BPA, WAPA and Trinity Public Utilities District take steps to help mitigate wildfire threat

June 9, 2021

by Peter Maloney
APPA News
June 9, 2021

With the onset of wildfire season in the western United States, the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) and California’s Trinity Public Utilities District (PUD) recently detailed steps they are taking to help mitigate the potential of significant wildfires.

BPA earlier this month added a public safety power shutoff (PSPS) procedure to its wildfire mitigation plan, and Trinity Public Utilities District is partnering with staff at the Sierra Nevada region office of the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) to make its transmission rights of way less vulnerable to wildfires.

While the number of acres burned year-to-date is below the 10-year average, historically low precipitation levels have raised the risk of significant wildfires to above normal, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. More than 87 percent of the western U.S. is now categorized in drought and over half the West is in the highest two categories of drought.

BPA began considering a PSPS procedure in the fall of 2020 after last summer’s Northwest wildfire season.

“This procedure is another preventative measure layered on top of world-class vegetation management, strategic asset management and risk-based planning – the cornerstones of our mitigation efforts,” BPA Administrator John Hairston said in a statement.

BPA said customer feedback helped inform the PSPS process it has put in place for the 2021 fire season. The utility also noted that taking a BPA transmission line out of service does not necessarily mean Northwest residents and businesses will lose power.

“BPA is committed to providing as much prior notification as possible to customer utilities, generators and state emergency managers, particularly when PSPS will result in service interruptions,” Tina Ko, BPA vice president of transmission marketing and sales, said in a statement.

“Because weather is one of the variables involved, our notification windows may be compressed at times,” Ko said, “however, we will do everything we can to help customers and emergency management officials plan for the lack of electricity these events can cause.”

For Trinity PUD, wildfire mitigation is taking the form of expanding power line rights of way.

The PUD is expanding the right of way of its 60-kilovolt (kV) Trinity-to-Weaverville line from 80 feet to up to 130 feet. It is also expanding its Lewiston 60-kV tap line right of way from 80 feet to up to 130 feet, and expanding the rights of way for its distribution lines from 20 feet to up to 130 feet. The expansions aim to reduce fuel loads and to create potential firebreaks.

Recent wildfires have shown that the current minimum buffer clearances are not sufficient to prevent destructive wildfires, Trinity PUD said.

Trinity PUD’s aim is to protect its transmission and distribution system through “proactive vegetation management,” which the PUD said would also “enhance the reliability of power distribution, improve WAPA transmission line access and protect the health and safety of nearby communities and biological and natural resources.”

Trinity PUD and WAPA’s systems run through areas with dense vegetation and steep terrain. CalFire has classified the area a “very high fire hazard.”

California law, specifically Senate Bill 901, requires publicly owned electric utilities to prepare wildfire mitigation measures if the utilities’ overhead electrical lines and equipment are located in an area that has a significant wildfire risk.

California PUC seeks comments on new PSPS guidelines

Meanwhile, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is seeking public comment on a proposal that would enhance and update existing guidelines and rules for utility PSPS events in advance of the 2021 wildfire season.

 The proposed decision, which is on the agenda for the CPUC’s June 24 meeting, states that when utilities de-energize transmission lines as a wildfire mitigation strategy of last resort they must balance the risk of harm from utility-ignited wildfires against the public harm of shutting off power.

 The proposal recommends guidelines and rules intended to augment existing directives to address some of the issues that arose during the utilities’ execution of PSPS events in 2020.

If adopted, the guidelines and rules would go into immediate effect and require annual reporting to increase transparency into electric investor-owned utilities’ (IOUs) planning and execution of PSPS events by requiring them to submit an annual pre-season report detailing actions taken to prepare for and mitigate the impacts of future PSPS events and to submit an annual post-season report providing data on customer-focused outcomes during prior year PSPS events.

To improve planning and preparation, the proposal would require IOUs to conduct annual PSPS exercises using the same procedures they would use in an actual PSPS event. The proposal would also include additional entities under the definition of “critical facilities and infrastructure” to ensure that entities essential to public safety receive advance notification of PSPS events and additional assistance in assessing the need for backup generation to ensure resiliency.

FEMA to provide $1 billion to help in preparations for extreme weather events, other disasters

May 25, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
May 25, 2021

The Biden Administration on May 24 announced that it will direct $1 billion for communities, states, and Tribal governments into pre-disaster mitigation resources to prepare for extreme weather events and other disasters.

