Project Communication 20 | Test Monitor 24 | System Hardening 30

DECEMBER 2017 tdworld.com

Line Rebuild
From the Ground Up
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 December 2017
Vol. 69 | No. 12

Contents
Features
14 Michigan Line Rebuild
Goes the Distance
Through system modernization projects like
the Marshall-Blackstone line, ITC has significantly
reduced the average number of outages by 40%.
By Bob Schultz and Hasib Bhuiyanr, ITC Holdings Corp.

20 Community Engagement 14
Dominion Energy rethinks how it connects
with customers on electric transmission projects.
By Julie Mills Taylor and Greg Mathe, Dominion Energy
Departments
24 Brazilian Utility Expands
Use of DGA Monitoring 6 Global Viewpoint
During a five-year program, CEMIG identified financial savings A Turning Point for DERs
that more than ofset program costs. As markets for distributed energy resources
By Adriana de Castro Passos Martins, Costabile Di Sessa and grow, natural gas has a big role to play.
Las Martins Marques Chaves, CEMIG Gerao E Transmisso S.A. By Peter Manos, Market Strategist

30 The Need for Speed Drives 8 Business Developments

NYISO Launches Wholesale Pilot
Progressive Design-Build Program for DERs
When extraordinary load growth demanded a faster way DOE Approves Presidential Permit for
to build, Grant County PUD found one. Northern Pass Transmission Line Project
By Russ Seiler and Mark Milacek, Grant County PUD
12 Technology Updates
36 Glendale Pilots First 1100-kV HVDC Transformer
Passes Testing
Battery Energy Storage ABB Technology Helps Dubai
Through a small-scale pilot, GWP demonstrates how battery
Develop Smart Solar Strategy
systems instantaneously respond to system load shifs.
By Jaime Reyes, Glendale Water & Power
42 Products & Services
Mechanical Trimmer
Industrial Wheeled Tractor
Two-Way Radio Communications

48 Straight Talk
SoS: All Hands on Deck
A System of Systems approach to leveraging
DERs can benefit all customers.
By Andre Botha, Vector

36 44 Classified Advertising
47 Advertising Index
2 T&D World | December 2017
STREAMLINED USER EXPERIENCE

EXPERIENCE
OUR EVOLUTION
Fall 2017 | hubbellpowersystems.com

Follow us on social:

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 New on tdworld.com
Visit the website daily
for breaking news, videos tdworld.com
and photo galleries. Strategic Director Rick Bush rbush@tdworld.com
Technology Editor Vito Longo vlongo@tdworld.com
Gallery: Senior Managing Editor Emily Saarela esaarela@tdworld.com
Changing the Energy Landscape in the International Editor Gerry George gerrygeorge1@btinternet.com
Midwest: CapX2020 Technical Writer Gene Wolf GW_Engr@msn.com
Its quite the accomplishment, Field Editor Amy Fischbach aschbach@tdworld.com
and one that has changed the Online Editor Nikki Chandler nchandler@tdworld.com
energy landscape of the Upper
Senior Editor Dave Shadle dshadle@tdworld.com
Midwest. As of Sept. 8, 2017, all
Market Strategist Peter Manos pmanos@tdworld.com
of the CapX2020 transmission
lines are up and running in Training and Safety Editor Tom Cohenno tcohenno@tdworld.com
Minnesota, North Dakota, South Contributing Editor Paul Mauldin Paul.Mauldin@penton.com
Dakota and Wisconsin. Here is Art Director Susan Lakin slakin@tdworld.com
an overview of the entire
CapX2020 project in pictures, Brand Manager/Publisher David Blaza David.Blaza@penton.com
courtesy of Xcel Energy/CapX2020. http://bit.ly/2hwMPG3 Associate Publisher Steve Lach Steve.Lach@penton.com

Digital Innovations: Account Sales Manager

Director of Marketing
Jay Thompson
Angie Gates
Jay.Thompson@penton.com
Angie.Gates@penton.com
Stronger Storms Meet Smarter Grids Ad Production Manager Julie Gilpin Julie.Gilpin@penton.com
By Gene Wolf Classied Production Designer Linda Sargent Linda.Sargent@penton.com
Marketing Campaign Manager Sonja Trent Sonja.Trent@penton.com

Group President Paul Miller Paul.Miller@penton.com

Vice President, Market Leader Linda Reinhard Linda.Reinhard@penton.com
Executive Director, Content Karen Field Karen.Field@penton.com

Storm restoration is a dangerous process that requires the
efforts of thousands of people to rebuild what the storm
destroyed. It requires a lot of boots on the ground and a huge
support network feeding materials and equipment to the
workers who are restoring power to the customers, but some
innovative technologies are making the process faster.
http://bit.ly/2ipJKsn
Grid Optimization:
Are We Ready for 30% Renewables
or Higher?
By David Shadle
At the distribution level, increasing numbers of renewables
and DERs, in general, present a host of issues.
http://bit.ly/2A4GHQu
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4 T&D World | December 2017

 Te Quanta Family
of Companies
Allteck Line Contractors

Brink Constructors, Inc.

Can-Fer Utility Services

Crux Subsurface, Inc.

Dashiell Corporation

Hargrave Power

Irby Construction

J.C.R. Utility Construction Co.

J.W. Didado Electric

M. J. Electric, LLC

North Houston Pole Line

PAR Electrical Contractors, Inc.

Potelco, Inc.

Probst Electric
Building Americas Infrastructure
Quanta Energized Services

Quanta Technology Te companies that comprise Quanta Services participated

with the build out of the power and pipeline infrastructure
Quanta Utility Engineering Serivces in the 1930s and 1940s. Powered by their knowledge and
experience, we are rebuilding Americas infrastructure today,
Realtime Utility Engineers with a workforce over 28,000 employees strong.
Service Electric Company
713.629.7600
Summit Line Construction www.quantaservices.com

Sumter Utilities, Inc.

Valard Construction
 Global Viewpoint
A Turning Point for DERs
By Peter Manos, Market Strategist
S maller-scale, natural-gas-fred on-site generation has an in-
creasingly important role to play as markets for distributed
energy resources (DERs) mature.
While Amerens breakthrough microgrid at the University
of Illinois campus in Champaign, Illinois, U.S., is one of the
most technologically advanced facilities of its kind and has
achieved an impressive roster of frsts for a North American
microgrid, two important frsts that have been underempha-
sized are the systems engineering approach being employed
and the key role played by natural gas.
It is almost as if the press coverage is in inverse proportion
to the various sizes of the elements in Amerens microgrid, with
the large natural-gas element getting the least coverage. Sure,
the facilitys 100-kW wind turbine, 125-kW solar array and
250 kW of battery storage are important and interesting, but
the facilitys 1000-kW Caterpillar natural-gas-fred generator
represents more than twice the combined capacity of those
other three elements. Furthermore, the generator also helps
the facility to meet many of its key use cases and reliabil-
ity hurdles, especially when it comes to reliably meeting peak
demand.
Taking a Peek at Peak Demand
Perhaps part of the reason that gas generally gets short
shrift is because the general public often lacks suffcient ap-
preciation of peak pricing for electricity. Is peak pricing of
electricity an exception to the supposed rule that nobody likes
to pay more for something than they have to? Will most elec-
tric utility customers simply continue their high-peak-usage
patterns, whether knowingly or unknowingly?
A lot of the upcoming and exciting shifts for our electric
6 T&D World | December 2017
grid involve developments whose growth potential will address
the high costs utilities face in order to reliably meet peak elec-
tricity demand. Demand response, electric vehicles, home en-
ergy networks and microgrid markets will all be growing more
rapidly as we move forward to meet the coming distributed
energy future.
In the electric utility industry, we have the opportunity to
shift generation and load dynamically and thus reduce or shift
peak demand.
In recent discussions with Alex Rojas, director of distrib-
uted technologies at Ameren, I got a good reminder of how a
microgrid could pay for itself in a fairly short period of time if
its owner sells back power into the grid during a few of each
years highest peak demand periods.
Rojas spoke about how engineers need to innovate. He said
Steve Jobs did not invent the iPhone by surveying customers.
And Rojas has a clear sense that we need to avoid exclusively
focusing on ROI-centric approaches or designing around the
maximum price premium customers say they may be willing
to pay.
According to Rojas, Amerens shift to a new systems engi-
neering approach is taking what has been technically pos-
sible based on pilots and smaller programs in recent years, and
looking at what needs to be in place end-to-end in order to
ft all the key pieces together on a large scale. He explains,
We are sharpening our tools, because the amount of real-time
data that will be required to reliably operate the utility of the
future will be many thousands of times greater than what we
are dealing with now.
Instead of our being worried about the coming food of
data, I suggest we see it as a positive surge, something utilities
can ride upon to create new markets and value for us and our
customers. And I suggest that, indeed, the answers to manag-
ing our future are imbedded in that data we can mine to come
up with optimal energy solutions.
As we add more DERs, natural gas has a big role to play.
But DERs and microgrid market growth will be hindered by
the complex defnitions we now have for time-of-use, real-time,
variable and critical peak pricing.
To grow these markets, we need a little more than mar-
keting mojo. We need to redefne our role with our present
customers who, going forward, will be our partners and who
will infuence energy decisions as they use energy reductions,
load shifting and on-site generation to help redefne our en-
ergy markets.
Rojas sees the installation of the microgrid as more than an
energy platform to reach energy customers. It is also a beacon
of light for the future of Ameren, as employees have the oppor-
tunity to visit the facility and learn what shape their personal
futures might take.
Did You Know
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 Business Developments
Argentine Utility EPEC Joins
NYISO Launches Wholesale Pilot Program for DERs Electricity Capacity Project
The New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) is launching a pilot pro- The Argentina Ministry of Energy
gram to integrate innovative distributed energy resources (DERs) into its wholesale and Mines (Ministerio de Energia y
market systems. The NYISO says the effective integration of DERs can help grid Minera) has signed with Innovari Inc.
operators improve system resiliency, energy security and fuel diversity. In addition, to support a national pilot project that
DERs will play an important role in achieving the state of New Yorks Reforming the will demonstrate aggregated dynamic
Energy Vision (REV) and Clean Energy Standard goals. capacity management and improve over-
The pilot program will inform market design efforts within the NYISO; build op- all energy system effciency. Argentina
erational DER experience among the NYISO, utilities and market participants; and utility EPEC will host the capacity man-
demonstrate coordination of market and grid operations with new or revised market agement technology that will be used
rules for DER integration. in conjunction with public, commercial
The pilot will be guided by the NYISOs DER Roadmap, which established a clear and industrial buildings to help meet
path toward integrating DERs into the wholesale markets and is consistent with New electricity demand requirements in
Yorks REV objectives, which include the following: their service areas.
Identifying and evaluating opportunities for DERs, regardless of technology The project will use the Innovari
Demonstrating proof of concept of objectives established in the DER Roadmap Interactive Energy Platform (IEP). The
Demonstrating processes and procedures for coordination between the NYISO, IEP system aggregates electricity capac-
resource aggregators and the utility distributed system platform ity from various sources, including dis-
Understanding technical capabilities and dispatchability of DERs and aggre- tributed energy resources such as wind
gated resources and solar, distributed generation, as well
Assessing performance of aggregated resources in the market as capacity offered through commercial
Evaluating the impact of integrating DERs into various NYISO software systems. and industrial buildings. The IEP also
The opportunity to demonstrate capabilities of existing products to meet relevant enables customers greater control of
performance requirements will help the broader stakeholder community better un- specifc loads in their buildings to in-
derstand the impact DERs may have on New Yorks wholesale market. Key fndings crease their control over energy use in
from the pilot program will be shared with market participants and stakeholders their facility.
as the NYISO works to develop market rules that will affect DERs as well as other EPEC is one of the largest utilities
resources. in Argentina, and they have partnered
with Innovari to enable their project
DOE Approves Presidential Permit for Long-Delayed team to test the functionality of the IEP
New England Infrastructure and Clean Energy Project system in customer environments to
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has issued a Record of Decision and ap- help optimize the entire power grid,
proved the Presidential permit for the proposed Northern Pass Transmission Line said Patricio Testorelli, president and
project. The 192-mile (309-km) aboveground and belowground alternating and di- CEO of Innovari Latin America. The
rect current transmission system will deliver up to 1090 MW of low-emission, reliable IEP will help to improve system opti-
hydropower from Qubec, Canada, to Deerfeld, New Hampshire, while creating mization, and the process will also pro-
jobs, lowering energy costs and reducing the carbon footprint across New England. vide important insights for the utilities
Since it was frst proposed in 2010, the US$1.6 billion Northern Pass project has and the Ministry of Mines and Energy
been subject to layers of federal and state government permitting regulations, a near- to consider appropriate business mod-
ly 4000-page Environmental Impact Statement, and has adjusted its planned route els that will help make edge-of-grid re-
in response to input from local communities as well as federal and state permitting sources a key part of the solution for all
agencies. The approval of Presidential permit PP-371 allows the Northern Pass Trans- utilities in Argentina in the future.
mission Line project to cross the international border and connect into the U.S. grid. A key focus of these pilot projects is
Northern Passs construction of the line is expected to begin as early as April 2018, to help determine the business model
pending approval by the state of New Hampshires Site Evaluation Committee. that will enable utilities to use this ad-
According to Northern Pass, it is estimated that construction of the transmission vanced technology throughout Argen-
system will create more than 2600 American jobs and provide over $600 million in tina. They also seek to identify the regu-
annual energy cost savings for New England consumers. latory changes that will be necessary for
President Trump has proclaimed November 2017 to be Critical Infrastructure an expansion project. Today, the Argen-
Security and Resilience Month, and the Presidential permit for the Northern Pass tina government takes responsibility for
Transmission Line is the second DOE energy transmission project to be announced a signifcant portion of an end users
this year. DOE is pleased to recognize projects like Northern Pass that add diversity electric bill. The success of this program
to the energy supply, beneft the environment and solidify the countrys commitment will help fnd ways to relieve the govern-
to enhancing grid reliability, affordability and resilience. ment of some of this responsibility.

8 T&D World | December 2017

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Business Developments

National Grid Ofers Solution for an Island Communitys Unique Energy Challenges
National Grid will install a 48-MWh battery energy storage
system (BESS) on the island of Nantucket, 30 miles (48 km) off
the coast of Massachusetts, U.S., to help address some unique
energy challenges.
Nantucket has been experiencing signifcant growth and
demand for electricity, both of which are expected to continue
for the foreseeable future. The islands electricity is supplied
via two submarine cables that connect with the mainland
transmission system on Cape Cod. In the event of a failure on
one of the cables, two 6-MW diesel generators are available
to provide partial back-up power. The diesel generators are
reaching the end of their useful life and need to be replaced.
Additionally, given the growth forecast, the islands emergency
electricity back-up system needs to be expanded, and a third
submarine cable will likely will be needed in about 12 years.
National Grid explored several options to address these in-
frastructure needs and the ever-increasing on-island demand
for electricity, and came up with a unique solution: the BESS
and a new diesel generator that together can supply the island
in the event of a cable failure. National Grid expects that with
the BESS, the need for a third cable can be delayed for 15 to
20 years beyond the current 12-year forecast. The BESS will be
6 MW with an eight-hour duration, which is also described as a
48-MWh system, and is being provided by Tesla.

CPower Contracts with SCE to Provide 35 MW of Demand-Response Capacity

CPower announces a contract with Southern California
Edison to provide 35 MW of the utilitys 100-MW capacity pro-
curement as part of the 2018/2019 Demand Response Auction
Mechanism (DRAM), a pilot program entering its third phase.
The announcement comes as demand response in California
continues evolving and becomes more integrated with other
resources into the California Independent System Operators
(CAISO) markets.
DRAM was created in 2014 under the guidance of the Cali-
fornia Public Utility Commission in an effort to harmonize
utility-based reliability demand response with CAISO, the
states grid operator. The program seeks to allow CAISO to
add reliable demand-response resources to areas of California
where electric reliability may be at risk.
Launched in 2015 and now in its third year, the DRAM is
a pay-as-bid pilot in which Californias investor-owned utilities
seek monthly demand-response system capacity, local capacity
and fexible capacity for January to December.
A curtailment service provider in California, CPower has
played a signifcant role in helping DRAMs capacity volume
triple from its frst delivery year in 2016 to its third year in 2018.
The 2018 and 2019 delivery years of the program come as the
Aggregator Managed Portfolio utility-based demand-response
program ended in October 2017.

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10 T&D World | December 2017

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Novinium, Inc. 2017. All rights reserved.
 Technology Updates
Utilities Order VVO
First 1100-kV HVDC Transformer Passes Testing Pilot Systems to Address
The worlds frst transformer, developed and manufactured by Siemens for high- Distribution Grid Challenges
voltage direct-current (HVDC) transmission systems with what is the highest trans- Multiple utilities in the U.S. have
mission voltage of 1100 kV, has passed its type test. ordered preproduction VVO (volt/VAR
Siemens developed, manufactured and tested the HVDC transformer in its trans- optimization) pilot units from AMSC for
former factory in Nuremberg, Germany. It is the frst of a total of seven 1100-kV evaluation purposes.
transformers that Siemens and a partner company are building for what is currently Introduced to the utility market in
the worlds largest HVDC transmission system. This type of transformer is among 2017, AMSCs VVO has completed ex-
the most powerful single-phase units in the world, with a transmission capacity of tensive and rigorous third-party stan-
587.1 MVA. Siemens is building the transformers in its network of factories led by its dard utility testing, including testing at
Nuremberg plant, in cooperation with its factory for HVDC transformers in Guang- KEMA Laboratories, the international
zhou, China, as well as another Chinese partner. These factories are manufacturing utility indicator of a products reliabil-
the machines according to the specifcations and documentation of the lead factory ity and safety in the industry. The VVO
in Nuremberg. Commissioning of the worlds largest HVDC link and thus also the systems are expected to cost-effectively
transformers is scheduled for 2018. address acute and systemic distribution
The transformers will be installed in the Guquan converter station of the HVDC grid challenges, ranging from large
link between the Chinese cities of Changji (Xinjiang) and Guquan (Anhui). This is photovoltaic intermittent power gen-
the most powerful HVDC transmission system in terms of transmission capacity, volt- eration to capacity challenges across the
age and length. It will transmit power with a DC voltage of 1100 kV for the frst time distribution grid.
anywhere in the world. AMSCs VVO is a new offering with
The 3284-km (2040-mile) HVDC link will transmit electricity from the north- three times the power density of other
western Xinjiang region to Anhui province in eastern China. With a transmission STATCOMS. AMSCs VVO is specif-
capacity of 12 GW, it will replace what was previously the most powerful system with cally designed to mitigate power-quality
a capacity of 10 GW. In these systems, the transformers are used to feed power from issues on the distribution power grid for
conventional AC transmission grids into so-called converter stations. These generate increased distributed generation (DG)
the DC voltage on one side and convert it back to AC voltage on the receiving side. capacity and to support conservation
Because of the type of connection to the converters, the transformers also will be voltage reduction management. DG is
loaded with the very high DC quantities of the transmission voltage and current. electricity generated within the distri-
bution system itself, as opposed to the
ABB Technology Helps Dubai Develop Smart Solar Strategy stream of electricity generated from
ABB technology is supporting centralized power plants. While DG is
the development of new smart becoming ubiquitous as a result of the
solar power systems for the city green energy movement, legacy power
of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. grids were not built to effciently re-
Dubai Electric & Water Authority spond to certain effects of DG, such as
(DEWA) is using the ABB Ability bidirectional fow, intermittent output
Electrical Distribution Control during cloud pass and the rapid adop-
System to help develop data-driv- tion of electric vehicles.
en strategies that maximize year- D-VAR VVO not only manages cur-
round solar energy production as rent power-quality concerns, but also
part of the Smart Dubai initiative. expands grid capacity for DG, reacting
The city is hard-wiring Smart Design into its fast-evolving infrastructure in a series seamlessly to cloud pass or changing
of greenfeld initiatives that offer emerging economies a blueprint for sustainable wind speeds across the distribution grid.
development. AMSCs VVO pilot partners are es-
The ABB Ability Electrical Distribution Control System is being employed by tablished utilities with distribution net-
DEWA to monitor production at ABBs Al Quoz photovoltaic solar system. The works experiencing rapid growth of DG
312-kW installation is the largest privately owned solar rooftop in the region, power- and electric-vehicle charging capacity
ing the ABB facility and feeding surplus energy into the grid. ABBs cloud-based within their distribution networks. VVO
platform allows DEWA analysts to integrate the power production data with other optimizes power electric grids at the dis-
information, such as weather forecasts and actual rooftop temperatures. tribution level, by providing the fexibil-
Dubai aims to generate 25% of its energy from renewable sources by 2030, and ity and responsiveness needed as electric
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12 T&D World | December 2017

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Michigan Line
Goes the

Through system modernization projects like the

Marshall-Blackstone line, ITC has significantly reduced
the average number of outages by 40%.

