing Principles

During the 1950’s, The Edison Electric Institute developed “Governing Principles” that member companies adhere to during Mutual Assistance.

Pros: High Level Good baseline for how to do business Like a contract (SOX) Safety is always the most important principle

Cons: Not very detailed Hard to change

Conclusion: Great work but too large to be effective in moving resources More work needed on a detailed level

Regional Mutual Assistance GroupsEasier to get fewer companies involved quicklyDetailed GuidelinesCloser RelationshipsMore effective moving resources

Duke is a member of threeSoutheastern Electric Exchange Mutual Assistance GroupGreat Lakes Mutual Assistance GroupMidwest Mutual Assistance Group

There are several othersMid-Atlantic Mutual Assistance GroupNew York Mutual Assistance GroupTexasNortheast Mutual Assistance GroupWisconsinWestern

Southeast Electric Exchange Regional Mutual Assistance Group

Geography One Call Efficient Availability of Resources Includes almost all major utilities

within 1-2 days travel

How Does The Mutual Assistance Process Work?

Example: Duke Meteorologists predict a possible ice storm throughout the I-85 corridorDuke would begin talking to neighboring

utilities and contractors Verifying weather reports Determining potential Impact Preparing logistics Preparing internal employees and

contractors Plan an SEE Mutual Assistance Call if

Needed

What Information is Shared On the Call

1. Roll Call2. Weather report3. Resource Requests4. Available Resources5. Non member companies impacted6. Logistics7. Set the date & time for the next conference – give members the toll-free number.

Objectives of the Call

8. Identify resource needs/requests (crews, logistics, support, etc.)9. Identify available resources (including contractors)10. Match requests with available resources11. Matched Responding companies and Requesting companies then have the okay to make

arrangements like when to travel, exchange rosters, etc.

What Normally Happens

Resource requests FAR outweigh available resources Usually most utilities plan for the worst Utilities are conservative

– Utilities likely to be impacted ask for lots of help– Utilities with minimal risk of being impacted are still likely to hold resources until storm

passes

Weather forecasts are estimates at best One or two degrees of temperature make(s) all the difference in the world from cold rain to tree and

line destruction Forecast models never agree on exactly where the ice impact will occur

– Hard to pre-stage and mobilize before the event– Deployed crews may have to be recalled

Decision Time

Do we reach out further for resources?Do we wait until impact and see if we can get resources closer that

would expedite the restoration?Logistics?Staging Areas?COMMUNICATIONS!!!

If conditions warrant, we reach out to the other Regional Mutual Assistance Groups

RMAG (Regional Mutual Assistance Groups)

Texas MA

Midwest MA

Wisconsin MA

GLMA

SEE

MAMA

Great Lakes Mutual Assistance

Mid-Atlantic Mutual Assistance

Midwest Mutual Assistance

New York Mutual Assistance Group

Southeastern Electric Exchange

Texas Mutual Assistance

Western Mutual Assistance

Wisconsin Mutual Assistance

Northeast Mutual Assistance Group

NEMAG

NYMAG

Western MA

Next Call

Repeat the processShare and True up weather reportsTrue up resource requests, shift as appropriateCOMMUNICATIONS!!!

Reach further and harder if damage is significant Leverage relationships Have all the regional mutual assistance groups working to free up

resources at the same time Release plans for other utilities

Providing Assistance / Hurricane Irene

Duke Energy Total Response Duke Contractors Duke Employees Combined TotalsDominion 415 202 617Progress 301 76 377National Grid Long Island 109 101 210PPL 9 84 93Connecticut Light & Power 83 83ConEd 82 82BG&E 75 75PSE&G 82 82N.Y. St. Elec & Gas 26 26Northeast Utilities 9 9

1165 489Total Response 1654

Mutual Assistance Isn’t Over When the Power Comes Back On

Develop a release strategy Discussions with other impacted utilities to determine if they need

resources we will be releasing Discussions with contractors to determine if they have other customers

that need assistanceRelease crews and track them to ensure they arrive safelyCOMMUNICATIONS!!!

SummaryOne Day You Are The Bug, The Next Day You Are The WindshieldRemember the Golden Rule

QUESTIONS??