5 Best Practices for Post-Outage Electric and Gas Coordination
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When a power outage strikes, utility sector electric and gas coordination is critical for getting the lights back on as soon as possible. This is mainly due to the interdependencies between gas and electric systems.
The good news is that there are several best practices that can be followed to ensure a coordinated and effective response.
Best Practices for Electric & Gas Coordination During Emergency Response
Achieving optimal electric and gas coordination is not particularly difficult, but it does require a lot of planning and communication. Here are 5 best practices:
The first best practice is to establish joint communication channels and protocols to facilitate open and reliable communication. Utilities should establish redundant communication systems, and should conduct joint training, exercises & drills and regular meetings to build relationships and familiarity between teams. Additionally, the development of common terminology should be encouraged to help avoid misunderstandings under pressure.
Second, rather than operating under separate emergency response plans, gas and electric coordination can be optimized by creating a unified ERP that outlines the roles and responsibilities for each side, and procedures for sharing critical information like outage locations, resource availability, and potential hazards.
Third, gas and electric utilities should synergize their damage assessment tactics, as sharing data from these assessments will help provide a holistic view of the situation and help prioritize repair efforts.
Fourth, utilities in each sector should jointly develop a singular list of critical customers such as hospitals, nursing homes, etc. Working together to identify these facilities – and then developing strategies to ensure their continued operation during emergencies – will go a long way toward prioritizing and streamlining restoration efforts.
Finally, utilities should establish agreements for sharing resources like equipment and personnel. Simply put; by pooling their resources, utilities can respond more effectively to emergencies.
The bottom line is that following these best practices can help ensure effective and efficient electric and gas coordination when responding to a power outage.