14 T&D World | December 2017

Rebuild
Distance By Bob Schultz and Hasib Bhuiyanr, ITC Holdings Corp.

I
n the mitten shape of Michigan along the bottom of the palm sits Marshall,
a community in the south-central part of this U.S. state with a population of
7000. Well known for its historic 19th- and early 20th-century homes, the keeper
or national register chief of the National Register of Historic Places has
referred to the town as a virtual textbook of 19th century American architecture.
While a well-preserved historic home is of value, historic power lines often are an-
other story. For many years, Marshall, like countless communities across the country,
was reliant on an aging power grid well past its prime. Portions of the electric trans-
mission grid in Michigan were built more than 50 years ago and only recently have
started experiencing reinvestment in them. Michigan is not alone.
According to the 2017 American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Infrastructure
Report Card, Most electric transmission and distribution lines were constructed in
the 1950s and 1960s with a 50-year life expectancy, and the more than 640,000 miles
(1.03 million km) of high-voltage transmission lines in the lower 48 states power
grids are at full capacity. As for its grade, U.S. energy infrastructure received a D+.
ITC Holdings Corp., the countrys largest independent transmission utility, is at
work systematically modernizing electric infrastructure across its seven-state foot-
print. Within that territory, the town of Marshalls electricity needs have been long
served by ITCs Marshall-Blackstone 138-kV transmission line. Yet, in recent years,

Map shows footprint of 138-kV Marshall-Blackstone rebuild project in southern Michigan.

December 2017 | T&D World 15

Overhead Facilites
operates as a municipal utility, had one request of
ITC: the city must not go down to a single transmis-
sion source during construction of the new line.
With one line being out of service, if the other
line went out, the city would be in the dark for
however long it took to restore the line. ITC was
sensitive to this and accommodated the towns
concerns by creating a temporary backup line,
known as a shoo-fy line. The shoo-fy line created
a tap into another existing line, providing a short-
term second source of power to the city during
construction.

Securing the Permits

As most in this industry know, one major step
comes between planning and execution: permit-
ting. On the Marshall-Blackstone project, these au-
thorizations included wetland permits, soil erosion
permits, driveway permits, county permits and
U.S. Department of Transportation permits, to
name a few. It took more than six months to secure
all the necessary authorizations, and by the end of
the project, the number of permits totaled 23.
Any transmission project can bring opposi-
tion from residents, but because of ITCs forward-
looking community outreach, the response from
Marshall and surrounding areas was largely posi-
Construction mats were crucial to protecting the wetlands in southern Michigan.
tive. Residents could see with their own eyes this
growing power demand, an increasingly electrifed world and line was something that would beneft their town and improve
outdated infrastructure technology have been taxing the lines the system.
service capabilities, creating a potential for the line to become
overloaded. Aged structures along the 34-mile (55-km) line Construction Challenges
were deteriorating, and obsolete conductors needed to be re- When the ITC team started getting familiar with the proj-
placed. ITC decided to rebuild.

An ITC Rebuild
The decision to fully reconstruct rather than repair the line
was based on multiple factors. The existing line had small old
copper conductors that can struggle with the higher loads nec-
essary to support 21st-century power demand. Not to mention,
the aging towers originally designed before World War II for
windmills were straining to support the lines.
Transmission engineers in the 1940s and 1950s realized
if these towers could hold up a windmill, they could support
power lines and conductors. These structures helped to trans-
mit electricity to communities, towns and businesses across the
country for decades. After decades on the job, it was time for
the lines to be retired.
Were very focused on keeping the lights on and rates very
manageable, particularly for businesses and the senior residen-
tial community, said Ed Rice, director of electric utilities for
the City of Marshall. The line had served its life and done a
nice job for the community, but it defnitely needed support.

Shoo-Fly Line For this project, more than 64,000 timber construction mats were de-
Before the project got underway, the City of Marshall, which ployed, each one weighing more than a ton.

16 T&D World | December 2017

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Overhead Facilites
Crew sets the rebar cage for one of the 151 new structure foundations.
ect, they soon realized the line was built originally on some of
the most challenging terrain in Michigan. More than 30% of
the ground the line cut through was wetlands.
In addition to wetlands, the right-of-way for the Marshall-
Blackstone line traversed farm felds and residential areas. This
created a challenge because large trucks and heavy equipment
could damage the land by causing deep ruts and compaction.
Over the course of the project, ITCs feld crews used 64,000
timber mats to protect the ground surface as well as to prevent
soil erosion and sedimentation problems. This was a signifcant
but necessary undertaking. Each mat is 4 ft to 6 ft (1.2 m to
1.8 m) wide, 16 ft (5 m) long, 1 ft (0.3 m) thick and weighs more
than 2000 lb (910 kg).
Another construction challenge was the need for a large
quantity of reinforced concrete foundations, which required
more than 4700 cu yard (3593 cu m) of concrete. In total, the
project team designed and constructed 330 structures, which
included 179 direct-embedded poles and 151 poles on rein-
forced concrete foundations. On a standard power line design,
about 15% to 20% of the poles require drilled-pier foundations
to anchor the poles deep into the ground. On the Marshall-
Blackstone project, about 45% of the poles needed the rein-
forced concrete base, given the geotechnical conditions.
Each foundation is substantial, ranging from 5 ft to 12 ft
(1.5 m to 3.7 m) in diameter and reaching anywhere from 16 ft
to 67 ft (5 m to 20 m) deep in the ground until it hits good
18 T&D World | December 2017
soil. In wetlands like those ITC encountered near Marshall, the
foundation ranged from 40 ft to 50 ft (12 m to 15 m) down be-
fore reaching suitable earth. It also is crucial to apply silt fenc-
ing around the foundation, serving as a barrier between the
pier and the nearby body of water, to prevent mud and silt from
dispersing to the detriment of animals and plants.
Sustainability
Few industries are as in touch with nature as utilities, and
ITC is no exception; environmental excellence has always been
one of the transmission utilitys driving principles. This ethic
begins in the utilitys workplace and extends to building, op-
erating and maintaining grid systems, as well. From the start
of the Marshall-Blackstone project, protection of the environ-
ment, particularly the wetlands, was crucial.
Preventing soil erosion and controlling sedimentation was
one of the most important components of the build. The per-
mit for this work involved best management practices to ensure
construction would not negatively disrupt the hydrology, or the
movement of water on the ground, and would not put a great
deal of sediment into surface waters. In the era in which the
original line was constructed, projects like this often would re-
sult in a great deal of sediment and silt going into streams and
lakes. It was considered to be the price of progress. Today, ITC
and other utilities devote valuable time and immense effort to
ensuring the environment surrounding these project sites is
protected.
Worker Safety
Protecting workers also is of paramount importance on con-
struction projects. At its peak, the Marshall-Blackstone project
had 50 experienced construction workers on-site to build the
34-mile line and install about 140 miles (230 km) of conduc-
tor. ITCs construction partner on the project was M.J. Electric,
a construction management company under the Quanta Ser-
vices banner.
M.J. Electric shared ITCs emphasis of safety on the Mar-
shall-Blackstone project, starting every morning on-site with a
reminder of safety protocols as well as extensive stretching exer-
cises to ensure the workers were limber and ready for the days
physical work. As a leader in feld safety, ITC was proud to re-
port there were no serious injuries on this challenging project.
Improved Reliability
Ultimately, the Marshall-Blackstone project was highly suc-
cessful and a rewarding example of the power of extensive
planning, teamwork, environmental protection and worker
safety. As a result, the charming city of Marshall is more than
adequately powered for decades to come. The community also
benefted by the positive economic impact of the rebuild, with
the crew spending money at local hotels, restaurants, stores,
laundromats and more over the course of two years.
Where Marshall had one and a half power feeds before,
there are now three feeds. It really gives the community a lot of
confdence in the reliability of the ITC system that power will
keep fowing into the city. Not only do residents and surround-
 Overhead Facilites

Linemen working on one of new steel monopoles, which replaced

World War II-era lightweight steel lattice towers.

ing areas beneft from rebuilds like this, but they also have
enabled ITC to improve the performance of its three inter-
connected transmission systems steadily since being acquired
in 2003. Through 2016, the utility has reduced the aver-
age number of outages by 40% at ITC Transmission, 20% at
Michigan Electric Transmission Co. and 49% at ITC Mid- Siemens
170kV 80kA
west. These vitally important measures of reliability are at the
core of ITCs operational excellence across a wide footprint.
That resilience begins and ends with lines like Marshall-
Blackstone. Circuit Breakers
Bob Schultz (rwschultz@Itctransco.com) is a senior project manager
with degrees in engineering and business administration from the
University of Michigan. He is a member of IEEE and has led industrial Higher interrupting duties,
project teams since the mid-1980s. Smaller footprint
Stronger protection
Hasib Bhuiyan (hbhuiyan@Itctransco.com) is a senior design engineer
with a degree in civil engineering from the University of Wisconsin.
He has worked in the utility industry with a focus on transmission line
design for nearly 18 years. JMT.energy@siemens.com to find out more >

For more information:

ASCE Infrastructure Report Card
www.infrastructurereportcard.org
ITC | www.itc-holdings.com
M.J. Electric | www.mjelectric.com

December 2017 | T&D World 19

Project Communicaton
Community Engagement
Dominion Energy rethinks how it connects
with customers on electric transmission projects.
By Julie Mills Taylor and Greg Mathe, Dominion Energy
E
nergy projects are facing growing scrutiny; even re-
newable projects are not immune. For Dominion
Energy, uncovering the underlying differences in per-
ceptions among internal and external stakeholders
was key to rethinking its public engagement efforts.
Building trust, credibility and integrity in the communities
where the energy company operates electric transmission in-
frastructure goes hand in hand with providing safe, reliable
and cost-effective electricity. After several successful years of
public outreach, a confuence of factors led Dominion Energy
to launch an initiative to reimagine how it connects with its
Dominion Energy engages stakeholders throughout the process of
planning electric transmission line projects.
20 T&D World | December 2017
customers on electric transmission projects.
Dominion Energy has a mix of urban and rural communi-
ties in its service area. The energy company serves 2.6 million
customer accounts in Virginia and North Carolina, U.S., as
well as 17 cooperatives and 17 municipalities with more than
580,000 customer accounts. Among the fastest-growing ener-
gy companies in the PJM Interconnection market, Dominion
Energy has experienced tremendous growth, especially in the
Northern Virginia region.
Over the years, this growth and the North American Elec-
tric Reliability Corporations focus on reliability have resulted
in increased demand and investment in electric transmission
infrastructure. As it transitioned from a handful of straightfor-
ward projects to a long list of controversial projects, the energy
company recognized it was time to take a more strategic ap-
proach to electric transmission communication.
Changing Landscape
In 2005, the 65-mile (105-km), 500-kV Meadow Brook-Lou-
doun line rebuild in rural Northern Virginia was a watershed
project that changed how Dominion Energy engaged the pub-
lic. Customers in rural areas argued that their property should
not be impacted by infrastructure to meet purported demand
in the overdeveloped areas of Northern Virginia. Therefore,
issues such as the effect the line would have on their home val-
ues, viewshed and health were magnifed.
In the years following the project, the dedicated commu-
nication team within Dominion Energys electric transmission
organization was expanded to communicate the delicate bal-
ance between the need for reliable electric service and stake-
holder expectations. As more projects were contested, the team
successfully navigated uncharted territory and implemented
many solid strategies for strengthening communication and
customer relationships.
Deeper Dive
Today, the same customer themes are still relevant and con-
sistently experienced across other projects, states and energy
companies. As areas build up, customers are concerned about
the proximity of projects to their homes, neighborhoods and
schools. Existing lines or substations once in rural areas are
now surrounded by development. In some cases, residents are
unaware of easements located on or near their property. Upset
customers combined with the ease of social media platforms
 Project Communicaton

can quickly result in misinformation,

800
aggressive dialogue and organized op-
position to projects. Therefore, how 700
does an energy company seek mean- 600

Number of projects
ingful engagement as times change?
In 2016, Dominion Energy 500
launched a quantitative and qualita- 400
tive research initiative with two Rich-
300
mond, Virginia, frms after experienc-
ing the changing landscape frsthand. 200
This was more than evident in projects 100
such as the 5-mile (8-km) Haymarket
project in Prince William County, 0
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Virginia, where more than 800 prop- Year
erty owners attended one open house
and hundreds more submitted peti- Dominion Energys electric transmission projects have grown from 2008 through 2017. Here is the
projected outlook for 2018-2020.
tions to voice their concerns about a
new 230-kV line. The purpose of the research initiative was to an application to the Virginia State Corporation Commission
put data around the energy companys experiential instincts. (SCC). However, now the energy company has a better under-
For the quantitative piece, the objective was to measure Vir- standing of how its approach sets the tone for engagement.
ginians attitudes about electric transmission infrastructure The team established six guiding principles to help apply
and Dominion Energys role as their energy provider. It also consistency across its program:
looked at the publics reactivity to Dominion Energys engage- Be humble and understanding
ment efforts. More than 800 people were surveyed. While a Be overly informative
majority expressed at least some concern about the designing, Be extensive
planning and execution of electric transmission projects in Be inclusive
their area, these respondents did note they had a high level of Be a partner
trust that Dominion Energy had their best interests in mind Be present.
with new projects. However, this trust was fragile. Not surpris- In the end, the teams strategy is simple: show up, tell the
ingly, more communication without shying away from proj- story and enhance communication.
ect details or complexities was noted as the most effective
way to alleviate concerns and bolster credibility. New Approach
For the qualitative piece, the objective was to identify new Thanks to the research, Dominion Energys electric trans-
and deeper insights into how customers view electric trans- mission communication team recognized it was time to refne
mission projects as well as new opportunities to improve the many of the items that had been done since the teams creation.
outcomes through storytelling. A diverse group of people was A foundational tactic is the open house. These events originally
brought together to share expectations, positions on identifed were designed to bring subject-matter experts on every aspect
issues and potential solutions through their personal narratives. of an electric transmission project together communication,
This research revealed electric transmission projects ask planning, engineering, siting, permitting and construction
a lot of communities and, in return, people want to feel the to talk with customers in an informal setting. Following the
equation is balanced. Dominion Energys efforts should try to research initiative, the electric transmission communication
evolve stakeholder relationships from transactional interac- team met with colleagues across Dominion Energy and pitched
tions to values-based interactions. The energy company must a new approach to open houses.
show how it values what its stakeholders value, and building Whereas past open houses provided valuable information
trust with stakeholders must be through discussion, empathy about projects, they did not provide attendees with a holistic
and compromise. view of Dominion Energy. What the team realized is the open
houses were missing information on important topics such
Reafirmation of Commitment as natural gas, renewables, distribution projects, career oppor-
The research helped Dominion Energys electric transmis- tunities and so forth that concerned customers and went a
sion communication team to reaffrm its mission of positively long way toward changing the value proposition. Because of
affecting the energy companys legacy in the community and the research, the open houses have been expanded to include
demonstrating the company has the publics best interest in more Dominion Energy resources and representation.
mind. The team of eight, along with other internal subject- In addition, the team recognized Dominion Energy em-
matter experts, continues to go into communities to discuss ployees and retirees who live in the project areas are valuable
the need for a new electric transmission line project or substa- ambassadors to have at the expanded open houses. These indi-
tion as well as engage residents in the process of submitting viduals are often neighbors and friends of the open house at-
December 2017 | T&D World 21
Project Communicaton
Property owners near Dominion Energys existing Dooms-Valley right-of-way corridor received a handout in the mail comparing the structure
types and finishes under consideration as part of the proposed rebuild project. This handout was included in a larger communication package
inviting them to an open house and asking for their feedback on the project.
tendees. As a result, the team has begun extending invitations
to these individuals through letters and emails.
Meeting Format and Frequency
In the spirit of early and frequent engagement, the team in-
troduced public input meetings and construction information-
al meetings. For the 500-kV Dooms-Valley line rebuild in Au-
gusta County, Virginia, the team held a public input meeting
as a kickoff with the community. The team shared in a formal
presentation the project need as well as the approach it would
take to project planning and how the SCC application review
process works. Afterward, subject-matter experts, including the
project manager, were available to answer questions and dis-
During a bus tour of the Idylwood-Tysons project study area, a Domin-
ion Energy representative talks with advisory group participants in a
neighborhood about underground construction techniques along a
potential route, as well as the proximity to an existing transmission
structure and sound wall.
22 T&D World | December 2017
cuss project considerations that would factor into which solu-
tions were ultimately studied.
At the conclusion of the SCC review process, months can
pass before construction and feld communication begin. To re-
engage the community, a construction informational meeting
was added to the teams communication toolbox. A recent con-
struction informational meeting for the 115-kV Four Rivers-
Fredericksburg line rebuild gave attendees a favor for what to
expect once construction kicked off in the City of Fredericks-
burg, Virginia, and an opportunity to ask questions.
Small advisory groups also have been facilitated for projects
such as the proposed Idylwood-Tysons project in Northern Vir-
ginia. This area in Fairfax County is densely populated, so the
new 4.3-mile (7-km), 230-kV line will impact a large popula-
tion. A series of three advisory group meetings comprised of
community leaders, environmental and business groups, and
others with unique perspectives from the private and public
sector were held to analyze the potential routes as well as
identify constraints and opportunities. A bus tour for the par-
ticipants rounded out the experience, enabling them to see the
study area frsthand.
Reaching Out
The research showed early, frequent and proactive aware-
ness in building engagement is important to address concerns
and close any knowledge gaps about projects. The team took a
fresh look at its engagement opportunities, pinpointing the de-
sire for area historic preservation and natural resource groups
and Native American tribes to be more involved in the project
planning process.
In the past, these groups provided input on projects as part
of the SCC proceedings, but the team is now reaching out to

