Grid slapped on storm response

With weather worsening, state looks to reduce frequency, duration of power losses

Warwick Beacon ·

While a report prepared for the Division of Public Utilities and Carriers has found fault with how National Grid responded to the Oct. 29 storm that left more than 144,000 Rhode Island customers without power – some for more than four days – the division’s administrator said yesterday the company did a better job of dealing with power outages this year.

“While Grid really fell down on this storm, in the most recent four storms Grid has outperformed its peers over the course of the winter largely because of the displeasure that the governor had shown of their performance during the storm in October,” said Macky McCleary.

But McCleary is not giving Grid a pass on the handling of the October storm or what needs to happen now. Furthermore, he sees no reason to relax, as he believes the weather of the past couple of years will become the norm and that we can expect additional severe storms.

“This is just the beginning. The weather is going to get worse from here out and we have to get better,” he said. “Climate change is here. It’s not just National Grid but all the utilities in this region have to get better at this because the weather is going to get worse.”

As for the findings of the report, McCleary said, “The immediate next step is to ensure that all the recommendations in the report are implemented as quickly as possible. We do expect that all of the recommendations, except ones that may require legislation, will be implemented by within 120 days at the latest. We expect National Grid to be reporting to us on a monthly basis. In addition to that we have to sit down and negotiate the legal aspects of that within the next couple of weeks. We will figure out exactly how long, but we do expect everything to be done within 120 days.”

Regardless, Lt. Gov. Daniel McKee thinks if National Grid is found at fault for failing to restore power within what would be acceptable periods, as was the case indicated in the recently released report, the company should pay.

“You’re at fault and we’re going to fine you and it’s not going to come out of the ratepayers’ pockets,” McKee said in an interview Tuesday. He said whatever is paid in fines “should be paid back to the ratepayers in some fashion.”

McKee also spoke of legislation introduced at his request that shadows Massachusetts’ provisions that impose fines should utility companies fail to meet deadlines to restore power, as well as puts in place an investigation of a company’s response following a storm. He feels the Massachusetts law is responsible for National Grid’s hasty response to Massachusetts’ customers – at the expense of Rhode Islanders.

“They’re going to get there and not here,” he said. “It’s not difficult to connect the dots.”

Expenses relating to storm damages are paid out of the company’s storm contingency fund that is funded through Grid’s base distribution rate contributions. National Grid did not respond to a request as to how much is in the fund at this point, but it only seems logical that it is running in the red. Last June, the company reported the fund had a deficit balance of about $94.2 million as of Nov. 30, 2016. This year alone there have been three storms causing upwards of 150,000 outages and requiring the company to contract outside forestry crews to clear trees and wire crews.

The division investigation into the response to the Oct. 29 storm is the first it has conducted since one in the wake of Tropical Storm Irene in 2011, said division spokesman Thomas Kogut. He estimated the cost of the study prepared by PowerServices at $40,000. He said should the company and the division fail to reach a settlement agreement the matter would proceed to an evidentiary hearing.

In its 64-page report, PowerServices found that Grid underestimated the severity of the storm that, unlike a slow moving hurricane, was a rapidly intensifying event or “weather bomb.” Gusts of more than 70 MPH were recorded locally. The storm caused 1.5 million power outages in multiple states.

PowerServices said it faced delays of up to three months for Grid to provide the attributes of the impacted circuits, cause of outages, crew dispatch sequence and restoration times, all information used to gauge effectiveness in preparing for, and executing a restoration plan.

“We believe the company was delaying and impeding the process to enable the company to complete its own report prior to the completion of the PowerServices report,” it reads.

Furthermore, PowerServices concludes that the report Grid released on Feb. 1 “barely meets the minimum requirements of what we would consider an adequate storm summary. The company incorporated very little detail in their report, and made minimal attempts to identify planning and restoration issues that arose from the storm.”

Asked about delays in providing information, McCleary said, “The division is not going to allow that to occur again. We’re going to be changing our regulations and ensuring that the response is a part of all future investigations and conflict.”

He continued, “The most outstanding chart would be the comparison between the local utilities and when they all issued their internal reports of the October storm, all of which are required, and National Grid RI was by far the last – I think two or three weeks – which is not really acceptable. The division has the power to change that, and we will.”

In a release earlier this week, Grid responded to the report. In part it reads, “No matter how powerful, frequent or unpredictable the weather, we are committed to getting the lights back on for our customers, neighbors and communities as safely and quickly as possible. This commitment is demonstrated by our 950 Rhode Island employees working tirelessly alongside our contractor[s] and mutual assistance teams from across the United States to restore service. We will continue to use the necessary resources and partner with all state and local emergency personnel to get the job done.”

The PowerServices report had the following findings:

- The company failed to have redundant weather analysis processes that recognized the increased intensity of the storm and the outage impact it would have.

- The company failed to make rapid adjustments within the ERP [emergency response plan] to assure the needed resources were onboard.

- The company never identified and communicated internally or externally the maximum Incident Level classification.

- The company’s failure to properly classify the type of storm and outage event resulted in communications of overly optimistic restoration times, both internally and to the public.

- The company’s slow reaction to the changing events and storm magnitude allowed other utilities in New England, such as Eversource, to secure regional mutual aide resources for storm restoration first, leaving National Grid with securing more of its resources from greater distances. Thus, the company did not have maximum resources on the system within a reasonable time after reaching the peak outage level.

- The company’s inactions in adjusting storm classification and internal communications concerning storm and outage severity was the main cause for the significant delay in acquiring resources, which resulted in as much as a 36 hour delay in the full restoration of power.

- Even at this time the company, based on its Summary Report, apparently believes its full restoration occurred earlier than the factual data supports. There were crews working on power restoration after the time the Company represents is the final restoration date and time. This type of disconnect between the facts and the Company’s belief is a further indication of a flawed and broken communication and data processing system.

- The company’s Feb. 1, 2018 report barely meets the minimum requirements of what we consider an adequate storm assessment summary. The company is provided ninety (90) days to produce the report, which is excessive considering that comparable utilities produce robust reports in as little as two weeks. The company must accelerate and enhance its storm reporting, which should be delivered within forty-five (45) days following a major event.

- Absent changes by the company in numerous areas as recommended, our opinion is that Rhode Island electric customers will continue to have delayed outage restoration as compared to other regional utility customers, combined with unnecessary inaccuracy in estimated restoration times being communicated.

- The company must put forth a plan that documents how it will make adjustments to avoid future storm event classification errors, and incorporate a process in the ERP to categorize events and rapidly recognize and adjust to changing storm and outage circumstances while not being the last utility to successfully acquire needed mutual aide resources.

- Lastly, National Grid must specifically describe how the company implemented each of the Division’s Directives, resulting from the Nov. 20, 2012 Report and Order related to Tropical Storm Irene, to include a current update for each Directive as opposed to the report provided by the company that was prepared nearly five years ago.