In 2020, the U.S. experienced a record year for extreme weather, including an unprecedented 30 named storms in the Atlantic Basin and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is anticipating another above-normal hurricane season this year, a White House fact sheet noted.

NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center is forecasting a 60% chance of an above-normal season, a 30% chance of a near-normal season, and a 10% chance of a below-normal season. However, experts do not anticipate the historic level of storm activity seen in 2020, NOAA said on May 20.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will provide $1 billion in 2021 for the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program, a portion of which will be targeted to disadvantaged communities.

BRIC supports states, local communities, tribes, and territories in undertaking pre-disaster hazard mitigation projects, reducing the risks they face from disasters and natural hazards. This level of funding level is double the amount provided last year.

The American Public Power Association (APPA) offers a wide range of resources to its members related to hurricane and storms. Those resources include an All-Hazards Guidebook and a Restoration Best Practices Guidebook. APPA members can access disaster planning and response resources — including the public power Mutual Aid Network.

To join the Mutual Aid Network, complete the Mutual Aid Agreement and email it to APPA at MutualAid@PublicPower.org.

Preparing to be resilient in hurricane season

May 21, 2021

by Kenneth Stinson
APPA News
May 21, 2021

When Hurricane Laura swept through in August 2020, our town was devastated. Laura is tied for being the strongest hurricane on record to make landfall in Louisiana — a more powerful storm than Hurricane Katrina — and hit right on our community in the southwest corner of Louisiana.

In addition to all the debris and destruction of homes, businesses, and our local distribution system, about 12 miles of transmission lines that fed ours and surrounding communities were lying on the ground after Laura passed through. Our entire system was out.

Initial estimates predicted that it would take two months for the transmission to come back up. Fortunately, we were able to get most people back on in what I would consider record time – given the extent of the damage – about two-thirds were back within two and a half weeks, and a full restoration of power to everyone that could take it a week after that.

The event hit home the importance of preparedness planning, and some key traits about what it means to be resilient.

Always planning 

Given our location, we take steps to prepare for hurricane season every year.

Since the 2005 season, which included Hurricanes Rita and Katrina, we have held a yearly staff meeting to kick off the season and make sure we have everything lined up that we need.

Sometimes, when a number of years go by without needing to enact a significant storm response, policies can start to get a little more relaxed. And every storm is different and comes with its own nuances.

There are some things we do every year – such as lining up supplies – in advance of the season. We always buy food and plenty of water and Gatorade so that we know employees will have enough to eat and to stay hydrated while working on restoration. We all know that the closer we get to a predicted storm, the tougher it can get to procure these items. So if we see a possible storm coming, even if it’s still far out, we order a pallet of water – and even if the storm doesn’t come to us, we’ll use it anyways year-round.

Aside from the strength of the storm, Laura also struck us in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, which presented some added and interesting challenges.

In the past, when we had a predicted storm approaching, we’d be sure to have employees lined up to work throughout the restoration. Last year, we also had to plan out how to house employees and any visiting mutual aid crews given everything that was closed for the extra safety precautions. As it happened, in the aftermath of Laura, I slept on an air mattress in my office. 

Another big area of preparation is making sure we have all the necessary contracts and paperwork in place to be ready to get the help we might need and to follow the appropriate rules and processes for reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

We hired a consulting company to monitor our contracts and manage interactions with FEMA. For us, it made sense to hire a consultant because if you don’t do this all the time, then you don’t appreciate how FEMA might want everything done – how information should be presented, which forms you need. These interactions, and the documentation you need to keep, can be very long-term. With Hurricane Rita, we had FEMA coming back with questions or needing details as much as 12 years after the storm. As we were going through an administration change July  2021, we didn’t want to add another burden to the new administration.

When we knew Hurricane Laura was coming, one thing we knew we’d need was to have a debris contract in place. Having the debris contract in place in advance, issued following FEMA’s contract process and rules, helps expedite the clearing for the trees and other debris that create a lot of problems in restoration. With Laura, we had to clear almost 153,000 cubic yards of debris.

Planning is also about doing the important work in blue-sky times. During this “off” time, we look at repairing and replacing poles. About five years ago, we changed some distribution lines, and those didn’t have any problem during the storms. If they had been wooden poles, they would have added to our immediate repair needs following Laura.