For the 230-kV Remington-Gordonsville project, property owners
received a postcard asking whether they preferred double-circuit
monopoles on a 100-f right-of-way or shorter H-frame structures
with an expanded 140-f right-of-way. For the 500-kV Dooms-Valley
line rebuild, property owners were surveyed about structures types
and finishes.
them directly and earlier before an SCC application is sub-
mitted and while the energy company is in the information-
gathering phase and studying options, such as structure type
and fnish. The team is seeking input on historic, cultural and
scenic resource concerns as well as how it can best balance
energy infrastructure needs and historic, cultural and scenic
resource preservation. This process change was captured on
a new electric transmission line planning and public engage-
ment process map that shows customers what they can expect.
The team revamped collateral materials including bro-
chures, open house boards, letters and postcards to make
them more understandable, concise and graphically appeal-
ing. For the new 230-kV Remington-Gordonsville line, the
team sent out three postcards to property owners after the SCC
approved the use of weathered steel monopoles and the fex-
ibility to implement shorter H-frame structures by expanding
the right-of-way from 100 ft to 140 ft (30.5 m to 43 m) with
property owners consent. The postcards solicited interest
from property owners. Also, for the 500-kV Dooms-Valley line
rebuild, the team developed a material comparison simulation
to show property owners the proposed structure types and fn-
ishes, and give them a way to engage and voice their preference.
Online and Social Media
The team also embarked on overhauling the energy com-
panys website, adding more graphics and pictures, moving the
project benefts and updates to prominent locations, present-
ing older information in an expandable format for better page
navigation, and improving accessibility to contact information.
These changes were intended to enhance the user experience.
Project Communicaton
Project communication through visuals versus written ma-
terials has become a priority. The team introduced more video
and better photo simulations to help with storytelling. For the
230-kV Possum Point-Smoketown line rebuild, the team worked
with a vendor to develop an overview video, which it used for
community events and on the energy companys website. The
team also took a different approach to simulations, offering
more extensive views of existing and proposed confgurations.
A series of videos was created on popular topics such as
the routing and siting process, right-of-way easements, pre-
construction and construction processes, and the difference
between transmission and distribution lines. The videos were
posted on the energy companys website to provide customers
with greater awareness of general topics.
The team also took a new approach to social media by
launching a pilot focused on four 230-kV electric transmission
projects in construction: Poland Road, Yardley Ridge, Warren-
ton-Wheeler-Gainesville and Possum Point-Smoketown. The
energy company had been using social media for years but
never to communicate specifc information related to its elec-
tric transmission projects. The team used dark posts, separate
from the main Dominion Energy Facebook page, and geofenc-
ing to target individuals who lived in or traveled through the
project area with key messages. The messages ranged from
evergreen messages such as low rates and reliability to more
time-sensitive project-related messages about open houses, tree
clearing, installing access roads, matting and more.
Lessons Learned
Overall, the research initiative resulted in valuable learning
for Dominion Energy. It helped the energy company to identify
new opportunities to improve the publics perception of proj-
ects and processes, and it reenergized its commitment to better
communication and minimizing the impact of new infrastruc-
ture on customers.
In the years to come, as Dominion Energy continues to
expand its electric transmission footprint bringing even
more reliable, affordable electricity to communities it will
approach its customer relationships with renewed standards
thanks to the insights gained from this research initiative.
Julie Mills Taylor (julie.l.mills.taylor@dominionenergy.com) is a senior
communication specialist at Dominion Energy. She holds a BS degree
in communication from the University of Tennessee and has worked as
a communicator in the energy industry for 20 years.
Greg Mathe (gregory.e.mathe@dominionenergy.com) is a communica-
tion consultant for Dominion Energy and oversees the communication
planning and public engagement eforts for electric transmission proj-
ects. He holds a BS degree in political science from Gettysburg College
and has 15 years of strategic communication experience.
For more information:
Dominion Energy | www.dominionenergy.com
PJM Interconnection | www.pjm.com
December 2017 | T&D World 23
Test Monitor

Brazilian Utility Expands

Use of DGA Monitoring
During a five-year program, CEMIG identified
financial savings that more than ofset program costs.
By Adriana de Castro Passos Martins, Costabile Di Sessa and Las Martins Marques Chaves,
CEMIG Gerao E Transmisso S.A.

C
urrent regulations in the Brazilian electricity sector
prevent transmission and distribution utilities from
de-energizing equipment to perform long-term pre-
ventive electrical tests. Faced with the prospect of
huge fnancial penalties, utilities in this environment seek pre-
dictive monitoring techniques that can be applied to energized
equipment.
As a result, transmission systems and distribution networks
must have a high availability and reliability. Dissolved gas analy-
sis (DGA) is a monitoring technique that meets all of these re-
quirements when applied to high-voltage electrical equipment
flled with insulating fuid. It is used internationally for detect-
ing faults in transformers and switchgear in service, providing
excellent results.
There are recommendations for specifc applications of
DGA, particularly the condition assessment of on-load tap
changers (OLTC). In this component, the arc breaking occurs
within the insulating oil between the OLTC contacts and resis-
tors. This operation could interfere with the identifcation of
actual faults and defects.
CEMIG Gerao E Transmisso S.A. now has extensive ex-
perience in monitoring OLTCs based on the application of
chromatographic DGA in the mineral insulating oil within the
OLTC. While this practice was originally used on power trans-
formers and voltage regulators in substations at 138 kV or lower
where the arc extinction occurs in the oil the technique is
now being applied without restrictions in all equipment moni-
toring programs for voltages ranging from 13.8 kV to 525 kV.

Tap-Changer Maintenance
Current transformers
The systematic preventive mainte-
0.30%
nance plans for OLTCs are primar-
ily based on the manufacturers rec-
ommendations, generally linked to
the number of tap-change operations
or on time-based maintenance. How-
Tap changer 26.96% High-voltage winding ever, there is not a perfect correlation
21.19% between these two variables when con-
sidering the limit for the OLTCs actual
Cooling unit 1.19%
condition and the need for preventive
Tank 0.59% maintenance.
Flux shunts 0.44% Medium-voltage This was confrmed in a 2015 sur-
winding 4.44%
Core and magnetic vey by the International Council on
circuit 3.41% Large Electric Systems (CIGRE), which
Low-voltage bushing 0.74% Low-voltage
showed almost 27% of major failures
Medium-voltage bushing 2.22% winding
11.41% on transformers with voltages above
Electrical screen 0.44% 100 kV were attributable to the OLTCs.
Winding to winding
isolation 0.74% These results led to the need for devel-
Winding to ground 1.19% Taping winding 2.81% oping and using predictive monitoring
Phase to phase 0.59% High-voltage lead exit 5.04% techniques to establish more effective
Low-voltage lead exit 0.89% maintenance strategies for determin-
Medium-voltage lead exit 1.33%
ing the optimal time for maintenance
Failure location analysis based on 675 major failures for voltages greater than 100 kV (CIGRE of OLTCs. This is a key factor in en-
report Transformer Reliability Survey, Working Group A-37, December 2015). suring the equipment has a high avail-
24 T&D World | December 2017
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Test Monitor
Schematic drawing of both in-tank and compartment types of OLTCs.
ability combined with high reliability. According to research,
predictive techniques based on DGA of the OLTCs insulating
mineral oil samples have achieved solid results, which is why
CEMIG has been using them for more than a decade.
For utilities that already have in place a DGA monitoring
program applied to the main tank of the transformer, they
can focus on optimizing their in-house expertise in terms of
trained feld and laboratory staff who take and test the oil sam-
ples. This is a way to extend a predictive monitoring program
to include OLTCs.
DGA Predictive Program
The DGA technique applied to OLTCs is a predictive moni-
toring tool. It is a fully consolidated technique that works for
power transformers and shunt reactors of all voltage classes.
The main characteristics of DGA condition monitoring for a
given asset are as follows:
Conducts monitoring with equipment in service
Reduces the need for outages, increasing availability and
reducing costs
Enables better asset maintenance planning and scheduling
Reduces equipment repair costs
Serves as a decision-making tool following unplanned
events because the equipment can be energized securely
Helps to avoid fnancial losses in a demanding regulatory
environment, particularly in Brazil, where any supply interrup-
tion causes loss of revenue, fnes and, in extreme cases, loss of
concession rights.
CEMIG only conducts DGA monitoring on OLTCs that have
no direct contact between the insulating oil in the OLTC and
the insulating oil in the main transformer tank. It performs
DGA monitoring on two types of OLTC designs.
The frst design is the tank type or tap changer installed
in the transformers main tank within a separate oil compart-
ment. The diverter switch or a selector switch (a combined
diverter and selector) operates within this separate oil com-
partment. This switching principle is normally referred to as a
high-speed resistor-type OLTC.
The second design is the compartment type in which the
tap changer is mounted in an external compartment that may
be connected to the main tank by a barrier board. The exter-

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A B
The results of one of the OLTC inspections show worn-out fixed contacts located inside the OLTC tank (A), phase B damaged moving contacts
(B), and phase A moving contacts (C).
nal compartment usually is either one compartment (a com-
bined selector and diverter in one compartment) or two com-
partments (a separate diverter and selector).
For reactor-type tap changers, the compartment type is usu-
ally used. Resistor-type tap changers are used only in special
applications such as arc furnace transformers, where the sepa-
rate compartments provide easier access to the components for
maintenance.
Despite the variability of gas accumulation in the insulating
oil, even under normal conditions in non-faulty equipment, it
is possible to distinguish patterns that can be used to differenti-
ate between normal and faulty behavior of the equipment.
The analytical methodology applied follows ASTM D3612
Method C (headspace), and currently, 548 OLTCs are being
monitored. This number represents CEMIGs entire feet of
OLTCs that have an oil volume that allows samples to be taken
without inserting any other maintenance hazards. Not all gases
are meaningful for DGA diagnoses applied to OLTCs when
compared to the traditional main tank DGA.
Monitoring Frequency
DGA monitoring frequency is either semiannual or annual,
depending on the equipment voltage or criticality. Whenever
a suspicious variation in a key gas profle is observed, the time
interval between the sampling is reduced to improve the prob-
ability of early fault detection. It is important the OLTC being
A B
The results of another OLTC inspection show transition fixed and main contacts in sector 1 (A), more pronounced wear on transition contacts
and uneven wear on main fixed contacts in sector 2 (B), and uneven wear on main fixed contacts in sector 2 (C).
Test Monitor
C
monitored has suffcient oil volume, so samples can be taken
without causing a hazard. A minimum volume of 150 L (39 gal)
in the OLTC is recommended.
When the DGA monitoring program frst started at
CEMIG, the utility soon realized the accuracy of the results im-
proved when a suffcient volume of DGA data was procured for
common types of OLTCs with operational and criticality simi-
larities. After analyzing DGA information for each unit, the gas
profle characteristics were evident for a given OLTC family.
Case Studies
In one case, it was possible to identify the presence of in-
ternal electrical discharges in the tap-changer of a 25-MVA,
138-kV step-down transformer manufactured in 1984. The di-
agnosis was confrmed, the transformer was shut down and the
OLTC inspected. The defect was a transition resistor that had
been damaged. Subsequently, it was replaced.
In another case, the OLTC on a 25-MVA, 138-kV step-down
transformer manufactured in 1986 was monitored closely us-
ing DGA because of its high concentration of C2H2 compared
with other OLTCs in its family group with similar operating
conditions.
Another case included a typical C2H4 gas anomaly being
observed in a sample, so the utility enhanced its time-based
maintenance. In another instance, the diagnosis criteria indi-
cated the presence of thermal degradation in oil based on an
C
December 2017 | T&D World 27
Test Monitor
abnormal hot spot. The transformer
was shut down and the OLTC was
inspected and removed. It was trans-
ferred to CEMIGs workshop, where
action was taken to rectify loose con-
tacts that could have caused severe
damage to the OLTC and possible
transformer failure.
The use of OLTC where the cur-
rent interruption occurs in a vacuum
chamber is relatively new, so the DGA
monitoring database for this type of
OLTC is still limited. Also, as expect-
ed, this type of OLTC is designed to
operate longer than oil types without
the need for maintenance. To date,
no cases of incipient defects due to
DGA predictive monitoring on this
type of OLTC have been identifed.
from 13.8 kV to 525 kV. For utilities
that have not established a large
DGA database to analyze the rel-
evant variations in the concentra-
tion of gases, suffciently reliable
technical literature is available on
which to base condition assessments.
However, for future enhancements, a
reliable database and the use of in-
house experienced, trained person-
A nel is recommended.
Acknowledgement
The authors wish to acknowl-
edge the support and technical ad-
vice given by Dayve Jos Vassalo and
Mauricio Joviano Proena, also with
CEMIG, in the preparation of this
article.

Benefits and Expectations Adriana de Castro Passos Martins

Over the last fve years, CEMIGs B (adrianap@cemig.com.br) has a masters
OLTC monitoring program has degree in metallurgical and materials
identifed defects on 19 OLTCs, of engineering and is the monitoring center
which 14 were on 25-MVA, 138-kV technical coordinator at CEMIG Gerao
transformers, representing a poten- E Transmisso S.A., where he has been
tial fnancial saving of approximately responsible for the chemical and materi-
R$6 million. In 2016, the average als laboratory facility since 1997. Martins is
capital cost of replacing a 25-MVA, a member of CIGRE and the convener for
138-kV transformer was R$200,000, CIGRE Brazil Study Committee D1 Materi-
whereas the value to repair one of the als and Emerging Technologies.
damaged transformers in CEMIGs
workshop was R$15,000. The fnan- Costabile Di Sessa (costabile.sessa@
C
cial benefts of CEMIGs monitoring cemig.com.br) holds a degree in chemical
program have more than covered the The results of OLTC inspection by DGA show wear on engineering from Escola Politcnica da
fixed contact (A), disassembled fixed contacts com-
revenue expenditure of staff costs on paring a new and faulty contact (B), and oil leakage Univerdade de So Paulo in Brazil. He
the monitoring program. due to a melted fixed contact base, caused by over- joined CEMIG Gerao E Transmisso S.A.
The DGA technique can be ap- heating (C). in 2006, and since then, has worked as
plied with high accuracy to detect internal defects in trans- a maintenance planning engineer on materials, chemistry and plant
former OLTCs and voltage regulators with operating voltages monitoring. Sessa specializes in DGA monitoring diagnosis, polychlori-
nated biphenyls-related issues and SF6 technical support. He has been
a member of CIGRE since 2012.
CEMIG
CEMIG is one of the largest electric energy groups in Brazil. Las Martins Marques Chaves (lais.chaves@CEMIG.com.br) holds a
The group is formed by 231 companies and 19 consortia divid- degree in chemical engineering from Universidade Federal de Minas
ed into generation, transmission, distribution, commercializa- Gerais in Brazil. She has been a planning and maintenance engineer for
tion and services. It is the largest electric energy distribution CEMIG Gerao E Transmisso S.A. since 2014, acting in the electrical
network in South America and one of the fourth largest in the sector equipment predictive monitoring. In 2015, Chaves was the main
world, extending to 525,224 km (326,359 miles). CEMIG has the author of the paper CEMIGs Experience The Association of Scanning
second largest transmission group in Brazil with a transmis- Electron Microscopy and Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectrometry Applied
sion system extending to 15,650 km (9725 miles), with voltages to Fault Analysis on Electric System Equipment, presented at XXIII
ranging from 138 kV to 525 kV. SNPTEE, a CIGRE Brazil technical event.
The CEMIG distribution network supplies more than 8 million
customers, and the transformer monitoring plan is applied to For more information:
more than 600 on-load tap-changer transformers. CEMIG | www.cemig.com.br

28 T&D World | December 2017

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System Hardening
The ultimate build-out of the new Cloud View substation contains a 230-kV H-bus rated for 3000 A; three sets of transformers, each includ-
ing a 230-kV live-tank breaker; a 41-MVA 230 x 115/13.8-kV transformer; and a six-bay distribution structure.
The Need for Speed Drives
Progressive Design-Build
When extraordinary load growth demanded
a faster way to build, Grant County PUD found one.
By Russ Seiler and Mark Milacek, Grant County PUD
P
ushed by a decade of extraordinary industrial load
growth, Grant County Public Utility District (PUD)
was facing a fve-year backlog of needed substation
upgrades, including two brand-new substations, ex-
pansion of two existing substations and ground-up rebuilds
of three more all within a tight 24-month time frame. The
traditional design-bid-build procurement process for public
utilities would have added at least two years to the ambitious
schedule. Big customers were impatiently awaiting more ca-
pacity. System upgrades were critical to handle the anticipated
growth and to ensure reliability of service.
That pent-up need for speed was a product of both tim-
ing and circumstance for this rural PUD with a 2800-sq mile
(7250-sq km) service area that includes small cities, expanses
of irrigated farmland, homes, businesses and industry in the
high-desert country of central Washington, U.S. Grant Coun-
ty PUD generates its own power from two federally licensed
Columbia River dams and delivers power to 49,000 electric
meters connected by more than 4000 miles (6437 km) of trans-
mission and distribution lines.
30 T&D World | December 2017
Major Load Growth
A decade ago, some of the biggest names in the internet
discovered that Grant County had the perfect mix of cheap
land and electricity, low seismic activity and an ideal climate to
site their sprawling, energy-intense data centers super-wired
warehouses flled with thousands of high-capacity computers.
Data centers are the earthbound technology that foats the in-
tangible data cloud. They process the massive amount of data
fowing over the internet every day, all year, nonstop. Microsoft,
Yahoo!, Intuit and others decided to relocate to Grant County,
and the energy demand soared.
Over the 10-year period ending in 2015, Grant PUDs load
grew 63.5% to average 590 MW. An average annual growth of
5.04% was more than 19 times the national average of 0.26%
during the same period, according to historical data from
Grant PUD and the U.S. Department of Energy. PUD forecast-
ers are predicting similar levels of load growth for at least the
next fve years.
Data centers today account for about 20% of the countys
total load. That is up from virtually zero in 2005. Other big

