Kyle Roadman, EPUD General Manager
Emerald Customer-Owners,
It goes without saying the past month has been one of the most challenging in the history of our utility. The multi-phased ice storm destroyed major portions of our distribution system, requiring a near complete rebuild in many areas. The raw numbers are staggering:
- Up to 80% of our District’s geographic area suffered damage.
- Lost transmission service to every substation except one.
- Two substations out of service for 4 days.
- Minimum system load of 2 MW (total!) on the morning of 01/17 (vs. a forecast of near 100 MW).
- Up to 300 broken poles (vs. <100 in the 2019 snow storm).
- Initial cost estimate of $9.8 million (vs. $4.3 million in 2019).
- 25 mutual aid crews brought in to help.
- 135+ linemen working in the field at the peak.
- 300+ hotel room reservations across 7 different locations.
- 2,500+ individual meals served.
- Distribution system rebuilt in 11 days from the second wave of ice (vs. 10 days in 2019).
- Zero major safety incidents.
I’m beyond proud of the effort our staff put into this monumental challenge. Our crews and support staff worked long hours for weeks on end to restore power safely and efficiently. Our management team conducted this operation decisively from the very beginning, starting with the early decision to bring in large numbers of mutual aid crews. The task of supporting these outside crews and ensuring they were deployed correctly was enormous, but our team came through for customers. Had we not got this right, the outage could easily have lasted for weeks or even months longer.
While I think it’s very appropriate to give credit to our staff, I also want to acknowledge the hardship this event presented to customers. Going without power for a week or more is no easy task in this day and age. Quite frankly, we’ve grown accustomed to these kind of outages being a relic of the past. Living through two such events in five years, however, tells us we need to be prepared for it to happen again.
Where does all of this leave EPUD? Although we’ve completed restorations, and will soon complete the clean up phase, we have a lot to consider post-ice storm. First and foremost, we’re in the process of a “hot wash” review of the storm to explore what went well and what we can do better at. We’ll also be focused on obtaining FEMA reimbursement to help offset the cost of the storm.
Beyond these activities, we’re already talking about new priorities for 2024, including initiatives around emergency preparedness, disaster recovery, business continuity, and revised capital project planning. Look for more information on these initiatives soon.
From all of us at EPUD, we can’t thank you enough for your continued support during this historic event. Just as we tried to communicate and share information, we appreciated customers giving regular feedback so we knew how we were doing. Although there were certainly frustrations, by and large you all stayed with us as we navigated each step. This really did mean the world to our staff and helped keep us going even in the darkest hours. We will never forget this. Thank you!
Please stay safe,
