Press Release

PUC to Hold Special Electric Reliability Forum on Hurricane Irene Preparation, Response

Published on 9/21/2011

Filed under: Electric

HARRISBURG – The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) today announced that it would hold a Special Electric Reliability Forum on Oct. 12, 2011, to hear from the state’s electric utilities whose distribution systems were affected by Hurricane Irene.

The special forum will address pre-planning as Hurricane Irene approached the east coast as well as communications with customers and efforts to restore service during and after the storm. Commissioners will be present for the forum, which will be conducted by the PUC’s Bureau of Technical Utility Services.

“As Hurricane Irene bowled through the state, our electric utilities were faced with an historic number of outages,” said Commission Chairman Robert F. Powelson. “By taking a step back and looking at how the utilities responded and where we can make improvements allows us to strive for an even more effective response in the future. The forum will provide an opportunity to hear from the affected utilities as well as a chance for the public to share their experiences.”

On Aug. 27, 2011, Hurricane Irene hit the east coast bringing with it high winds and heavy rain.  At the height of the storm, about 768,000 customers were without power, while overall there were more than 1.3 million customer outages throughout the storm. Pennsylvania has about 5.6 million electric customers. Some customers remained without power for up to 10 days.

The hearing is an offshoot of the PUC’s annual summer and winter reliability assessment meetings which are held in advance of the summer cooling and winter heating seasons. The forum will be held:

1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 12, 2011

Hearing Room 1

Commonwealth Keystone Building

400 North St.

Harrisburg, PA 17120

PUC Emergency Preparedness Coordinator Dan Searfoorce will summarize the events related to Hurricane Irene, the overall magnitude of the statewide outages and the role of the PUC as it related to these outages.  The Commission is inviting operational personnel from the following electric utilities to participate in the forum: The FirstEnergy Companies (Metropolitan Edison Co. and Pennsylvania Electric Co.); PECO Energy Co.; PPL Electric Utilities Corp., UGI Utilities Inc., and Pike County Light & Power. The utilities will be asked to address:

• The preparation, pre-planning, and pre-staging of personnel, materials and equipment;
• The number and length of the outages and restoration process;
• Outreach to contractors and other utilities;
• Specific issues associated with weather, geography, etc., that inhibited faster restorations;
• Customer communications and outreach;
• What went well and could serve as success stories for future restorations; and
• What could have been done better – lessons learned.

An opportunity for the public to offer comment will occur at the conclusion of the formal remarks.

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission balances the needs of consumers and utilities to ensure safe and reliable utility service at reasonable rates; protect the public interest; educate consumers to make independent and informed utility choices; further economic development; and foster new technologies and competitive markets in an environmentally sound manner. For recent news releases, audio of select Commission proceedings or more information about the PUC, visit our website at www.puc.state.pa.us.

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Contact:

• Press Secretary
  717-787-5722