The Central Ephrata substation was added to the design-build roster afer an arc-flash fire de- to wire the marshalling cabinet at Quincys
stroyed the substation in February 2017. Work was complete by late October 2017.
industrial customers include vegetable processing plants, ag-
ricultural irrigators and new manufacturing, also drawn to
Grant County for its land and power benefts.
A New Option
Grant PUDs US$40 million in pent-up substation work
could not wait, but the upgrade project could not sacrifce qual-
ity, consistency or worker safety. The utility found its solution
when it became the frst PUD in Washington to take advantage
of a 2013 state law that gave public entities a progressive design-
build procurement option one that has proven both fexible
and effcient, producing work virtually on time with outstand-
ing quality and an excellent record of safety.
PUD engineers learned of the option when attending a
seminar in 2015 on the benefts of alternative public works
procurement methods available in Washington state. Like
its more widely known design-build predecessor, progressive
design-build enables project owners to hire a project designer
and contractor under a single contract with a guaranteed maxi-
mum price for multiple construction projects. The progressive
version goes further by allowing project owners to choose their
contractors based almost entirely on qualifcations, although
not without a competitive-price component.
According to Robyn Parkinson, the Mercer Island, Washing-
ton, attorney who helped draft Washingtons 2013 design-build
legislation, the process gets the three key players project
owner, designer and builder together early in the process
to develop a scope of work; refne designs, materials and time
frames; and, together, determine a maximum project cost. The
projects ultimate success depends on the ability of these three
key players to work together, Parkinson said.
Getting It Done
The progressive design-build alternative sounded perfect
for Grant PUDs substation projects. Coworkers and manage-
ment liked what they heard, and they started putting together
the required owners project-management team, made up of
both Grant PUD staff and hired consultants, including Parkin-
System Hardening
Kenneth Hamelin, foreman for Wilson Con-
struction, in the midst of a 12-day project
Cloud View substation.
son, Vanir Construction Management Inc. and POWER Engi-
neers of Hailey, Idaho, U.S. These consultants were skilled in
the design-build process.
The team created the initial scope of work and applied to
the state project review committee to see if the Grant PUD
substations project would qualify for the progressive design-
build option. The consultants contribution was valuable at this
stage. The state board needed to see that the PUD had enough
experience on its team to ensure a successful project and pre-
serve the reputation of the design-build alternative. The proj-
ect qualifed.
Throughout the scoping and approval process, the team
kept the PUDs elected board of commissioners informed of
the progressive design-build process and its advantages. PUD
board members agreed in October 2015 to hire the design frm
of HDR Engineering Inc. and builder Wilson Construction Co.
under a single contract with a maximum cost of $24 million.
Both of these companies had a good deal of prior experience
doing design-build substation and transmission work.
HDRs Deputy Project Manager Jake Van Houten described
the interaction with Grant PUD as free-fowing and continu-
ous to be sure everyone is on the same page about expected
outcomes and delivery dates. HDR and Wilson led the project
under a single team that included the same project managers,
procurement managers, controllers, design manager and con-
struction managers for all seven substation projects. Notable
subcontractors on this project were Tommer Construction Co.,
Specialty Engineering and KVA Electric.
Work began on the frst of the seven substations in June
2016. As work progressed, the PUD team, together with HDR
and Wilson, got to work on the design and logistics of the next
substation. The team gained effciencies with each stage of con-
struction as they learned lessons from the last.
It was a real go for a few months; a real scramble, said Pat-
rick Smith, site superintendent for Wilson. Of all the design-
build projects, this is the largest number of sites Ive worked on
that are contained within one project. It brought challenges of
complexity and speed.
December 2017 | T&D World 31
System Hardening
Significant Dates
The timeline and scope of the project looked like this:
Oct. 22, 2016: For the Nelson Road substation in Mo-
ses Lake Grant Countys largest city, with a population of
22,080, and a center for manufacturing the work included
building a second transformer lineup with a six-bay distribu-
tion structure and adding a circuit switcher, a new 25-MVA,
115/13.8-kV transformer and fve distribution breakers. It also
involved adding a motor operator to a 115-kV line switch, re-
moving an associated ground switch and upgrading the exist-
ing communications system for a new IP SCADA system, with
relays to each existing breaker.
32 T&D World | December 2017
Nov. 15, 2016: For the Babcock substation in Quincy, Wash-
ington a farm community with a population of 7358 that
has become a center for computer data center operation the
work included replacing existing transformer and switchgear
with an open-air distribution structure; replacing all existing
equipment with a 115-kV circuit switcher, a 41-MVA, 230 x
115/13.8-kV transformer and fve distribution breakers; add-
ing room for future transformer lineup, including below-grade
work; installing a new control house and all-new relaying; and
installing an oil-containment system to protect a nearby irriga-
tion system from potential spills.
Dec. 23, 2016: For the Peninsula substation in Moses Lake,
the work included replacing existing
switchgear with an open-air distribution
structure and replacing a circuit switcher
with a higher-rated unit.
April 30, 2017: For the Winchester
substation in Quincy, the work included
replacing aging equipment to increase
capacity. New equipment included a
115-kV circuit switcher and a 25-MVA,
115/13.8-kV transformer, including new
and reused distribution breakers. Relays
were added to existing breakers to pro-
vide communications for the IP SCADA
system. A mobile substation tap, two new
transmission poles for the mobile substa-
tion tap, a takeoff point for future line
extension and a new control house up-
graded for relaying and communications
were all installed.
June 15, 2017: For the Coulee City
substation in Coulee City, Washing-
ton a small agricultural community
with a population of 569 the work
included removing aging equipment as
well as leveling and regrading the site.
New equipment was installed, including
a 115-kV circuit switcher and 41-MVA,
230 x 115/13.8-kV transformer. All of the
existing breakers were replaced. A new
control house was installed for upgraded
relaying and communications.
July 31, 2017: The Quincy Plains
substation in Quincy was a new construc-
tion. The build-out included a 230-kV H-
bus rated for 3000 A, a 230-kV live-tank
breaker, a 41-MVA 230 x 115/13.8-kV
transformer and an eight-bay distribu-
tion structure. The substations founda-
tion and conduit were built for the future
addition of 230-kV transmission break-
ers and one additional full transformer
lineup with a 230-kV live-tank breaker.
The control house was designed for the
ultimate build-out.
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System Hardening
Early construction at Cloud View substation shows the crew at work.
One of the data centers driving the need for system expansion can be
seen in the background.
Aug. 31, 2017: The Cloud View substation in Quincy is also
new construction. The ultimate build-out includes a 230-kV H-
bus rated for 3000 A; three sets of transformers, each including
a 230-kV live-tank breaker; a 41-MVA 230 x 115/13.8-kV trans-
former; and a six-bay distribution structure. The current build-
out includes a 230-kV H-bus with 230-kV transmission break-
ers to be installed in the future, one full transformer lineup
and 230-kV live-tank breakers for the other two lineups. Two
of the 230-kV breaker isolation switches have line-break ability
until the 230-kV transmission breakers are installed. Two of the
distribution breakers operate in parallel to provide a 2000-A
circuit to an industrial client. The control house will accom-
modate the ultimate build-out.
On Schedule
In February 2017, an arc-fash fre caused extensive damage
to Grant PUDs Central substation in the city of Ephrata, popu-
lation 8032. PUD offcials added the rebuild of the damaged
substation to its ongoing progressive design-build project. This
brought the total number of project substations to eight.
34 T&D World | December 2017
The new Quincy Plains substation includes a 230-kV H-bus rated for
3000 A, a 230-kV live-tank breaker, a 41-MVA 230 x 115/13.8-kV trans-
former and an eight-bay distribution structure. The new Quincy Plains
230-kV tap will connect the areas new or expanded substations.
Work has progressed on schedule and with good results.
The unseasonably cold winter of 2016-2017 caused some delays
and required schedule shuffing, but the overall project in-
cluding the additional substation was fnished by late Octo-
ber 2017, only three months longer than planned and with an
excellent safety record.
HDRs Van Houten said his crew logged 60,000 hours on
the project with zero lost-time incidents. Worksites passed mul-
tiple surprise inspections from state labor offcials. Safety was
huge, Van Houten said.
Lessons Learned
Grant PUDs internal team is conducting a series of lessons-
learned exercises. Here are some of their initial fndings.
With design, procurement and construction happening
in parallel, design-build requires the three key participants
the project owner, designer and builder to work closely
and collaboratively. The attitude of the key players is critical.
The success of the project depends on establishing a culture of
 System Hardening

trust and collaboration.

With multiple phases of
the project underway at any
given time, the project owner
should expect to assign more
than one staffer to manage
the project. Work happens
fast. The owner has to be very
involved. It can be too much
for a single project manager
or engineer to handle. Op-
erations folks also should
be included throughout the
process. They bring a critical
perspective. The contractor
wants to give the owner what it
wants. Every utility has its own Updated with new equipment that includes a 115-kV circuit switcher and 25-MVA, 115/13.8-kV transform-
er, with new and reused distribution breakers, the Winchester substation is now ready for future area
stamp. The utility must work residential, commercial and industrial growth.
with the contractor to reach
that goal. Russ Seiler (rseiler@gcpud.org) is a project manager for Grant County
Its important to get everyone to the table as early as pos- Public Utility District, located in Ephrata, Washington, U.S.He holds a
sible. Spending effort and resources on a well-coordinated, or- BSME degree from LeTourneau University and is a registered profes-
ganized start is a huge beneft. When the unexpected comes up sional engineer in the state of Washington.He began his engineering
in the heat of battle, it can stress relations on the team. Catch career in building design and entered the utility industry seven years
problems and address them early to bring the team closer to- ago as a staf engineer in the Bonneville Power Administrations struc-
gether. Sometimes, as the saying goes, You have to slow down ture design group.
to go fast.
Bundling the work really had a positive impact on quality. Mark Milacek (mmilacek@gcpud.org) joined Grant County Public
Builders fought through the learning curve early in the build Utility District in 2012 as an electrical engineer in the utilitys T&D group,
to meet PUD expectations. By the time crews had fnished the where he designs and oversees the construction and testing of substa-
frst three substations, both quality and speed improved. For tions. He was a power production specialist in the U.S. Air Force and a
example, control house wiring took 12 weeks on the frst two commissioned oficer in the Washington Air National Guard. He holds a
substations. Crews cut that time in half by the third substation. both a BSEE degree and a bachelors degree in physics from Seattle Uni-
Grant PUD wanted each of the eight substations to look, versity. Other engineering work includes 14 years at Snohomish County
feel and even smell just like every other substation in the PUD PUD and three years with Commonwealth Associates, a private firm.
system. When crews go to troubleshoot, it is a big help to have
everything be the same as much as possible.
For more information:
Grant PUD also partnered with two professors from Wash-
Grant Public Utility District | www.grantpud.org
ington State University to conduct independent research and
HDR Engineering Inc. | www.hdrinc.com
interviews to compile a formal lessons-learned report. The ef-
KVA Electric | www.kvaelectric.com
fort supports the utilitys drive to develop a culture of continu-
POWER Engineers | www.powereng.com
ous learning and innovation.
Specialty Engineering | www.specialtyengineering.net
Tommer Construction Co. | tommerconstruction.com
Acknowledgement Vanir Construction Management | www.vanir.com
The authors would like to thank Christine Pratt of Grant
Wilson Construction Co. | www.wilsonconst.com
PUD public affairs for her contributions to this article.

December 2017 | T&D World 35

Energy Storage

Glendale Pilots
Battery Energy Storage
Through a small-scale pilot, GWP demonstrates
how battery systems instantaneously respond
to system load shifs.
By Jaime Reyes, Glendale Water & Power

I
n late 2015, Glendale Water & Power (GWP) decided to executed a turnkey equipment supply agreement, whereby
install a small-scale pilot energy storage system to evalu- Skylar agreed to engineer, procure, construct and commission
ate how this nascent technology can be used in the util- the BESS.
itys electric system to meet the rapid fuctuations, if any, in
its system load and demand. The utility sought the help of an System Components
existing energy marketing and consulting partner, Skylar Re- Skylar and GWP selected Saft Inc. with its Intensium Max+
sources LP. Together, Skylar and GWP engineering evaluated 20M container for the battery system and ABB to supply the
several different applications for this technology, including the power conversion system (PCS). The Saft battery is a lithium-
black start of generating units, support and management of so- ion system rated at 950 kWh, capable of charging at 1 MW and
lar intermittence, and mitigation of area control error (ACE). discharging at up to 2 MW. It is housed in a 20-ft (6-m) In-
After careful evaluation of several battery systems and work- ternational Organization for Standardization (ISO) shipping
ing closely with reputed battery system and inverter companies container with an integrated thermal management and fre-
to analyze different technologies, GWP agreed to Skylars rec- safety system.
ommendation to use a 2-MW battery energy storage system The BESS is integrated with GWPs supervisory control and
(BESS) as a pilot system. This pilot unit was used to evaluate data acquisition (SCADA) system for around-the-clock moni-
the ACE application. A vacant lot adjacent to the newly built toring by GWPs energy control center, while the thermal and
Grandview substation in northwest Glendale, California, U.S., fre systems are being monitored around the clock by a UL-list-
was chosen for the location of the BESS. In March 2016, GWP ed fre systems company. Systems of this type are highly modu-
lar, with the smallest replaceable
unit being a 14-cell Synerion 24M
module rated at 2kWh.
Within the Intensium Max+
20M container, 28 Synerion 24M
modules are arranged in series to
create a 58-kWh energy storage
system unit, which produces a 700-
VDC output for PCS conversion.
Each energy storage system unit
includes a battery management
module that manages the safe op-
eration of the string. The contain-
er is built with 17 of these strings
in parallel, which are coordinated
by a master battery management
module that collects operational
data from each string and sends
the aggregate data on to the PCS.
On the lef is the distribution and control cabinet. The other pictures show the 17 energy storage sys- The ABB PCS is also modular,
tem units (ESSU), with nine ESSUs on one side and eight ESSUs on the opposite side of the container. with 23 inverter modules for DC/

36 T&D World | December 2017

 Energy Storage

AC conversion, each provid-

ing approximately 84 kW of AC
power. The PCS has a control
cabinet with graphic display
module, communications me-
dia, auxiliary power and distri-
bution, and a protection cabinet
with AC breakers for grid isola-
tion and DC breakers for battery
isolation.

Operation Theory
The modularity of both the
PCS and battery provides a high
level of fault tolerance and avail-
ability of the system. The PCS
has four-quadrant capability,
meaning it can supply or absorb
real power (megawatts) and be
used to supply or absorb reac- ABBs power conversion system is unwrapped during deployment and installation, and shows the in-
ternal components such as power inverters and protection devices.
tive power (megavolt-ampere).
The heart of the BESS is the energy management system, which late power fow at the transmission interconnection point with
processes the ACE signal, grid data and battery inputs through the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP)
dynamic operating algorithms to determine the required to help the GWP system operate within the scheduled power
BESS output, while maintaining continuous communication thresholds. This is accomplished by sending the ACE signal
with GWPs SCADA system. to the PCS, which manages the start and stop sequence of the
In ACE mode, the BESS control limits are set, which regu- inverters and battery lineup to either charge or discharge the

ANNUAL INSPECTION PROGRAM WORKDOWN

6000
6000

4000

2000
9/24
24
10/8
10/22
11/5
11/19
12/3
12/17
12/31
1/14
1/28
2/11
2/25
3/11
3/25
4/8
4/22
5/6
9

SAIDI IMPROVEMENT
14
4
13.19
12
12 11.24
10
10
9.29
8
6.75
6
4
2

OH EQ SAIDI SAIDI (ALL EQ CAUSES)

9/1/14-9/31/15
9 9/1/15-9/31/16

DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM CMI

1743087
180
180k
0
160k
160
60
1349179
140k
140
40 1214795
120k
120
0 1084043 1074375
947285
100k
100
00
80k
80
60k
60 454467
40k
40
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 20016

December 2017 | T&D World 37

Energy Storage

GWP and ABB personnel finalize installation of power converters inside the power
conversion system.

Construction and engineering crews install components

and devices on the new transmission line.

stored power to operate within the control-error

upper and lower thresholds of +8 MW/-8 MW, in
accordance with the power exchange agreement
between GWP and LADWP.
When operating in automated ACE mode, if
the ACE is greater than +8 MW (that is, the ac-
tual power intake at the interconnection point is
greater than the scheduled power), the BESS will
source real power to the grid, thereby increasing
internal generation and, consequently, lowering
ACE to below +8 MW. On the other hand, if ACE
is lower than -8 MW (that is, the actual power in-
GWP and ABB engineers gather afer final commissioning of the Grandview BESS.
take at the interconnection point is less than the
scheduled power), the BESS will sink real power from the grid all designs and specifcations for the materials were reviewed,
by increasing the internal system load and, consequently, in- corrected as needed and approved by GWP electrical engineer-
crease the ACE to above -8 MW. ing prior to being installed.
The PCS also manages the state of charge at an optimum Beta procured the power transformer from Virginia Trans-
level of 60%, while the ACE is within the limits. The pilot sys- former Corp., 69-kV breaker from General Electric (GE), and
tem is too small to correct the error fully at the point of inter- provided the engineering design and labor for installation and
connection to LADWP, but GWPs intention is to operate the integration of all the components except for the new trans-
BESS in a scaled version of the ACE. mission line, which was constructed by GWP. To connect the
BESS to GWPs electric grid, the new 69-kV transmission line
Construction Details was built by reconstructing and reframing the existing 34.5-kV
Skylar selected Beta Engineering to design, procure, con- transmission line for 69-kV operation. Using a combination of
struct and oversee the battery system installation and integra- both overhead and underground cables, the transmission line
tion into GWPs power grid. The designs were prepared by Beta travels approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) from the Kellogg switch-
based on GWP electrical engineering standards. Furthermore, ing station to the Grandview BESS. The protection scheme for
38 T&D World | December 2017
 GRID!
grid optimization

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Grid Optimization features the absolute latest:

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In-depth technical articles on issues utilities
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Topics range from integration of renewables, new
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 System Control

the new 69-kV line connecting the BESS to GWPs electric grid
was designed and implemented by GWP electrical engineering.
Skylar issued a notice to proceed with construction in
November 2016. In summary, the main components of the
BESS are as follows:
2-MW BESS, supplied by Saft
2-MVA PCS, supplied by ABB
2-MVA, 69-kV, 373-V power transformer, supplied by Vir-
ginia Transformer
69-kV gas-insulated substation breaker, supplied by GE
A new 69-kV transmission line connecting the BESS to the
Kellogg switching station, completed by GWP.

