How Prepared are You for the Next Major Weather Event?

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“Is my utility ready for the next major weather event” is a question that every utility executive, decision-maker, emergency preparedness professional and storm role assignee should be continuously asking themselves.  But why exactly is this critical?

Well, the answer is that weather patterns will certainly not become less volatile over time.  Climate change is real, which has increased the frequency and severity of hurricanes, wildfires, and of course extreme heat and drought conditions.  As such, there are 5 questions that any and every utility employee should constantly ponder to ensure maximum readiness.

5 Questions to Determine Preparedness for the Next Major Weather Event

According to the 2021 Itron Resourcefulness Insight Report, nearly 90% of utility executives are highly concerned about the impact of weather on the grid going forward.  To help mitigate these concerns, the following questions should be considered:

1. Does the utility have an effective 2-way customer communication plan? Simply put, customers must be kept informed of status and progress, and utility companies must be able to collect insights from customers.
2. Can the company access data in real time? Real-time information enhances the decision-making process.  A good example of this is the deployment of Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI).
3. Can actions be executed remotely? This is another benefit of AMI, and it is important because the ability to solve problems remotely accelerates timelines and helps keep employees out of harm’s way.
4. Are protocols in place to allow preventative actions? Obviously, this is easier said than done, but with remote-monitoring technologies like sensors, it is becoming increasingly possible to nip problems in the bud before they become major headaches.
5. Does the utility have battery backup technology for its network? Hopefully it goes without saying that lost data and/or loss of connectivity is extremely troublesome, which makes having backup capability critical.

There you have it, 5 key questions to ask yourself to make sure the utility you work for is ready for the next major weather event.  Good luck!