Case 12-E-0283
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STATE OF NEW YORK DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SERVICE Case 12-E-0283 In the Matter of the Review of Long Island Power Authority’s Preparedness and Response to Hurricane Irene June 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................. 1 Tropical Storm Irene ............................................................................................................... 3 Overall Conclusions ............................................................................................................... 4 Recommendation Summary .................................................................................................. 6 II. ELECTRIC OPERATION STORM PREPARATION ................................................................ 8 A. Overview of Storm Preparation Activities ................................................................ 8 B. Emergency Response Plans ......................................................................................... 8 C. Emergency Operations Center Preparation ............................................................ 13 D. Crew Resources ........................................................................................................... 14 E. Alert Levels and Damage Prediction ....................................................................... 16 III. STORM RESPONSE .................................................................................................................... 20 A. Overview of Restoration Activities........................................................................... 20 B. Damage Assessment and Wires Down .................................................................... 21 C. Line and Tree Trimming Resources ......................................................................... 29 D. Restoration Procedure ................................................................................................ 33 E. Division and Local Control ........................................................................................ 35 F. Outage Management System ..................................................................................... 37 IV. COMMUNICATIONS ................................................................................................................ 43 A. Background .................................................................................................................. 43 B. LIPA’s Communication Organizations .................................................................... 48 C. Customer Communications ....................................................................................... 53 D. Communications with Local, State and Federal Emergency Agencies ................................................................................................... 57 E. Media, Web and Social Media Communications.................................................... 63 F. Lessons Learned Since the Storm of 2010 ................................................................ 65 V. CUSTOMER SERVICE ................................................................................................................ 68 A. Background .................................................................................................................. 68 B. LIPA and NG Call Center Operations ...................................................................... 68 C. Customer Service Emergency Plan and Organization ........................................... 69 D. Customer Service Communications ......................................................................... 71 E. Pre-Storm Preparation and Performance ................................................................. 73 F. Technical Preparation and Performance .................................................................. 76 VI. EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT .................................................................................................. 86 A. Organization Structure ............................................................................................... 86 B. Roles and Responsibility Pursuant to the MSA ...................................................... 88 C. Findings and Recommendations .............................................................................. 89 i VII. VEGETATION MANAGEMENT .............................................................................................. 92 A. Introduction ................................................................................................................. 92 B. Transmission Right of Way Management ............................................................... 93 C. Analysis of Distribution Vegetation Management ................................................. 95 VIII. ELECTRIC SYSTEM DESIGN STANDARDS & STORM HARDENING ............................................................................................................. 103 A. The Electric System Planning Process .................................................................... 103 B. Storm Hardening Program ...................................................................................... 106 ii I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The following report is the product of the Department of Public Service’s (Department or DPS) review of the Long Island Power Authority’s (LIPA or utility) August 2011 storm preparedness and restoration response to Tropical Storm Irene.1 This review was performed in response to the Governor’s request that DPS evaluate the storm preparation and responses of LIPA in conjunction with DPS’s review of the response by the investor owned utilities within DPS jurisdiction to the same storm. In this way, the use of a relatively uniform set of procedures and standards would enable DPS to recommend modifications of Emergency Response Plans prepared by each of the utilities and LIPA and would promote identification and implementation of statewide best practices. The Department’s responsibility for oversight of the emergency response efforts by the investor owned electric utilities during and following Tropical Storm Irene is based on provisions of the Public Service Law (PSL). LIPA, however, does not fall within the general regulatory purview of DPS or the Public Service Commission (Commission).2 Consequently, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was entered into between DPS and LIPA for DPS to evaluate LIPA’s storm preparation and service restoration efforts. Vantage Energy Consulting LLC (Vantage) was retained to assist DPS in its review of the storm response related to Tropical Storm Irene on Long Island3 The Department has endeavored to apply to this review the same procedures and standards that apply to the evaluation of the storm preparedness and responses of the investor owned utilities. Similar to the investor owned utility companies, LIPA prepared and submitted a report assessing its service restoration efforts undertaken on Long Island for Tropical Storm Irene. The LIPA report was received on November 21, 2011. 1 The storm experienced on Long Island as Tropical Storm Irene was experienced in some other locations as a hurricane, and it is referenced as such, for example, in the title of the case which is considering the response to the storm. Since the storm, when landfall was made on Long Island, was a Tropical Storm, it will be identified as such in this report. 2 See e.g., exceptions in Public Authorities Law (PAL) §1020-s: §1020-cc and Public Service Law (PSL) §3(2). 3 In addition, the work performed for this review is based on a Work Plan that was developed from a number of inputs, including: the MOU between LIPA and the DPS, Part 105 of the NYS Code; the Contract between LIPA, NYS DPS and Vantage (Contract); the proposal submitted by Vantage; discussions with DPS Staff; a thorough review of numerous reports and documents regarding Hurricane Irene filed with the DPS and other governmental bodies; the results of nearly 100 interviews of LIPA and NG personnel as well as site visits to several work locations; and analysis of 280 data responses submitted specifically for this assignment. This report’s description and analysis of the storm response for Tropical Storm Irene on Long Island is made more complex because LIPA currently contracts with and, at the time of the storm, contracted with National Grid Electric Services, L.L.C. (NG) to operate and maintain its transmission and distribution (T&D) system.4 This work is performed pursuant to a Management Services Agreement (MSA) which requires NG to, among other things, (i) conduct virtually all day-to-day operations and maintenance of LIPA’s electric system, including emergency repairs of such system associated with storm events, (ii) prepare and implement emergency response plans, and (iii) ensure appropriate customer contact through call centers. It is important at the outset to recognize that references this report makes to LIPA and NG are references to two entities with sometimes distinct, but often overlapping responsibilities. LIPA is a public authority with approximately 100 employees. By design, it does not perform the hands-on day to day activities which would implement storm restoration initiatives. Rather, under the business plan implemented by LIPA, many of these responsibilities are assigned to NG and, by contract, NG has accepted this assignment. In describing the results of the Department’s study, this report endeavors to refer to either LIPA or