Challenges and Obstacles

Like most utility construction projects, this particular proj-
ect had unique challenges and obstacles to overcome. Proper
coordination between the GWP engineering team and Skylar
as well as the timely support of Saft, Beta and ABB were key fac-
tors in completing the project.
One of the challenges was to get the system certifed for fre
protection and safety. Modifcations were made to the system
to meet the requirements of the Glendale fre department and
around-the-clock monitoring of the fre system was incorpo-
rated.
Weekly project review meetings were held to discuss proj-
ect challenges, identify solutions and document action items.
Active coordination with local stakeholders including the
city of Glendale and the Glendale fre department was cru-
cial for the success of this project, which was commissioned in
May 2017.

Lessons Learned
This pilot battery storage system has confrmed the ability
of the battery to respond instantaneously to shifts in system

3EK8 load. With an energy storage system of suffcient size, GWP has
unprecedented capacity to regulate its transmission system. Be-

distribution yond future renewable integration, a future BESS of suffcient

capacity also may serve as an emergency source of energy to
start up generating units, mitigating the impact of potential
class surge unplanned disruptions in service.

arresters Jaime Reyes (jreyes@glendaleca.gov) is an electrical engineering

associate working in the substation engineering group at Glendale
Water & Power. He was the project manager for the battery energy stor-
Prevention, Protection
age system project. Reyes holds a BSEE degree from California State
and Performance University.

For more information:

JMT.energy@siemens.com to find out more > ABB | www.abb.com
Beta | www.betaengineering.com
GE | www.ge.com
Glendale Water & Power | www.glendalewaterandpower.com
Saf Inc. | www.safbatteries.com
Skylar | skylarenergy.com
Virginia Transformer | www.vatransformer.com

40 T&D World | December 2017

Field Talk 40B | Safety Conference 40D | Linemans Expo 40H | Rodeo Competition 40L

ELECTRIC UTILITY
OPERATIONS
DECEMBER 2017 tdworld.com/electric-utility-operations

2017 International
Linemans Rodeo
Electric Utility Operations
Field Talk
Family of Linemen:
An Unbreakable Bond
By Amy Fischbach, Field Editor
A
few weeks before the 2017 International Linemans
Rodeo, I discovered a bright yellow rain slicker from
Duke Energy in my closet. At that moment, a food of
memories hit me like a tidal wave.
Years ago, when I frst started covering the line trade, I invit-
ed my dad to join me at the International Linemans Rodeo. I
remember that Saturday morning, I picked him up at the crack
of dawn. After driving down highways in the pitch dark to the
rodeo grounds, we watched the sun rise over the grounds, the
planes fy overhead in formation and the marching band play
the American national anthem.
Following the opening ceremony, I shot photos of the com-
petition and talked to the linemen for a story for T&D World.
Then the rain began and it never stopped. Cold and soaked to
the bone, my dad and I sought shelter in the Duke Energy tent.
At that point, I could not feel my fngers or toes, the bot-
tom of my tennis shoes were covered in mud, and the ink was
running on my notebook. Im sure we looked like drowned
cats coming in from a storm. Upon seeing us, the Duke Energy
team served my dad and I a cup of coffee and a hot breakfast,
gave me a clipboard for my notebook and gifted us two Duke
Energy slickers. It was in that moment that I frst learned about
the camaraderie and bond in the linemen community.
Supporting Their Beloved Linemen
Through rain and shine, happiness and heartbreak, the
linemen are there for one another. Even though they spend
countless hours together on the job, linemen often spend their
free time together too. They get to know one anothers fami-
lies, and the line between their own families and line fami-
lies becomes nearly indistinguishable.
There is no other time of year that this bond is more evident
than at the International Linemans Rodeo. For the 34th annual
rodeo this fall, the highest number of apprentices and journey-
men linemen competed to be the best of the best. Meanwhile,
all of their families stood on the sidelines to support them.
Its not often that the children of linemen can see what their
parents do every day, so the rodeo gives them the opportunity
to watch them at work. At this years event, I saw many linemens
wives proudly wearing Line Wife shirts and their children
wearing lineman-themed shirts as well. One bright pink shirt,
which my colleague spotted at the Friday night barbecue, said,
Some call him a hero. Some call him a lineman. I call him my
husband.
For the frst time in a decade, I brought my own family my
husband of 17 years, Dave; my 13-year-old son, John; 10-year-
40B T&D World | December 2017
old son, Paul; 8-year-old daughter, Lily; and 18-month-old
twins, Ben and Anna. My husband brought the kids close to the
toddlers naptime, and as such, they began getting restless the
moment they met me at the Xcel Energy tent, where we enjoyed
a lunch with the International Linemans Rodeo Association
(ILRA) scholarship winners and Dennis Kerr of the ILRA. As
I talked to the scholarship winners, my husband pushed the
stroller around the rodeo grounds, and a short time later, he
returned. As I kneeled down to give my babies a hug, I realized
they were holding a maple leaf-shaped bottle of maple syrup.
When they were crying, some linemen from Canada gave it to
them, my husband told me.
Once again, I was reminded of the generosity and support
of the linemen community and how they will do anything to
help out anyone including a father of twins in his or her
time of need.
Gaining a New Appreciation
Later that night, as we were settling down to watch a movie,
we could hear the Kansas winds roaring outside. Then, in the
middle of an action scene, the lights suddenly blacked out and
the TV went dark. As our kids began growing more and more
anxious, I told them, Remember all those linemen you saw
today at the rodeo? They will help get the lights back on.
Sure enough, the next morning, we were able to fip on our
light switches, plug in our cell phones and power up the com-
puters. Everyone in our family quickly learned just how impor-
tant linemen are in this world. Without them, I could not work
as a writer and editor, my husband could not do his job and our
kids would not be able to obtain all of their invaluable online
experiences in the classroom.
Not only my family, but also my father knows all too well the
value that linemen bring to this world. As a Navy veteran who
served in World War II, a defensive end on his high schools
award-winning football team, and an engineer and entrepre-
neur who built his own business from scratch, hes no stranger
to hard work. Once a year, however, when I tell him about the
Linemans Rodeo, he smiles, remembering the times that he
came with me to the event.
Linemen are just like modern-day cowboys, he says. They
are tough and strong and theyre heroes. We couldnt live life
without them.
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Electric Utility Operations

Safety First: Linemen Learn

Tips to Protect Their Crews
By sharing personal stories, videos and
statistics, speakers drive home the importance
of following rules and focusing on safety.
By Amy Fischbach, Field Editor

A
s a young journeyman lineman, Thad Adams survived
an electrical contact accident. Thirty-fve years later,
at the age of 66, he has 19 grandchildren, celebrated
his 45th wedding anniversary with his wife, Rosemary,
and recently retired after a long career in the line trade.
Not all linemen, however, are as fortunate. Between 2003
and 2007, more than 1200 electrical workers were killed by con-
tact with electricity. Forty-three percent of those injuries were
caused by contact with overhead lines and 27% were the result
of workers coming into contact with wiring, transformers and
other electrical components.
No one can plan on a good result coming from an electri-
cal contact or arc fash, Adams said, as he delivered the key-
note address before 300 students, apprentices and journeymen
at the 2017 rodeo safety and training conference. Electricity is
unforgiving, and you cant predict the results in any way, shape
or form. Avoidance is the key.
For example, when voltage and current fow entered Adams
left shoulder and the upper part of his tricep, it exited out of
his right leg, causing signifcant damage.
Shortly thereafter, his wife kept a jour-
nal of lessons learned that she never want-
ed to forget. At the time of the accident,
she had four young sons at home, and
she says the accident still has a profound
impact on her and her family three decades later. Time has
changed me physically, but the feelings, emotions and lessons
have remained, she told the audience. When a terrible acci-
dent occurs, so many people are affected. Your life changes in
an instant.
While Adams was able to recover from his severe burn inju-
ries and return to work, he says many others in the line trade
lose their lives and their livelihood as a result of electrical
contact. I was able to return to work, family and life, but no
one can count on such a result, Adams said. While we are all
subject to error and can all make mistakes, I plead with you
to do your work in the safest way or dont do it at all. Dont go
through what I went through. Take care of each other, your
families, your friends and your coworkers.
Get a Reality Check
By organizing a safety and training conference over the last
dozen years, the International Linemans Rodeo Association
(ILRA) strives to improve linemens safety throughout North

Thad Adams, who was injured in an electrical

contact accident as a young journeyman line-
man, urged the audience to follow rules and Students, apprentices and journeymen linemen packed the Overland Park Convention Center
protocols and not let down their guard. to learn about safe work practices.

40D T&D World | December 2017

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Electric Utility Operations
America. It keeps getting bigger and better, said Mike Hay-
ward of Empire Electric District. Im happy with the way it has
grown.
Through its sponsors, including IBEW Local 47 from Cali-
fornia, Local 66 from Houston, Local 304 from Topeka, Kan-
sas, and 1464 from Kansas City Power & Light, the ILRA was
able to offer free registration to the attendees.
Bobby Christmas, senior executive manager of Guadalupe
Valley Electric Cooperative and an ILRA safety committee
member, urged the students and apprentices in the room to lis-
ten up and pay heed to the safety lessons from the speakers and
veteran journeyman linemen attendees at the day-and-a-half
conference. I see a lot of young faces, he said, as he looked
out at the entire row of students from a local community col-
lege. Listen to the old guys. They know and have been there,
and theyve seen things and done things. How many times have
they been close to meeting their maker? You need to follow the
safety rules and the little voice inside of you, or youre fxin to
get yourself or someone else hurt.
Discover the Power of Learning Teams
Following the keynote presentation, Stephanie Swindle,
maintenance support manager for the Southern Company,
shared her story of surviving a hydrogen explosion at a coal
plant. The frst blast sucked me in and the second pushed me
out, Swindle said. I ran to my offce and put on my hard hat,
and when I got all my gear on, I saw a big hole in our build-
ing. The operators were covered in coal dust, hanging on to
each other and walking around in a fog. When none of the
ambulances left, I thought we may have had dead bodies in the
building, but by some miracle, an hour later, we confrmed that
everyone was OK.
After the incident, she started a personal journey to dis-
cover why the incident happened and how to prevent it from
happening again. By attending a class, she learned a different
way of viewing human performance. Before, when we had an
event, I would gather everyone who had been involved, call
them in one at a time and ask them what happened, she said.
Then I would bring in the next person and make him or her
sit there, not knowing what would happen and who was telling
the truth.
For many years, post-accident investigators have tried to dis-
cover which person did something wrong, fll out the paper-
work and then move on. This may not be the best approach,
however, she says. We need to get away from the blame game
and understand the big story, Swindle said. The purpose of
an investigation should be to prevent reoccurrences, not fnd
people to blame.
To do this, she says its benefcial to get the right people in
the room and ask them to share their story. To do this, she
says its important for the person involved with the accident to
personally invite others to join them.
Southern Company is not only conducting these sessions
after an accident or incident, but proactively through learn-
ing teams. During these meetings, the participants pin notes
on a Wall of Discovery board and try to fnd out ways to im-
40F T&D World | December 2017
Safe Driving in a Distracted World
Corporate Safety Compliance ofers three tips to stay safe on
the road.
Plan ahead. Linemen should know their route, check
trafic conditions and allow time for eating and grooming before
starting up the vehicle.
Take control. Focus on your driving and not your
surroundings, and make a phone call or send a text message
when you are pulled over and safely parked.
Treat each day like there is an opportunity to have an
accident. If you are involved in a car crash, the investigators will
inspect your cell phone records to determine whether or not you
were on the phone or sending a text at the time of the accident.
prove systems at the utilities. Were shifting from the mindset
of how did the worker fail the organization to how did the or-
ganization fail the worker? she said. We want to make our
systems better so even when we have failures, everything will be
OK. We want our workers to be able to fail safely.
Prevent Distracted and Drowsy Driving
Along that same vein, two other speakers gave a presenta-
tion on how linemen can stay safe in a world inundated with
distracted and drowsy drivers. Mike Harp and Steve Kindle
from Corporate Safety Compliance say distracted drivers cause
more than 3000 deaths and 400,000 injuries annually, yet 67%
of drivers continue to use cell phones while driving. Commer-
cial drivers can receive a hefty fne if theyre caught texting or
using a cell phone while driving, and if they have an accident,
their cell phone records will be investigated, Kindle says.
We would not likely get into a car with a driver who is drunk
or drinking alcohol, but we routinely allow drivers to use cell
phones, Kindle said. Distracted driving is a killer right now,
and our job is to not get distracted. If you need to use it, pull
over and use the phone.
Using a cell phone slows down a drivers reaction time and
inhibits his or her their ability to make good decisions, Harp
says. But drowsy driving is the second cause of car crashes be-
hind drunk driving. Linemen put in long days, and if they
sleep less than fve hours, it increases their risk four to fve
times, Harp said. It only takes a blink of an eye to change
your life forever.
Know Your Rules, Roles and Responsibilities
The safety conference also covered areas such as the impor-
tance of following rules and knowing your roles and responsi-
bilities. To that end, Robert Parsons, a retired U.S. Navy chief
petty offcer, aircraft carrier fight deck coordinator and mem-
ber of the Blue Angels, compared life in the line trade to work-
ing at the pointy end of the spear in the military. Linemen
are unsung heroes, said Parsons, who now works as an electri-
cal instrumentation and controls manager for Westar Energy.
People dont think about what you do every day or thank you,
but you help them do their jobs. Their ability to take care of
their families depends on you.
 Electric Utility Operations

Whether in the military or in the civilian world, he says its

critical to follow operating and maintenance procedures and
safety guidelines. Safety rules are written in blood, he said.
Someone got hurt or killed for that rule to be there.
Christmas says a lot of the safety procedures in the utility
industry are modeled after the military. We need to live safely
every minute of the day, whether we are on a Blue Angels team
or on a line or trouble truck, he said. You have to live safely.
Thats what keeps us alive.

Mitigate Electrical Contact and Burn Risks

When it comes to the line trade, its especially important to
work safely because of the dangers of arc fash and electrical
contact. To drive that point home, Lucie Martucci of DuPont
Protection Solutions educated the attendees about the differ-
ent materials in garments and how they can affect the amount
and degree of burns. If you dont know the limitations of your
PPE, you need to test it, she said. If the clothing fabric does ig-
nite and burn, it will increase the extent of the workers injury.
In fact, more severe burns can be caused by ignited clothing
than by the original electric arc fash.
Following her presentation, the attendees were invited out-
side to see DuPonts Thermo Man demonstration in the park-
ing lot. DuPonts team dressed the Thermo Man in cotton un-
dergarments and then layered on different clothing from street
clothes to garments offering full fame-retardant protection.
The following day, the ILRA again presented sessions
The Thermo Man demonstration gave attendees the opportunity to see
firsthand the importance of flame-retardant clothing.
geared towards helping the linemen to make safety an integral
part of their job and their lives, Christmas says.
This year, we focused the conference on the human fac-
tor of line work and the need to focus not only on your job,
but also your team, Christmas said. Regardless of what we do,
there are processes in place that we need to follow and things
we need to learn. By learning and practicing these procedures,
we can make things safer for everyone.
Editors note: To see a photo gallery from the safety and training
conference, visit www.tdworld.com/electric-utility-operations.

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Electric Utility Operations
Largest Linemans Expo
Features Tools of the Trade
Trade show displays new products to help
crews save time and stay safe in the field.
By Amy Fischbach, Field Editor
W
hen the clock struck noon, a food of linemen
poured through the doors of the convention cen-
ter. Some browsed the aisles searching for new
tools, while others looked for fame-retardant
(FR) garments. All of them, however, had one thing in com-
mon they wanted to discover the latest and greatest products
available for linemen.
The 2017 Linemans Expo was the biggest trade show yet
with 21,000 sq feet of exhibition space and 135 exhibitors.
Thirty-three of those exhibitors were new for 2017, giving more
than 3500 attendees the opportunity to see a diverse range of
products geared at the feld workforce.
It sold out again this year, and theres no room for expan-
sion, said Rick Childers, event coordinator for the Internation-
al Linemans Rodeo Association (ILRA). They had to move
things out of the way just to bring the expo stuff in.
Improving Productivity
Because time is money in the line trade, linemen need la-
bor-saving tools and technology that can help them to get their
jobs done as safely and effciently as possible. For example, the
tool manufacturers offered new cordless, battery-powered tools
with an ergonomic design. One of these vendors, UTILCO,
launched a new line of hydraulic crimpers and cutters built on
the Milwaukee Tool battery platform.
Milwaukee Tool Corp. showcased its new hard hat lights and power
tools for the utility industry.
40H T&D World | December 2017
Also, other exhibitors offered technology to help linemen
restore power quickly following a storm or power outage. SNC
Manufacturing Co. Inc. displayed its new Restore-Lite tempo-
rary power restoration unit, which is said to be the lightest unit
on the market and is available in a 10-, 15- or 20-kVA rating.
Within 20 minutes, a lineman can obtain meterable power by
plugging it directly into a pedestal.
In addition, vendors showcased technology invented by line-
men. Utility Solutions new Tail Tamer, a four-in-one tool, was
invented by a lineman from Ohio. The temporary four-in-one
hot line clamp safely controls conductors during construction
and maintenance. In addition, the company also demonstrated
another product that attracted a lot of attention from the line-
men a take-apart hot stick.
Enhancing Safety
When working in severe weather conditions and around the
clock, linemen need technology that will help them to get their
jobs done as quickly and safely as possible. As in past years,
many manufacturers of FR garments showcased their clothing
on the show foor.
Over the years, these FR garments have gotten softer, more
lightweight and more comfortable for the linemen to wear on
the job. For example, Tara Safe introduced new lightweight
button-down shirts in three shades of blue, while True North
showcased its new Generation 3 Shield Jacket with reinforced
cuffs and a longer length. In addition, the vendor displayed its
updated Elements Flak Jacket.
Also over the last few years, linemen have not only had to
wear FR garments, but also use arc-fash-rated harnesses when
working aloft. Jelco set up a wood pole in its booth so linemen
could try out its new products, such as its new arc-fash har-
nesses with dielectric quick-connects.
A glove manufacturer Youngstown Glove Co. also
showcased its new products, including its FR rain glove, which
repels water and keeps linemens hands dry in damp condi-
tions. The company also introduced its Knuckle Buster glove,
which features FR gel so the vibration goes into the linemans
glove, not his or her hand.
With the hurricane season barely in the rearview mirror, the
swarms of mosquitos are still fresh in linemens minds. To keep
them protected in future storms, R&R Lotion offered DEET-