Being networked

A major element in preparedness planning and resilience is the relationships you have.

Even if you think you are an island, geographically or otherwise, it is important to stay on good terms with anyone and any association you can – you never know who will make the difference in getting you the help you need.

This includes at the local, state, and national levels. When it comes to our electric system, we have the Louisiana Energy and Power Authority – or LEPA – a joint action agency, and then we have all the other electric companies in our region who we might call on for mutual aid. And then there’s our local emergency operations center. Nationally, being connected to the American Public Power Association through the national Mutual Aid Network also helped immensely in getting through to other national-level entities about our specific situation and needs.

Through these relationships, we were able to elevate our concerns about getting transmission reconnected – and relay some alternative ideas for what could work for our town – through the Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council, via APPA.

The storm’s path, intensity, and timing during the pandemic created added difficulties. Because it was a transmission-level issue, our efforts in the early days felt a lot like “Groundhog Day” – it felt like nothing was really changing in our morning debrief. 

It took a week and a half before we started seeing progress, and having these relationships made that waiting a whole lot more bearable. The calls from APPA, LEPA, and daily morning meetings with Greg Labbe from Lafayette Utility Systems reminded me that we hadn’t been forgotten.  

In the thick of it, it could be tough to get a straight answer on why we weren’t getting the resources we needed. We spent about a week trying to get a large generator, and the holdup came down to who needed to make the request – which was supposed to come from the state, not the city.

Vinton is one of six cities in the parish, and we have an executive policy group – which includes mayors, our sheriff, and a president of the Police Jury – that meets on all kinds of things. Before and after Laura, we came together to talk about our needs. This connection and model works really well in that it allows us to speak with one voice to the EOC instead of firing off independent requests and updates.

These various relationships also helped us connect and better communicate with Entergy – who was working on restoring the transmission system – on arranging for transformers and in connecting to our substation in Vinton to feed off of another transmission line.

Being part of the mutual aid network really helped us, too. We have had contracts in place in 2005, and we had LUS on standby for Hurricane Ike in 2007, but Laura was the first time we actually enacted mutual aid since then.

LUS came to our aid and were truly heroes throughout the aftermath. Since no local hotels were available, their teams went home every night – driving 90 miles every morning and night to do the work. They picked up quickly, and after a day or so, our crews didn’t have to ride along with LUS crews to figure out where and how to help. Since they do this a lot, they were also able to bring other public power mutual aid crews in from Florida and Georgia, as necessary.

To show our thanks, we had a parade in town as they drove to go home, with maybe 300 people on the streets cheering them on as they left. We also symbolically named the location where they put in the new transformer the Greg Labbe substation in recognition of his effort to resolve that issue.

Building connections

Laura also showed us the importance of being able to be connected to your community.

We encouraged people to have generators handy, but fuel was tough to find for a while after the storm and they cost a lot to run.

In advance of the storm, we urged people with special needs to leave town and stay gone until we knew the power could be back, if they were able, so that they wouldn’t face any medical issues.

As we look ahead, we are looking at building a social media presence and considering other ways to ensure our community can receive information from a central, trusted place. If your city doesn’t already have information avenues for communication for people to sign up, I encourage you to explore your options. Just like it was nice to hear from our connections at the state and national levels, it would be helpful for people to sign up so that we can push information to them and let them know what is happening.

NOAA predicts another active Atlantic hurricane season

May 21, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
May 21, 2021

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center is forecasting another above-normal Atlantic hurricane season. Forecasters predict a 60% chance of an above-normal season, a 30% chance of a near-normal season, and a 10% chance of a below-normal season. However, experts do not anticipate the historic level of storm activity seen in 2020, NOAA said on May 20.

For 2021, a likely range of 13 to 20 named storms (winds of 39 mph or higher), of which 6 to 10 could become hurricanes (winds of 74 mph or higher), including 3 to 5 major hurricanes (category 3, 4 or 5; with winds of 111 mph or higher) is expected. NOAA provides these ranges with a 70% confidence. The Atlantic hurricane season extends from June 1 through November 30. 

In April, NOAA updated the statistics used to determine when hurricane seasons are above-, near-, or below-average relative to the latest climate record. Based on this update an average hurricane season produces 14 named storms, of which 7 become hurricanes, including 3 major hurricanes.

