Insight from the Trenches: Rich Hobson

The activity log is one of the most important items that one needs to remember to complete during an event. I learned this when Hurricane Isabel hit the mid-Atlantic region in Sept. 2003. The Maryland Public Service Commission ordered all Maryland utilities to provide a detailed written summary of the event. They wanted to know when each mutual assistance call was held and what resources were requested by each Maryland utility; what resources were available and when, along with what resources were offered; and the timing of weather forecast updates as well as the expected impact on the electrical system. Clearly, any of the utilities that did not have the foresight to have a thoroughly-completed activity log would have been hard-pressed to satisfy the PSC’s requests.