At the 2017 expo, linemen had the opportunity to try out Jelcos arc-
flash-rated harnesses and new fall protection equipment.
free, industrial-strength mosquito repellent that wont damage
the integrity of fame-retardant clothing or linemens gloves.
Linemen battle the elements and also face the danger of
distracted drivers crashing into work zones. To help protect
workers on highways, PSS introduced the Road Quake rumble
strips, which are designed to alert drivers so they will slow down.
While this product has been widely used in the transportation
industry, it is new to the utility world, says Sean Noone of PSS.
When your phone starts to ding, and you look down and
look back up, a lot can happen in 100 yards, Noone said. Line-
men can place these strips in advance of work zones so drivers
I
1 . 8 6 6 .6 8 5 .1 8 8 0 to l l f re e w w w. A r b o r M E T R I C S . c o m
Electric Utility Operations
Top Winners at the 2017 Expo
Linemen had the opportunity to enter prize drawings on the
show floor. Here are some of the winners:
Raymond McDonald of ATCO Electric in Bonnyville, Alberta,
Canada, won the 2017 Electric Utility Operations/ Milwaukee
Tool drawing. He beat out about 100 other entrants to win
Milwaukee Tools M18 FUEL 7/16-inch hex high-torque impact
wrench, which is valued at about $500.
By purchasing a rafle ticket, attendees had the opportunity
to win a rolling storage cabinet from Snap-on and to support
the ILRAs Scholarship Fund.Dale Huston, crew leader and
journeyman lineman for Memphis Light Gas & Water, won the
tool chest, which featured an American flag design.
become aware of what is in front of them.
In addition, the vendor also set up its Pedestrian Barricade,
which underground workers can place around a trench or man-
hole. If you just set up a few cones and barrels and the Men
Working sign, people will walk right up to it, Noone said. But
this acts as a barricade to keep pedestrians away.
Also in the underground arena, Air Spade offered a prod-
uct designed to not damage the underground line and to keep
linemen safe while excavating around poles.
Not only tools, but also safety and training programs and
software can help enhance safety in the feld. For example,
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December 2017 | T&D World 40I
Electric Utility Operations

Three Phase Innovations offers trans- lineman-themed T-shirts.

former training that allows companies Many of the linemens families
to simulate three-phase power from a brought these lineman-themed items to
120-V/240-V outlet. Students can learn the grounds of the rodeo. During the
how to properly and safely isolate and day-long event, they had the opportuni-
ground a transformer bank and view ty to cheer on their loved ones from the
the dangers of backfeed directly in the sidelines and also browse the exhibits of
classroom, before they face this hazard the 20 outdoor vendors, whose booths
in the feld. spanned more than 9000 sq feet.
3D Internet also offers new training The families like the outdoor ex-
programs designed to help apprentices hibits, said Rodney Lewis of the ILRA.
and journeymen linemen practice on It gives them something to do, and
a computer in a safe, controlled envi- with so many people at the rodeo, it
ronment. For example, users can now gives the exhibits a lot of exposure.
completely customize the training pro- By having the opportunity to at-
gram by adding in infrastructure and tend both an indoor and outdoor trade
The True North Elements Flak Jacket features
other components to make it look as abrasion-resistant coating, a three-panel hood show, the linemen were able to see, feel
realistic as possible. Going forward, the design and a built-in bala clava for maximum and touch the new products designed
company is exploring virtual reality as protection. for them.
another way to train linemen in safe work procedures. Since linemen are doing the same work that they did 50
years ago, many of the products have stayed the same over time,
Celebrating the Line Trade but they have experienced signifcant improvements, said An-
In addition to labor-saving and safety products on the show thony Mascaro, journeyman lineman for Eversource Energy.
foor, this years Linemans Expo also offered a variety of prod- As he walked through the International Linemans Museum
ucts to help linemen show their pride in the industry. For ex- trailer on the show foor, he said that many of the tools looked
ample, one vendor made past Linemans Rodeo T-shirts into familiar to him.
quilts, another hand-crafted ceramic mugs and one booth sold Back then, everything was American made, but today, the
concept is the same, Mascaro said. We still hang glass insula-
tors and use hot sticks every day. Everything that is newer, how-
ever, is always better.

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sunscreen
5. Bierer HP72DC hi-pot meter for detecting an energized
source
6. Tail Tamer temporary conductor clamp for stringing,
cutting and connecting overhead connectors
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Photo by Jill Koury.

Rodeo Competition Draws

Record Number of Linemen
The highest number of apprentices and
journeymen competed in the International
Linemans Rodeo in 34 years.
By Amy Fischbach, Field Editor

T
hirty-four years ago, Kansas utilities competed in the
frst Linemans Rodeo. Fast-forward to today, and the
event is nearly at its bursting point. A record number
of journeymen teams and apprentices competed in
this years International Linemans Rodeo, shattering records
across the board. This year, 313 apprentices competed to be
the best of the best in 2017 compared to 284 last year. Thirty
more journeymen teams also competed this year over last year
for a grand total of 238 three-member teams.
After back-to-back hurricanes inficted widespread out-
ages and destruction in Texas, Georgia and Florida, some of
the International Linemans Rodeo Association (ILRA) board
40L T&D World | December 2017
members anticipated some teams to back out of the competi-
tion. The linemen from the mutual aid crews and impacted
states, however, wrapped up restoration just in time for the
rodeo. Thousands of line crews swarmed into Florida from top
to bottom to restore service and went down to the Gulf Coast to
make all the repairs, said Rick Childers, event coordinator for
the International Linemans Rodeo.
Three of those linemen Robert Padgett, Mike Hatcher
and James Alexander even formed their own rodeo team
called Team Florida Mutual Aid after working many storms
together. The trio of linemen do not even work at the same
utility, but they forged a bond after many hours working side
 Electric Utility Operations

by side to restore service. The industry has been good to me

for 29 years, and it feels good to represent my state, Padgett
said. We didnt get to prepare as much as we wanted to for the
rodeo because of the hurricane, but we did a lot of climbing
during the Irma restoration.
The wildfres in California also changed the travel plans
for some of the competitors. For example, some of the rodeo
teams were not able to fy out of the San Francisco and Oak-
land airports after they were shut down, and others were re-
routed and stuck at airports in Chicago or Washington state.
Due to all the smoke, debris and ash in the air, the teams were
on standby, and we fnally got them out, Childers said. At one
point, about 20 or 30 guys were delayed. Some of them arrived
in Kansas City at 2 oclock in the morning.

Competing for Top Honors

Weather can cause challenges not only during storms be-
fore the rodeo, but also on the day of the competition. For the
2017 contest, rain clouds threatened the competition for most
of the day but only showered the grounds for a short time.
Out of the record number of competitors, Cobb EMC
earned the top spot in the journeyman division with a perfect
score of 400 points, the fastest time and zero deductions, and
Duke Energy won the title of best of the best in the apprentice
division.
To reach the awards stage at the banquet, many journeyman
teams and apprentices practiced for months to compete at the
International Linemans Rodeo. Two events, however, were a
complete surprise until the competitors arrived in Kansas City
the mystery events.
In the past, the ILRA included hot sticking into at least one
of the mystery events; this year, the board focused on rubber
gloving events instead. The hot sticking events are slower, more
meticulous, and intricate and harder to complete and judge,
Childers said. This year we did two rubber gloving events in
the interest of speeding it up. We also want to keep them guess-
ing and off balance, which is key to the competition.
When the team from Hawaiian Electric arrived at the ro-
deo, they fully expected to perform hot sticking, which they
dont do very often in Hawaii, said Jordon Hugo-Kamake. In-
stead, they learned that they were going to be using rubber
goods during both mystery events. We enjoy coming to the
rodeo, because we get to see all of the new things for linemen,
Hugo-Kamake said.
The journeymen linemen from Empire Electric District also
didnt know exactly what to expect during the mystery events,
so Aaron Bittle said he and his teammates practiced a little bit
of everything, including hot sticking. We didnt want to look
like we were sword fghting while we were hot sticking, Bittle
said. We also tried to practice working together as a team.
During the rodeo, everyone has a role.
During the journeyman events, the three-member teams
the groundman and two linemen on the pole must work to-
gether as a team and focus on good communication, explained Photos by Jill Koury;
Brian Felix, journeyman lineman for Kansas City Power & final photo courtesy
of PG&E.
Light. Felix, whose team placed second in the journeyman divi-
December 2017 | T&D World 40M
Electric Utility Operations
sion, said the rodeo is the only time of year he gets to see line-
men from all over the country, and over the years, hes learned
tips and techniques to improve his teams performance during
the competition. Weve learned to work not only quickly, but
also smoothly, said Felix, who has been competing at the ro-
deo since 2012.
Eric Clark, journeyman lineman for Empire Electric Dis-
trict, agreed, saying that just focusing on the speed during the
competition is likely to lead to deductions. Theres no point to
going fast if you get points taken off, Clark said.
Mike Saunders, a retired journeyman lineman whose son-
in-law works for Kansas City Power & Light, competed in the
rodeo for 24 out of his 33 years in the line trade. In his experi-
ence, he says the journeymen teams must strive to get no deduc-
tions to place in the events. The linemen are competing to be
the best of the best, and its all about pride, said Saunders, who
brought his granddaughter to the rodeo to watch her
dad compete. Only about 25 of
the teams will get a perfect score,
and if you get even a two-point
deduction, youre done.
Case in point: the journeyman
team from Portland General Elec-
tric won the frst mystery event,
called the A.B. Chance Event,
with a perfect score of 100 points
and a time of 8 minutes, 38 sec-
onds out of the total of 25 minutes
allotted for the event.
During this simulated ener-
gized 4-kV event, the teams had a
maximum of 25 minutes to install
and remove Preformed Line Products splice shunts on a
40-ft wood pole. First, the groundman had up to three at-
tempts to throw the P-Line over the secondary conductor
and secure it to the ground anchor. Next, the two linemen
ascended the pole and removed and installed the shunts after
covering the primary conductors with A.B. Chance line guards
and hoods. When the event was completed, the team placed all
their materials and tools on the mat or they faced a deduction.
They were also judged on safe and proper work practices and
housekeeping.
Duke Energy won the second journeyman mystery event,
also with a perfect score, by replacing a Brooks braceless cross-
arm using a temporary Hastings fberglass crossarm. As with
the frst mystery event, the 4-kV rubber glove event required
the use of rubber gloves, blankets, line guards and other
materials.
Before the event started, the teams were supplied with two
steel pins and insulators, two prefab tie wires and grommets,
four Hastings hard covers, a crossarm guard and split blanket,
a ring tool and other materials. Because the competitors were
working in a simulated energized situation, the linemen had to
cover all phases within reach or fall distance, except where the
conductor was gloved.
In addition to the mystery events, the journeymen linemen
40N T&D World | December 2017
also had to compete in the traditional pole climb and hurt man
rescue events. Pacifc Gas & Electric nabbed the top two spots
in the journeyman pole climb and also won the hurt man res-
cue event, in which competitors must rescue a life-sized man,
who has been injured while working at a transformer station,
using a Buckingham SuperSqueeze and Ox Block handline.
For the pole climb, the journeymen linemen had to climb a
pole with a raw egg in a bucket. Then the lineman safetied off,
set back in the safety from the pole, removed the old bucket,
dropped it to the ground, placed the egg in his or her mouth,
hung the new bucket on the hook, and descended the pole.
To ensure the safety of the competitors, the ILRA did not
allow any free fall, or hot-dogging, and required that the
linemen were in control at all times. If a competitor cut out
or slipped on the pole with one gaff out, he or she earned a
two-point deduction, and if both gaffs were out of the pole,
the deduction climbed to 10 points. In ad-
dition, if the journeyman lineman cracked
the egg, he or she also received a 10-point
deduction.
Putting Apprentices to the Test
Like the journeymen, the apprentices
also had to compete in the hurt man res-
cue, pole climb, and two mystery events,
but rather than working in teams of
three, they competed individually.
The apprentices also had to com-
plete a written test the day
before the rodeo. In past
years, the apprentices had
to take their written test on
the day of the rodeo, but the
schedule change has worked
out well, said Rodney Lewis,
repair feld supervisor for
Portland General Electric and board member of the ILRA.
By moving the apprentice testing to Friday, it has sped up that
portion of it, and it makes it fair and equal for everyone, Lewis
said.
Brian Minikel, apprentice for Duke Energy, earned the least
deductions and the fastest time for not only the written test, but
also all of the events, landing him at the top of the apprentice
division. He said that while he worked hard for the competi-
tion, he couldnt have earned the best of the best award on his
own. Being a lineman is truly a brotherhood, and you look out
for each other, said Minikel, who is from Cary, North Carolina.
Everyone wants you to succeed, and I had a lot of support be-
hind me. The award is a tremendous blessing in my life.
Kaleb Chapman, apprentice for Jackson Electric Member-
ship Corp., was also a big winner at the rodeo, with frst place
fnishes in the pole climb, hurt man rescue and second mystery
event. For the second mystery event, the apprentices had up to
20 minutes to change out a damaged PLP vise grip insulator
using leather gloves.
The apprentices also had to compete in another mystery

event, which was won by Portland General Electrics Guy
Elliott. In this event, the linemen had to rig a set of two Klein
sheave slack blocks without crossing the rope between the two
blocks and successfully tie a crown knot and square knot. If
they were not successful at knot tying, they earned a two-point
deduction. They also could lose points for not fnishing the
event on time, making improper tucks, crossing the ropes or
not keeping a clean work area.
Supporting the Competitors
The International Linemans Rodeo gave the competitors
the opportunity to compete for awards and to showcase their
skills in front of their loved ones. For many families, this an-
nual event is the only opportunity for children to be able to
watch their parent work in a safe and controlled environment,
Childers says.
In the line trade, theres no Take Your Child to Work Day, some point, we may run out of space, said Childers, who will
Childers said. At the rodeo, the kids have a chance to ride up
in a bucket truck and see what their mommy or daddy does for
a living, with everything roped off and de-energized.
For example, seven-year-old Mason Wallin cheered on the
Duke Energy team from the sidelines wearing a hard hat,
leather gloves and a custom belt with line hooks.As his father,
Brian, and his transmission crew from Asheville, North Caro-
lina, competed in an event, more than 200 other journeymen
teams were engaged in competition or waiting on the sidelines.
The linemens families and their line families of cowork-
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ers supported the competitors throughout the day-long event.
For example, the number of company tents at the top of the
hill, called Platinum Row, has expanded exponentially, Lewis
said. In addition, he said the number of outdoor exhibitors and
sponsors at the rodeo has also increased.
For example, Buckingham Manufacturing awards the top
winners with custom championship belts, and many other ven-
dors donate supplies for the events. Without our vendors help-
ing us, we couldnt put on the rodeo, Lewis said. They donate
so much material, equipment and time. We appreciate them to
the nth degree. Its a collaborative effort, and they support us
tremendously.
As the ILRA board prepares for its 35th anniversary next
year, the board strives to continue to provide a safe and com-
petitive environment for linemen across North America and
beyond. This is the biggest rodeo we have ever had, and at
soon retire from the line trade and step down from the ILRA
board. But thats a good problem to have.
Because the rodeo cant continue to grow indefnitely, the
board is considering a few options including capping the num-
ber of competitors or scheduling the competition for two dif-
ferent days, Childers says. Whatever the board decides, how-
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fun for all, Lewis said.
We are like family, and when we have our rodeo, its like a
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Parting Shot
Photo by Jill Koury
Journeymen linemen Mark Perkinson
(right) and Jeramy Wilson (lef) of
the Duke Energy Carolinas East team
competed in the first mystery event at
the 34th Annual International Linemans
Rodeo. As a groundman, Perkinson had
up to three attempts to throw the p-line
over the bottom conductor. Meanwhile,
Wilson and teammate Josh Greguire,
journeyman lineman (not shown),
prepared to climb the pole to cover the
primary conductors with line guards and
hoods. The team won first place in the
second mystery event, and they said it
felt great to bring home a win for Duke
Energy, which brought home 18 awards.