Last year’s record-breaking season “serves as a reminder to all residents in coastal regions or areas prone to inland flooding from rainfall to be prepared for the 2021 hurricane season,” NOAA said.

The American Public Power Association (APPA) offers a wide range of resources to its members related to hurricane and storms. Those resources include an All-Hazards Guidebook and a Restoration Best Practices Guidebook. APPA members can access disaster planning and response resources — including the public power Mutual Aid Network.

LADWP official details wildfire mitigation efforts

May 7, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
May 7, 2021

Brian Wilbur, Senior Assistant General Manager, Power Systems, Construction, Maintenance, and Operations, at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, recently provided details on how the utility is taking steps to mitigate the threat of wildfires.

He made his comments while participating in a Wildfire Workshop and Technology Summit held by the Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council (ESCC).

Sam Rozenberg, Senior Director of Security and Resilience at the American Public Power Association (APPA), and Jack Cashin, Director, Policy Analysis and Reliability Standards, at APPA, moderated panels at the summit.

Wilbur noted that Los Angeles has a relatively small amount of High Fire Threat Area within its service territory when compared with other parts of the state (around 14%).

Addressing the topic of preventative maintenance, Wilbur said that LADWP has spent more than $3.9 billion over the last five years in rebuilding aging infrastructure, which has been a key step in mitigating hazards in high fire threat areas.

While noting that technology plays a role for LADWP, Wilbur said the “bang for our buck” remains replacing things like poles, cross arms, conductors, and transformers.

Cashin asked panelists to detail what is on their wish lists when it comes to the key piece for wildfire mitigation today and in the future.

“It’s not about getting the information but what you do with it when you get it,” Wilbur said. “We have all kinds of line sensors, relay equipment, what we’re doing with distribution automation, what we’re doing with our communication system, putting that all together gives us a ton of data, but it’s the analytics portion of that. It’s not only just warehousing the data once you get it but analyzing” it properly and getting your system to work together. “That’s our goal moving forward,” he said.

Wilbur said that “getting our communication system to tie in with SCADA, with our line sensors, with our relays, with all of that – we’re just getting that off the ground to where we’re starting to tie some of our systems together.”

Marty Adams, General Manager of LADWP, also discussed the utility’s wildfire mitigation efforts in a recent episode of APPA’s Public Power Now podcast.

The panel moderated by Rozenberg examined advancements and improvements in preparing for public safety power shutoffs (PSPS). Investor-owned utilities including Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) in 2020 implemented public safety power shutoffs in response to elevated wildfire risks.

Along with Rozenberg and Cashin, Corry Marshall, APPA Senior Government Relations Director, moderated a panel on drones that included Dan Herrmann, regional manager for transmission at the New York Power Authority (NYPA).

Dan Beans, Electric Utility Director at California’s Redding Electric Utility, spoke on a community engagement panel, while Scott Corwin, executive director of the Northwest Public Power Association (NWPPA), moderated a panel on technologies.

Joy Ditto, President and CEO of APPA, also participated in the summit.

ESCC

The ESCC serves as the principal liaison between the federal government and the electric power industry on national level response issues such as pandemics. APPA President and CEO Joy Ditto serves on the ESCC Steering Committee. Kevin Wailes, CEO of Lincoln Electric System, is an ESCC co-chair.

Three other public power CEOs also sit on the ESCC directly (Jackie Crowley, Middleborough Gas & Electric Dept.; Gil Quiniones, NYPA; and Mike Hummel, Salt River Project) and another three lead or participate in working groups: (Brian Skelton, Tullahoma – cross sector communications working group; Randy Howard, NCPA – ESCC Wildfire working group Co-Lead; and Corwin, NWPPA – ESCC Wildfire Working Group member).

AccuWeather experts predict 2021 Atlantic hurricane season will result in 16-20 named storms

April 7, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
April 7, 2021

AccuWeather’s team of tropical weather experts is predicting that the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season will result in 16-20 named storms, including seven to 10 hurricanes.

Of the storms projected to reach hurricane strength, three to five are predicted to become major hurricanes (Category 3 or higher storms that have maximum sustained winds of 111 mph or greater), according to a report written by Kevin Byrne, AccuWeather staff writer.

“AccuWeather’s forecast, when compared to that 30-year average, indicates that 2021 is expected to be an above-normal season for tropical activity in the Atlantic. A normal season is considered to have 14 storms, seven hurricanes and three major hurricanes,” wrote Byrne.