40P T&D World | December 2017

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 Ad Index
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*Arbormetrics Solutions Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40i www.arbormetrics.com

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Asplundh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BC www.asplundh.com 435 Wellesley Ave.
Mill Valley, CA. 94941
*Asplundh Construction Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40c www.utiliconltd.com/acc.htm Phone: 415-819-7440
Email: david.blaza@penton.com

*Asplundh/Grid One Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40o www.gridonesolutions.com Eastern US

Matthew Wintringham
125 Cambridgepark Drive
*Asplundh/ULCS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40k www.ulcs-llc.com Cambridge, MA 02140
Phone: 508-277-8397
Black & Veatch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 www.bv.com/powerdelivery E-mail:Matthew.wintringham@penton.com

Midwestern, Mid-Atlantic,
Burns & McDonnell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .IBC www.burnsmcd.com/nxg17 New England, Eastern Canada:
Stephen M. Lach
13723 Carolina Lane
Camlin Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 www.camlingroup.com Orland Park, IL 60462
Phone: 708-460-5925 Fax: 708-460-5115
Davey Tree Expert Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 www.daveyutilitysolutions.com E-mail: steve.lach@penton.com

West/Western Canada:
ESRI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 esri.com/compliance Todd Hagen
24337 East Kansas Circle
Aurora, CO 80018
*Fecon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40j www.fecon.com Phone: 312-840-8443
Cell: 303-748-9799
HAEFELY HIPOTRONICS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 www.haefely-hipotronics.com Email: todd.hagen@penton.com

Western/Eastern Europe:
Hastings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 www.hfgp.com Victoria Hufmann
Meckstr 3-5
High Voltage Partial Discharge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 www.hvpd.co.uk 90762 Fuerth/Germany
Phone: 49 (0)911-93 97 64-42
Cell: 49 (0)179-59 69 301
Hubbell Power Systems Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 www.hubbellpowersystems.com E-mail: victoria@hufmann.info

Norbert Hufmann
Hubbell Power Systems Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 www.hubbellpowersystems.com Meckstr 3-5
90762 Fuerth/Germany
Hubbell Power Systems Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 www.hubbellpowersystems.com Phone: 49 (0)911-93 97 64-45
Cell: 49 (0)179-59 69 237
E-mail: norbert@hufmann.info
Krenz & Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34-35 www.krenzvent.com
Asia:
Hazel Li
*Milwaukee Electric Tool Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40e www.milwaukeetool.com InterAct Media & Marketing
66 Tannery Lane
Nordic Fiberglass Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 www.nordicfberglass.com #04-01 Sindo Ind Building
Singapore 347805
Phone: (65) 6728 2396
Novinium Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 novinium.com Email: hazelli@outlook.sg

Japan:
*Osmose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40g www.osmose.com Yoshinori Ikeda
Kayabacho 2-Chome Bldg.,
Powering America/NECA-IBEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 www.powering-america.org 2-4-5, Nihonbashi Kayabacho
Chuo-Ku, Tokyo 103-0025, Japan
Phone: 81-3-3661-6138
Quanta Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 www.quantaservices.com Fax: 81-3-3661-6139
E-mail: pbi2010@gol.com
Rauckman Utility Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 www.rauckmanutility.com Korea:
Y.B. Jeon
S&C Electric Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IFC www.sandc.com/ir17 Storm Associates Inc.
4F. Deok Woo Building
292-7, Sung-san dong, Ma-po ku,
Siemens Energy Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 jmt.energy@siemens.com Seoul, Korea 03996
Phone: 82-2-755-3774
Siemens Energy Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 jmt.energy@siemens.com Fax: 82-2-755-3776
E-mail: stormybj@naver.com

Superior Concrete Products. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 www.concretefence.com Account Sales Manager:

Jay Thompson
9800 Metcalf
T&D World Grid Optimization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 www.tdworld.com/grid-optimization Overland Park, KS. 66212
Phone: 913-967-7543
Trench, LTD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 www.trench-group.com E-mail: jay.thompson@penton.com

Virginia Transformer Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 vatransformer.com

*Denotes ads appearing in only certain geographic areas.
T&D World (ISSN 1087-0849) is published once monthly by Penton Media Inc., 9800 Metcalf Ave., Overland Park, Kansas 66212-2216 U.S. Periodicals
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December 2017 | T&D World 47

 Straight Talk
SoS: All Hands on Deck
By Andre Botha, Vector
T hough often a distress call, in this case, SoS is a System
of Systems approach to leverage emerging distributed en-
ergy resources (DERs) for the beneft of all customers.
Let me share why Vector New Zealands largest distribu-
tor of electricity and gas is installing an SoS. We are seeing
the distribution grid transforming to become an increasingly
complex system of interconnected systems. We can expect the
grid to grow to support thousands of platforms, with multiple
operators think campuses, aggregators, home area net-
works and energy services providers and millions of users
with specifc applications and requirements, tens of millions of
sensors, nodes and control points.
What are the drivers pushing us to make this decision? We
realize we must be able to reduce peak demand while address-
ing the impact on the network of electric vehicles, photovolta-
ics, and gas or diesel generators on the grid. We need a system
that can handle battery storage systems charging and discharg-
ing into the grid. We must handle load shifting and load shed-
ding, and we must handle it in real time.
The value proposition for an SoS was clear, but it took us a
while to realize that we needed an enabling, integrated solu-
tion to handle DERs, whether they were on the network or on
customer premises.
Ultimately, we decided to build out a solution that allows
multiple systems to work together in a seamless fashion; a so-
lution that provides greater visibility, analytics and decision-
support capabilities; and a solution that requires an extremely
high level of transparency for customers, operators, stakehold-
ers and regulators. We decided to build out an SoS.
SoS is a platform designed to enable interaction between
any and all systems, applications, sensors and controllable de-
vices over any communications media, using any known proto-
col. Ideally, with respect to software and hardware that it inter-
acts with, the SoS is vendor and system agnostic. It enables the
distribution system operator, customers, energy service provid-
ers and others to change or upgrade their applications and
subsystems without creating integration issues with the SoS.
The distribution system is evolving into a physical, real-
time, cyber-sensitive and social/market system. The SoS needs
to embrace centralized, decentralized and event-driven solu-
tions and architectures that can adapt and ensure security at
all points in the system. It is this way that we can optimize the
use of the resources, the network and the intelligent technolo-
gies to enable a safe, reliable and cost-effective network.
We gave ourselves a daunting challenge the integration
of DERs with the control of the distribution network and
undertook a pilot. The pilot was tasked with the full integra-
tion of visibility and control substations; feeders; rooftop solar
(company owned and customer owned, multiple technology
providers); home batteries (company owned and customer
48 T&D World | December 2017
owned, multiple technology providers); grid-scale batteries;
a legacy water heater demand response program (PLC ripple
technology); public car charging stations; load forecasting;
weather forecasting; as well as integration to the transmission
system operators delivery point telemetry system. We were
hopeful, and we were also skeptical, that these disparate sys-
tems could be integrated to provide seamless visualization and
control, quickly and effectively. The pilot was highly successful.
Within a month, the SoS was up and running, allowing seam-
less and effective coordination and control across all targeted
systems and technologies.
The pilot led us to develop an SoS that offered the following
capabilities:
Enables customers to respond to market signals
Allows us to seamlessly integrate various applications
without the need to replace existing systems
Provides end-to-end monitoring, data collection and anal-
yses of data in a real-time, dynamic and secure environment
Enables us to realize additional operational effciencies
such as condition-based maintenance and asset security man-
agement
Allows us to easily develop ft for purpose algorithms and
business rules in a logical and simplifed way. It complements
and enhances existing SCADA systems and meter data man-
agement systems
Allows the integration of legacy (or bespoke) systems with
IP addressable systems, which means we dont have to replace
existing systems to realize the benefts of integration
Enhances our ability to make decisions in this increasing-
ly complex and multi-variable operating environment through
machine learning and artifcial intelligence that underpin the
analytical capability of the system.
Distribution utilities are facing the need to change and
change rapidly, and unless we are able to adapt to the changes
that DERs are bringing our way, we will be unable to cope.
Lets not wait until it is too late and throw up a distress signal.
Lets build out platforms that will enable a way forward.
Vector has made the decision to move forward with a sys-
temwide rollout of the SoS, a fully capable distributed energy
resource management system (DERMS), as well as to migrate
our operational technology and information technology plat-
forms to an SoS architecture. For us, this is the only way we
can stay relevant and continue to bring value to our custom-
ers and the wide range of stakeholders who need the new inte-
grated delivery network. This contributes to a lighter, more ef-
fcient network that is agile in providing customers choice and
options never seen before in this industry.
Andre Botha is the chief networks oficer with Vector who oversees
Vectors regulated gas and electricity networks businesses
 We are the Next Generation (NxG) Utility:
The future of innovation is here.
Learn more at burnsmcd.com/NxG17.

T&D How
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These videos may not apply to each location or situation.
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 SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT

DECEMBER 2017 tdworld.com

Hurricanes
Respond Rebuild Recover
 WHEN THE
POWER
GOES OUT,
SO DO THEY.

Southwire salutes Americas frst responders and linemen.

THANK YOU for your valiant hurricane response efforts.

2017 Southwire Company, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Registered Trademark & Trademark of Southwire Company, LLC.
 The Double Whammy
By James R. Dukart, Contributing Writer
L
eave it to Mother Nature to throw two Cat-
egory 4 hurricanes at the U.S. mainland
the month before my wedding. And, leave
it to Rick Bush, T&D Worlds strategic director,
to dangle in front of me the chance to fy down
and cover them both again, just a month be-
fore my wedding.Im so glad my then soon-to-
be and now lovely wife, Lisa, is so understand-
ing because, of course, I could not say no.
If you cover this industry, you know the best
of the best bring out their best when the weather and condi-
tions are the worst. As mainstream media reported, and as
recounted in the following pages of this special supplement,
electric utilities not only had mutual assistance plans in place
months before the hurricanes, but most already had experi-
ence with severe storms over the last several years. Many had
at least one and sometimes more training drills to prepare for
storm restoration.
Utilities created priority lists of line crews volunteering
for mutual assistance or out-of-territory duty. Crews were as-
sembled and prepped as national weather reports increas-
ingly narrowed predictions that Hurricanes Harvey and Irma
would hit landfall near Corpus Christi, Texas, and Naples,
Florida, respectively.
Of course, there are considerations beyond my own per-
sonal schedule that should be taken into account when cover-
ing storm restoration. Major storms bring curfews, travel bans,
fuel shortages, and airport and road closures. First responders
are, appropriately, frst in, followed by utilities. The press and
public want to see and know what is happening after a storm,
but there are more pressing priorities.
Thus, T&D World was on the ground in and around Corpus
Christi about four days after Harvey blasted the Texas coast
and in the week following Irmas assault on Florida. As cata-
strophic as they were, both storms including Harvey with its
record-breaking, relentless and deadly rainfall and fooding
left behind plenty to see.
Corpus Christi itself seemed relatively normal just days af-
ter being hit by Category 4 Harvey, but my impression changed
as a guide from AEP Texas drove me out to the Port Aransas
and Rockport areas, to the Gulf of Mexico and very close to
where the eye of Harvey landed. Along highways, wood poles
either were gone or leaning at 20- to 45-degree angles, some
still holding up line but many with line on the ground. Bill-
boards were blown out completely as well as several storefronts
and rooftops. In Port Aransas, which juts into the Gulf, the
damage was perhaps the worst, with banks of debris lining the
streets like snowbanks after a major Midwestern blizzard.
Heading northeast, up to and into Houston, more leaning,
listing and detached poles and debris lined
the highways and roads. On residential streets,
curbs were lined with household items such
as mattresses, furniture, appliances and torn-
out sheetrock. At commercial locations it was
much the same, albeit with the added visual
shock of seeing hundreds of ruined chairs and
mattresses from a hotel piled atop one another
for disposal, and a pizza parlor parking lot with
about 12 arcade and pinball games set out in
the sun to dry.
Another common sight was utility trucks and utility work-
ers. They were constantly everywhere, and it became like a
variation of the childrens car-ride game to see what trucks
from how many utilities could be spotted and named in one
drive. They came from far and wide, as did contractors and
relief agencies. And at just about any open hotel, breakfast
lounges and lobbies flled with high-visibility worker vests,
hard hats and work boots. Everywhere, people were saying
thank you to anyone who looked like they were working with
the power company to get their lights restored.
On to Florida a week later, and it was more of the same.
In a Bonita Springs Home Depot parking lot, a CenterPoint
Energy crew told me they had been working 11 straight days,
frst in Houston and then in southwest Florida (including
two days of travel to Florida). Inside the Home Depot, lum-
ber shelves were bare. Outside and across the street from the
store was a residential neighborhood still underwater. The
crew could not work there yet, but there were plenty of other
downed poles and lines to address.
Later in the day, a crew from Kansas City Power & Light let
me observe the restoration of a three-phase primary circuit.
The crew patiently and diligently checked all perpendicular
secondary circuits prior to re-energizing the line. The work
took place near Punta Gorda, a bit inland but in a swampy,
likely alligator-ridden area with many downed trees and near-
ly impassable access roads to scattered houses.
The work often was long, trying, sometimes treacherous
and, Im sure, seemingly never ending not to mention, for
many, taking place thousands of miles away from the comforts
of their home and family. But to watch the crews, you would
never have known it.
Our guys volunteered for this, and they just love helping
people and getting the power switched back on, was how one
supervisor described it. You would think they would be hot,
tired and just ready to go home, but theyre not. Almost all
the guys out here want to be here, as long as its going to take.
People need electricity, and we want to make sure they get
it back.
December 2017 | T&D World 1
 Hurricane
The 2017 hurricane season is redefining
everything utilities thought they knew
about hurricanes and restoration.
By Gene Wolf, Technical Writer

N
o matter what it is called or how it is described, this
years hurricane season has not been what anyone
would consider normal. To the people of the Ca-
ribbean, Gulf Coast and East Coast of the United
States, monster storms were too many, came too often and
were too powerful. Climatological specialists will have a great
deal of data to work through, trying to explain what happened
and what the future will bring. There has been a lot of dis-
cussion about global warming and climate change being the
reasons for this extreme weather, but no one knows for sure.
Some experts say this is the new normal, while others say
extremely strong hurricanes are nothing new. It is hard to for-
get storms such as Katrina, Rita and Ike that devastated so
many areas. That being said, scientists from the National Oce-
anic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National
Hurricane Center (NHC) and the National Weather Service

2 T&D World | December 2017

Havoc
(NWS) expressed concern with the 2017 hurricane season
and its implications for the coming years.
Before this years onslaught of storms, NOAA advised that
the 2017 season had the potential to be extremely active be-
cause of higher ocean temperatures in the Atlantic basin and
lower wind shears expected. NOAA also predicted there would
be 14 to 19 named hurricanes, of which two to fve hurricanes
would be major (Category 3 or greater). However, no one had
any idea how powerful extremely active would mean.
By mid-September 2017, the NHC reported there had been
six named tropical storms, one unnamed tropical depres-
sion and seven named hurricanes. With the changes tropical
storms have brought about, NWS began a new storm surge
alert system for 2017. NWS would issue watches and warn-
ings for coastal fooding caused by each storm, no matter the
strength. The weather service warned that hazards, like storm
surges, can occur even during storms with low wind speeds.
Most hurricane causalities come from water in the form of
fooding caused by rainfall, waves and storm surges.
Stronger Storms
Hurricane Harvey stalled over
the Gulf Coast for days before
moving inland. Courtesy of NASA.
NOAAs prediction of an extremely active hurricane season
proved more than accurate. Within a period of a little more
than three weeks, four major storms had developed. The frst
was Harvey, a Category 4 hurricane (winds of 130 mph to
156 mph), which set records for devastation, fooding and mis-
ery in late August 2017, but that was only the beginning.
As September unfolded, Harvey restoration efforts were in
full swing when a bigger monster storm appeared. It was a Cat-
egory 5 hurricane (winds of 157 mph or higher) named Irma.
This, the seasons second major hurricane, was more powerful
than the frst, setting a record with sustained 185-mph winds
for 37 hours. As it crossed the Caribbean, whole islands were
decimated, but that was not the end.
While Irma ravaged the Caribbean, the third major hur-
ricane, Jose, entered the area as a Category 4 storm. Jose fol-
lowed closely behind Irma on much the same path through
the Leeward Islands. Fortunately, it stalled in the Bermuda
Triangle, giving authorities across the region time to begin
December 2017 | T&D World 3
the Irma restoration effort. After a week
of uncertainty, Jose lumbered up the
East Coast with tropical storm warn-
ings as far north as Massachusetts and
Rhode Island.
At the same time Irma and Jose were
impacting the Caribbean, a fourth hur-
ricane Category 2 Katia (winds of 96
mph to 110 mph) was doing dam-
age along Mexicos Gulf Coast. It came
ashore as a Category 1 storm (winds of
75 mph to 95 mph) with heavy rain and
fash fooding between Tampico and the
city of Veracruz. According to the NHC,
this was the frst time since 2010 three
simultaneous hurricanes were active in
The force of Hurricane Harveys Category 4 winds and storm surge lef the electrical infrastruc-
the Atlantic basin, but the onslaught still ture damaged all along the coast. Photo by Jim Dukart.
was not over.
As Irma and Katia lost energy, they became rain producers, played a role in Harveys impact on the area. Each of the highs
and the Atlantic basin produced another Category 5 storm, was trying to push Harvey in the opposite direction, which
Hurricane Maria. Two weeks from the day Irma hit Puerto resulted in the hurricane stalling rather than quickly moving
Rico, Maria hit the island. This had truly been an active pe- inland and out of the area.
riod for hurricanes, and it was only midseason. The hurricane came ashore just northeast of Corpus Chris-
ti, Texas, between Port Aransas and Port OConnor. Harveys
A Diferent Kind of Hurricane eye passed directly over Rockport, Texas, and the damage was
Harvey was the eighth named storm of the 2017 season. It extreme, with entire blocks leveled by the hurricanes winds.
also was the third hurricane and the frst major hurricane for Reports estimated nearly every structure in Port Aransas and
2017. Harvey also holds the distinction of being the wettest Rockport sustained some degree of damage, with many build-
hurricane on record in the U.S. Harvey became a Category ings a total loss, and the electrical infrastructure took a di-
3 hurricane (winds of 111 mph to 129 mph) on Aug. 24 and rect hit. Power outages began as Harvey approached the coast
took aim at the Texas Gulf Coast. Unlike typical hurricanes, and increased after it made landfall. AEP Texas reported
Harvey intensifed right up to the time it came ashore. The 54 substations and 56 transmission lines were out of service,
extremely warm Gulf waters and moisture-laden atmosphere resulting in approximately 200,000 people without electricity
provided the fuel the storm needed to become a Category 4 around Corpus Christi and the surrounding communities.
hurricane, prior to making landfall on Aug. 25. Outages spread to Houston, Texas, and beyond as lights be-
In addition, two equal-strength high-pressure systems gan to blink and go out, with the main body of the hurricane
formed on either side of the advancing hurricane, which reaching the Texas coast. CenterPoint Energy reported more
than 49,000 customer (meter) outages,
but by evening, the number increased
to about 70,000. Guadalupe Valley Elec-
tric Corp. reported more than 16,400
customer outages. Entergy Texas also
reported more than 30,000 customers
without power.