In 2020, 13 hurricanes formed, and six of those reached the major hurricane threshold, he noted.

After six years of Atlantic Tropical Cyclones forming prior to the official start of the season, the National Hurricane Center will now issue routine Tropical Weather Outlooks starting May 15, the center said in an early March tweet, adding there would be no changes to the official start of the Atlantic hurricane season in 2021.

“Public power utilities last year proved their mettle in successfully responding to an above-average hurricane season, all while adhering to safety protocols in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Sam Rozenberg, Senior Director of Security and Resilience at the American Public Power Association.

“It’s never too early to start planning for tropical storms and hurricanes,” Rozenberg said, noting that APPA offers a wide range of resources to its members.

Those resources include an all-hazards guidebook and a Restoration Best Practices Guidebook.

APPA members can access disaster planning and response resources — including the public power Mutual Aid Network.

Public power utilities in Southeast restore power in wake of storms, tornadoes

March 29, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
March 29, 2021

Public power utilities in the Southeast continued to make steady progress in restoring power to customers in the wake of recent storms and tornadoes that hit the region.

Nashville Electric Service

Nashville Electric Service (NES) on March 27 reported that severe weather had knocked out power to more than 16,000 customers.

Along with power outages, Nashville was grappling with severe flooding. The Nashville Fire Department on Sunday, March 28 said that Metro Nashville Davidson County continued to recover from flooding that claimed four lives and lead to hundreds of water rescues across the county.

Metro Nashville Davidson County had more than seven inches of rain fall, the second highest two-day rainfall ever recorded.

Huntsville Utilities

In Alabama, Huntsville Utilities Electric Operations crews on March 28 were working to restore service to approximately 100 customers still without power following a line of storms that moved through early Sunday morning.

At its peak, 4,700 customers were without power. Crews worked throughout the morning and afternoon on March 28 to restore service, which included replacing 10 utility poles brought down by the storm.

Huntsville Utilities Electric Operations crews made the last pole replacement and service repair at 2:30 a.m. on Monday morning.

City of Newnan, Ga.

The City of Newnan, Ga., was slammed by a tornado on the morning of March 26.

“We want to assure customers we will not rest until all power has been restored,” Newnan Utilities reported in a March 28 Facebook post. The utility said that more than 80 poles were lost during the storm.

Ten employees from the East Point Power Department in Georgia were helping to restore power in the City of Newnan, Ga., after the tornado hit.

They are working with electric crews from the City of Albany and the City of Monroe to restore power. They were scheduled to work throughout the weekend until power was fully restored, East Point Power Department reported.

Randy Griffith, Newnan Utilities Electrical Supervisor, provided an update on his role and the role of Newnan Utilities linemen during the repair process in a video posted on the utility’s Facebook page.

TVA

Meanwhile, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) on March 26 reported that its crews were hard at work repairing transmission lines in Waynesboro, Tenn.

“Last night parts of our service area experienced heavy winds and rain that in some cases caused damage to the grid. More rain and strong winds are forecasted this weekend,” TVA noted in a Facebook post.

Preparing for Mutual Aid

With spring storms here and the hurricane season right around the corner, it is important for all public power utilities to have signed mutual aid agreements in place.

For more information about the public power Mutual Aid Network, please see the American Public Power Association’s Disaster Planning and Response page or email mutualaid@publicpower.org for more information.

APPA opposes FEMA proposed disaster threshold

March 12, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
March 12, 2021

The American Public Power Association (APPA) recently voiced opposition to a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) disaster threshold Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR).

“Every year, public power utilities experience some degree of infrastructure damage due to events, such as ice storms, wildfires, tornadoes, floods, hurricanes, and earthquakes,” APPA said. “If this damage is severe enough to be declared a disaster by the President of the United States, recovery costs are eligible for reimbursement through grants from FEMA,” APPA said in its Feb. 12 comments submitted to FEMA.

These grants “can amount to millions of dollars and are critical to the ability of public power utilities to recover from disasters, making FEMA’s proposed changes an economically significant regulatory action of critical importance to APPA and its members.”

When determining whether to recommend the President declare a major disaster authorizing the public assistance program, FEMA proposes in the NOPR to raise the baseline per capita indicator (PCI) and to further adjust the PCI on a state-by-state basis depending on each state’s total taxable resources (TTR).

Specifically, it would adjust the PCI to reflect the failure to inflation adjust the PCI from 1986 to 1999 and further modify the PCI by multiplying it by the index of each state’s hypothetical TTR as estimated by the U.S. Department of Treasury.

While APPA supports FEMA’s goals to reduce the number of disasters to which it must respond and to see states and localities increase their ability to mitigate against, respond to, and recover from disasters, it opposes the NOPR as proposed because the bulk of the financial effects of the change would be borne largely by a handful of states.

In addition, the new thresholds “would abruptly and dramatically shift the number and size of disasters for which some states must prepare, while doing little to reduce the number of declared disasters in states with the highest incidence of disaster declarations,” APPA pointed out.

The NOPR taken as a whole “would simply shift the responsibility of disaster recovery from the federal government to states and localities when other existing federal policies are serving to make taking those responsibilities more costly.”

Moreover, the NOPR fails to take into consideration an admonition from Congress that FEMA should give greater consideration to severe local impact or recent multiple disasters, APPA said.

If FEMA intends to proceed with the NOPR, “we would strongly urge phasing it in over time to allow states to develop the operational and financial resources to fill in the gap left by the proposal,” APPA said.

 Second, federal tax policy was amended in 2017 with the specific intention of making it more costly for state and local governments to raise taxes and refinance existing debt, the trade group noted.

 FEMA should amend the NOPR to reflect the fact that the value of is reduced by the federal taxes imposed on state and local taxes on that TTR, APPA argued.

“Finally, FEMA must be mindful that states with greater resources also likely have proportionately greater responsibilities, taxing their ability to respond when smaller entities are adversely affected by events. APPA believes FEMA could address this issue by responding to Congress’ direction in the DRRA to give greater consideration to severe local impact or recent multiple disasters.”

Public power crews from the Carolinas help Virginia’s Danville Utilities restore power

February 24, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
February 24, 2021

Crews from North Carolina and South Carolina public power entities recently helped Virginia’s Danville Utilities restore power after Danville was hit by ice storms.

Jason Grey, Director of Utilities at Danville Utilities, on Feb. 24 noted that Danville this month was hit by two ice storms that caused approximately 10,000 outages at peak. 

Danville was assisted by North Carolina’s ElectriCities, South Carolina’s Santee Cooper, Rocky Mount, N.C., Statesville, N.C., Tarboro N.C., and Apex, N.C., Grey noted. Service restoration was completed on Feb. 21.

ElectriCities is a not-for-profit membership organization of municipally owned electric utilities that are spread across North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. Santee Cooper is the state-owned public power utility in South Carolina.

Apex Electric Utilities crews assisted with the power outages in Danville by replacing electric poles broken during the ice storm, it noted in a Feb. 16 tweet.

“Our crews returned safely last night from Danville, Va. where they were helping with recovery efforts after snow and ice storms,” Santee Cooper noted in a Feb. 22 Facebook post.

Lafayette Utilities System sends crews to help La. public power communities restore power

February 22, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
February 22, 2021

Lafayette Utilities System (LUS) line worker crews were recently deployed to the City of Natchitoches, La., and the Town of Vidalia, La., to assist with power restoration efforts in the wake of outages caused by harsh winter weather.

Alex Antonowitsch, Public Information Specialist at LUS, on Feb. 18 said that five LUS line workers were deployed to Natchitoches through Sunday, while thirteen line workers were deployed to Vidalia.

They were deployed under a mutual aid agreement.

A total of 3,500 customers were initially without power in Natchitoches, while 2,500 customers were initially without power in Vidalia.

On Feb. 17, the City of Natchitoches reported that electrical outages were starting to be reported across the city as ice accumulation on power lines and trees were impacting its electrical system. “The Utility Department is aware and working to address these outages. Please be patient as weather conditions make our response slower than normal,” the city said.

On the evening of Feb. 18, the City of Natchitoches reported on its Facebook page that power had been restored to 99% of utility customers at that time. Crews are now assisting to restore power to isolated cases across the city, it said.

“Conditions have been very wet and icy. Our guys have been taking extra safety precautions especially when climbing the poles in this weather,” said Greg Labbe’, LUS Electric Operations Manager.

“The roads were slick with ice on the way to Vidalia. We had to cut away some trees blocking the road just to get there,” said Colby Boggs LUS T&D Foreman.