All About the Water

The wind damaged some commu-
nities while massive rainfall fooded
others. In fact, the day after Harvey
became a tropical storm, some areas
thought they had dodged a bullet only
to have overfowing rivers food their
communities. It has been estimated that
more than 9 trillion gallons of water, or
Damage was so extensive to this distribution line that the only way to restore electrical service about 50 inches of rain, fell on Hous-
was to completely rebuild with new poles, conductor and hardware. Photo by Jim Dukart. ton during the tropical storm, causing

4 T&D World | December 2017

extreme fooding. Estimates for the en-
tire region southeastern Texas and
Louisiana ranged from 19 trillion to
22 trillion gallons. No matter how much
rain is attributed to Harvey, the experts
agree Harveys fooding broke all the
models, and they are calling it a 1000-
year weather event because of the extent
of the fooding and damage it caused.
The combination of fooding and
storm surge contributed to another
storm-related phenomenon called com-
pound fooding. With rain measured in
feet, the rivers were swollen and fow-
ing heavily toward the Gulf. Harvey
produced a storm surge of about 3 feet
to 9 feet, depending on the location.
In addition to the high winds, widespread flooding added to the problems of storm restoration
As storm surges go, this was not very in Houston, Texas. Courtesy of Thinkstock.
much, but it was moving inland at the
same time rain-caused runoff surge was moving down the riv- utilities to respond quickly. The technology also enabled
ers and streams. When the two surges met, the water piled up utilities to reroute circuits and reestablish power to customers
and spread out over the lowlands adjacent to these waterways without sending crews to do the work, which freed up crews
compound fooding. It also added more customer outages for other work.
than the initial hurricane itself as water levels rose. The use of commercial drones was another technology
On Aug. 28, Harvey moved back into the Gulf southeast used by utilities for faster restoration. At frst, the U.S. Federal
of Port OConnor and slowly drifted east-southeast, just off Aviation Administration (FAA) restricted the airspace above
the Texas coast. However, the rain continued unabated, add- the storm-ravaged region, but it did not take long for it to be-
ing to the fooding. A few days later, on Aug. 30, Harvey came gin issuing exceptions. In the days after Hurricane Harvey,
back on shore near Cameron, Louisiana, and headed north- the FAA issued 137 airspace authorizations for commercial
northeastward. At that point, it fnally started moving out of drone-related recovery efforts, which allowed specially sanc-
the devastated Gulf Coast area. Harveys slow movement from tioned pilots to fy in the restricted airspace. Local authori-
Aug. 25 to Aug. 30 meant the rain continued and the fooding ties, utilities, oil, gas, railroads, the Red Cross and others used
in southeastern Texas and Louisiana reached unparalleled drones for fooding assessment.
amounts. Many users noted the commercial drones were comple-
In a news release, Entergy Texas said, For six days, Harvey mentary to helicopters and not competition. The drones freed
moved at a snails pace across the Entergy footprint, dropping up the helicopters to do what they do best search and res-
more than 30 inches of rain in some areas, fooding neighbor- cue work. Commercial drones proved valuable by being cost
hoods and businesses. Entergy wasnt immune from Harveys effective, being able to fy lower and not risking pilots lives in
wrath, as 17 substations and miles of transmission lines were close congested neighborhoods.
damaged. At the height of the storm and fooding, customer Several utilities reported drones opened inaccessible ar-
outages exceeded 311,000. However, the number of people eas and provided high-resolution imagery in real time. This
affected by the loss of power ranged in the millions for the helped them to assess damage and deploy the right resources
entire storm-ravaged area. in the right places for power restoration. Utilities needed ev-
ery advantage available to battle the aftermath of Harvey, but,
A Diferent Response as restoration efforts progressed, they faced a new challenge
Harveys fooding limited the ability of utilities to get into on another part of the electrical grid.
storm-damaged areas and impacted restoration plans, but it
also was an opportunity for the use of some technologies the Cascading Catastrophes
utilities had in place to help in situations like this. The utilities On Aug. 31, as Harvey was moving out of the Texas-Loui-
had been storm hardening their systems since Hurricane Ike siana Gulf Coast region, Irma, the ninth named storm of the
pounded the area. They had replaced wood poles and struc- hurricane season, developed as a Category 2 hurricane. By
tures with concrete and composites. Sept. 5, it intensifed to a brutal Category 5 storm with winds
Many of the utilities in the affected area had invested in of 175 mph, which increased to 185 mph the next day and
state-of-the-art equipment smart meter network, smart headed toward the Caribbean. On Sept. 6, Irma became a
switches and other smart devices linked to sophisticated Category 5 hurricane, striking the Leeward Islands. It made
management systems. These smart grid technologies enabled successive landfalls in St. Martin, Ginger Island, the British

December 2017 | T&D World 5


Hurricane Irma, shown making landfall on the coast of Florida, was an
extremely powerful and catastrophic Cape Verde-type hurricane. Irma
was the strongest observed hurricane in the Atlantic since Hurricane
Wilma in 2005, in terms of maximum sustained winds. Courtesy of NASA.
Virgin Islands, Anguilla, Barbuda and others. The islands
of St. Barthelemy, St. Martin/St. Maarten and Barbuda were
damaged heavily with their electric power systems demolished.
After the storm, the residents of Barbuda were evacuated
to Antigua, and for the frst time in 300 years, the island was
uninhabited. Additionally, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto
Rico, Cuba, parts of Hispaniola and Florida were directly
in the storms path. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
reported the U.S. Virgin Islands two islands St. John and
St. Thomas share a common power grid. The hurricane
knocked the interisland power grid out completely, and 100%,
or more than 22,000, of the customers on the two islands were
without power.
The DOE also reported St. Croix fared a little better
as more than 41%, or 9000 customers, were without power.
Puerto Rico received substantial damage to its electrical infra-
structure. After the hurricane moved on, more than 66% of
customers, or 1 million, were in the dark. Cuba was the next
island to be hit by the storm. Irma caused extensive damage to
the power grid along the northern coast and several electrical
plants in the region.
Like Hurricane Harvey, Hurricane Irma brought extensive flooding,
which added more problems to restoration eforts. Photo by Jim Dukart.
6 T&D World | December 2017
Rebuilding the electric grid of each of these islands will be
challenging. In many cases, Irmas high winds and fooding
removed everything in its path, so restoration will require to-
tal rebuilding and storm hardening, unlike previous restora-
tions. Irmas next target was Florida.
Path of Destruction
After wreaking havoc in the Caribbean, Irma made two
landfalls in Florida. The frst came on the morning of Sept.
10. Irma came ashore as a Category 4 storm in the lower Flor-
ida Keys, continuing its island destruction as it had in the Ca-
ribbean. Many of the Keys experienced extensive damage to
buildings from high winds and storm surge of an estimated
10 feet. After crossing the Keys, it made its second landfall lat-
er in the day as a Category 3 hurricane. It came ashore on the
west side of Florida at Marco Island, south of Naples, where
winds were measured at 142 mph just prior to the landfall.
Once on land, Irma lessened to a Category 2 hurricane as
it moved inland. By the time it reached Tampa, it was a Cat-
egory 1 storm in strength, but there is no such thing as a weak
hurricane. Irmas 400-mile-diameter body covered Floridas
west and east coasts, and stretched along the peninsula with
high winds, rainfall and fooding.
The eastern side of the state may have missed the direct hit
from Irma, but the hurricane produced disastrous results with
high winds, excessive rain and storm surges. The high winds
sent trees toppling into T&D lines. The fooding wreaked
havoc on the distribution systems across the state and outages
increased as the storm moved forward. Around Miami-Dade
and Broward counties, several construction cranes collapsed
on buildings from the high winds, and distribution circuits
were destroyed by downed trees and fooding.
Florida Power & Light (FPL) reported 263 substations were
damaged by Irma. Floridas Division of Emergency Manage-
ment reported Irma left 6.7 million customers without elec-
tricity. According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Secu-
rity, this equated to about 15 million Floridians, or about 75%
of the states population.
Flooding extended as far north as Jacksonville, but the
damage from Hurricane Irma was not limited to Florida. It
also knocked out power to about 1.3 million customers in
St. Thomas was directly in the path of Hurricane Maria, which lef the
islands electric grid in shambles. Courtesy of WAPA.
Georgia, more than 208,000 customers in South Carolina,
nearly 320,000 customers in North Carolina and around
45,000 in Alabama.
Utilities across the region activated the nationwide mutual
assistance network for help to restore their power grids. Ac-
cording to the DOE, this was one of the largest undertakings
in U.S. history, involving 49 states and Canada. Utilities set
up staging areas throughout their service territories to house
mutual assistance crews, contractors, and other support per-
sonnel and responders.
Mutual assistance is a hallmark of our industry, and serves
as an effective and critical restoration resource for electric com-
panies, said Edison Electric Institute President Tom Kuhn.
Technology in Action
The utilities in Florida have been storm hardening their
systems since Hurricane Wilma in 2005 and it paid off. FPL,
Duke Energy Florida, Tampa Electric and others made sig-
nifcant investments to improve their hurricane preparedness
since that wake-up call. They replaced wood utility poles with
concrete and composite poles. They buried power lines un-
derground in cities willing to pay the cost. They also deployed
smart grid technologies, added pumps to substations and
spent substantial amounts on vegetation management.
FPL also installed real-time water monitors at 223 substa-
tions most susceptible to storm surges throughout its service
area. These monitors did not prevent fooding during Irma,
but they provided advanced warnings that enabled FPL to
shut down a substation proactively before the equipment was
severely damaged by water.
FPL President Eric Silagy said, Frankly, those food moni-
tors saved three or four days of work and millions of dollars
worth of equipment that would have had to be replaced rather
than simply reenergized.
The technologies proved to be invaluable for quickly re-
storing power to all areas hard hit by Harvey and Irma, but
Jose and Maria continued to pound the Caribbean, and the
next landfalls were on everyones mind. Many crews support-
ing restoration efforts moved directly from Harvey to Irma
restoration. They wondered if they would be saddling up
again for yet another round of restoration.
Also, as with the Harvey restoration, drones played a
key role in recovery. Shortly after Irma, the FAA issued 132
airspace authorizations in Florida. According to the Wall Street
Journal, these approvals were processed within hours of fling,
which is an exceptionally fast turnaround for the government.
Hundreds of commercial drone fights took place in Harvey-
and Irma-devastated areas for the restoration efforts. One
FAA offcial said he thought this was a landmark in the evolu-
tion of drone use for hurricane response.
Maria Knocks Out Power
Two weeks after Irma hammered Puerto Rico and the U.S.
Virgin Islands, Hurricane Maria battered the region again. On
Sept. 19, the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA)
reported it had restored power to all but 3.9% of customers,
An electrical crew works to repair power lines that were knocked
down when Hurricane Maria passed through Corozal, Puerto Rico,
on Sept. 27, 2017. Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images.
or 61,308, from Irma-caused outages. The next day, the eye
of Category 4 Hurricane Maria ripped through Puerto Rico.
PREPA reported the loss of its entire power grid, and there
was no neighboring utility to help with crews or power. It was
estimated PREPA lost 55% of its transmission and about 90%
of its distribution network.
The DOE said nearly 1.57 million electric customers in
Puerto Rico were without electricity. An electricity transmis-
sion assessment team from New York few into San Juan to sur-
vey the damage using helicopters and drones. Initial reports
indicate a complete rebuild will be needed to get power back
on for the island. Six weeks after Maria struck Puerto Rico,
PREPA asked for U.S. mainland utilities to help restore power.
According to the DOE, this is the longest power outage in the
history of the U.S. As of Nov. 1. 2017, the U.S. Corps of Engi-
neers reported that power has been restored to approximately
30% of the islands 1.5 million homes.
On the U.S. Virgin Islands, St. Croix had missed the full
force of Irma, but this time, the island was in the path of Ma-
ria. The DOE reported the majority of the 25,000 customers
on St. Croix were without power. The only electricity available
was from generators. The islands of St. Thomas and St. John
had been making progress restoring customers from Irma
outages, but they lost ground when Maria slammed them.
The governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands, Kenneth Mapp, said
their entire T&D system was down or damaged, and estimated
power restoration and recovery will take months.
Superstorms
The 2017 hurricane season has been a nightmare, setting
the worst kind of records. Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria
had a devastating effect wherever they trekked. They damaged
the infrastructure, knocked out the electrical power grid, and
left millions of people without homes or basic necessities.
Harvey, Irma and Maria have been declared the most de-
structive hurricanes ever experienced, with damage cost esti-
mates running in the hundreds of billions of dollars. The big
question is, what comes next?
December 2017 | T&D World 7
 Utilities Survive Storms,
Rebuild for the Future
Hurricanes may have destroyed utilities
infrastructure, but an army of linemen
helped communities to get up and running.
By Amy Fischbach, Field Editor
W
hen severe storms roar into a utilitys service
territory, they often wreak havoc and then dis-
sipate, enabling linemen to begin restoration.
Hurricane Harvey, however, unleashed its wrath
on electric utilities entire systems, inficting unprecedented
destruction.
Harvey proved to be unlike anything I have experienced
in my 28 years in the utility business, said Frank Shannon,
8 T&D World | December 2017
line superintendent for Entergy Texas Inc. in Beaumont, Tex-
as. This storm impacted our service territory for more than a
week as it hit the Texas coast, meandered offshore and fnally
made landfall again in our service territory.
Hurricane Harvey fooded Entergys service territory and
also impacted the systems owned and operated by other utili-
ties, including CenterPoint Energy. Then Mother Nature tar-
geted Florida and Georgia, hurling Hurricane Irma at Duke
Entergy sped up restoration by bringing
in four mobile substations to bypass
substations damaged by flooding from
Hurricane Harvey. Courtesy of Entergy.
Energy Florida, Florida Power & Light (FPL) as well as several
other companies and cooperatives.
Brandon Hertell, meteorologist and offering manager
with The Weather Company and IBM, believes Harvey and
Irma will go down in U.S. history as two of the most impact-
ful storms. Its hard to prepare for a Cat 5 storm because the
powers of nature are so astounding, he said. But the Florida
and Gulf Coast utilities know how to handle hurricanes, man-
age a restoration effort and mitigate the impact by hardening
their infrastructure. If anyone knows how to do it, its these
utilities.
Here are the stories of how these utilities survived the hur-
ricanes, restored power and are rebuilding more resilient and
reliable systems.

Entergy: Joining Forces for Restoration

When Harvey made landfall on the night of Friday, Aug.
25, a torrential downpour descended on the western section
of Entergys service territory for several days. Then the hur-
ricane moved slowly eastward, devastating southeast Texas,
including Dayton, Beaumont, Port Arthur, Orange and Vidor.
This record-breaking rainfall and crests of local rivers,
lakes and waterways fooded much of Entergys service terri-
tory. A total of 192,000 Entergy customers lost power over the
course of the storm, with 85,000 customer outages at the peak.
About 4000 customers sustained such severe food damage
they could not be reconnected.
We saw frsthand the devastation caused by the food-
ing, with some areas receiving in excess of 50 inches of rain,
said Frank Shannon, line superintendent for Entergy Texas.
Many employees throughout our company were signifcantly
impacted.
Over a two-week restoration period, more than 3300 work-
ers from four states joined forces to restore power to all the
customers who could safely receive it. For example, Entergy
operating companies from Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisi-
ana came to Entergy Texas aid along with several line con-
tractors, including T&D Solutions LLC, Willbros Group Inc.,
Pike Electric Corp., Linetec Services, Bright Star Solutions
Inc., Chain Electric Co., Southern Electric Corp. and High-
lines Construction. Also, Oncor Electric Delivery Co., Cleco
and the Washington-St. Tammany Parish Electric Coopera-
Within a two-week period, Entergys employees and contractors
restored power to all of its customers who could safely receive it.
Courtesy of Entergy.
tive Inc. in Louisiana provided much-needed assistance.
It is always gratifying leading a team of employees who
are fully committed to safely restoring power to our customers
and helping them, in some small way, to rebuilding what is
most important to them, Shannon said.
Entergy leadership provided oversight to each of the con-
tract partners and was responsible for communicating assign-
ments to the Entergy crews and contractors. We take great
strides to ensure open-air communication and designated
boundaries for our crews, Shannon said. For example, a par-
ticular circuit would only be worked on by one set of contrac-
tors to minimize overlap or miscommunication.
Miles of transmission lines were damaged in the hurri-
cane. While winds and falling trees caused damage to poles,
lines and equipment, the transmission lines and substations
sustained the most damage. Following the storm, the linemen
worked to rebuild the electrical system, replace temporary
and damaged equipment with upgraded assets, and add in

More than 3000 workers from Entergys service territory of Texas,

Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana helped to restore power following Afer a long day of restoring power, Entergys crews eat a meal togeth-
Hurricane Harvey. Courtesy of Entergy. er under the protection of one of the utilitys tents. Courtesy of Entergy.

December 2017 | T&D World 9

To protect themselves from the wet weather conditions, Entergys
field crews wore long high-visibility raincoats during the restoration.
Courtesy of Entergy.
contingencies and redundancies to ensure reliability.
The fooding impacted 17 of Entergys substations, with
fve sustaining signifcant damage. Entergy Texas brought in
four mobile substations to restore power to customers while
linemen made repairs and replaced the damaged equipment.
During the restoration, the most signifcant challenge was
accessing fooded areas. To reach the restoration zones, the
linemen used a variety of airboats, amphibious vehicles and
high-water vehicles to assess and repair infrastructure. Also,
crews systematically patrolled fooded areas and disconnected
customers who were impacted until the inspector deemed it
safe to restore power.
Because the linemen were working around the foodwater
and traveling in boats, Entergy mandated fotation devices
and personal protective equipment be worn. High water and
inaccessibility were the primary obstacles we faced, Shannon
Afer traveling by airboat to Entergys Cedar Hill substation in Conroe,
Texas, a crew had to wade into the water to inspect the damage
before making repairs. Courtesy of Entergy.
said. And with high water comes snakes, insects and disease.
Our company quickly began offering tetanus immunizations
and other information to keep our employees safe. As we often
do, we improvised and adapted.
After working 16-hour workdays, the linemen could rest
at Entergy Texas staging site, which provided food, lodging,
fuel, and other necessities for the contractors, crews and sup-
port personnel. Because many of the roads were impassible,
several of the Entergy Texas employees were not able to return
home for about a week. As such, they stayed in Entergy-provid-
ed lodging, at the offce or at the staging areas.
With the help of the mobile substation and tireless work
of the linemen, the crews restored power by Sept. 9 to all cus-
tomers who could receive it. Entergy Texas worked with the
remaining customers who could not receive power to provide
them with temporary service as the utility made repairs.

12 Techniques for Hardening a System

Entergy Corp. implemented the following hardening tactics to strengthen its system and improve its resiliency against severe storms:
The utility built two new transmission control centers in Little Rock, Arkansas, and Jackson, Mississippi, to centralize and con-
solidate the operation of its bulk electric system. The buildings are constructed to withstand EF5 tornadoes and will better protect the
centers from the impact of natural events and the high risk of damaging storm events near the Gulf of Mexico.
Concrete and steel structures are built exclusively for transmission projects systemwide, both replacement and new construction.
An extreme wind-load criterion of 140 mph is used on new or rebuilt lines in the vital transportation, industrial and urban corridor
south of Interstate 10.
Based on site analysis, Entergy elevated critical transmission substation components, such as control houses, switches and break-
ers, to reduce the risk of flooding.
The utility supports transmission lines on steel or concrete structures for circuits crossing interstate highways. It is in the process of
expanding this standard to include all major hurricane evacuation route crossings.
Selective use of storm guys are used on distribution structures in open marsh areas along the coast. Storm guys are tensioned
cables designed to add stability to the structures.
Only Class 3 (or larger) poles are used for trunk feeder construction on distribution circuits close to the Gulf Coast. Class 3 poles are
rated to withstand 3000 pounds of horizontal load.
Steel or concrete structures are used to support distribution circuits crossing interstate highways. The utility is in the process of
expanding this standard to include all major hurricane evacuation route crossings.
Dangerous trees are targeted outside rights-of-way for removal.
Portable batteries and mobile substation equipment are purchased for quick restoration of power.
Problematic insulators and surge arresters are replaced.
Communications, protection and control have been upgraded for remote readying substations for major storms.

10 T&D World | December 2017

 Concrete? Steel? Or Both?

After the record or near record-breaking hurricanes, foods and fres of 2017, the question isnt if you should
harden your system, its how? If you think the answer is more wood, theres a better way.

Valmont Utility offers transmission and distribution poles that are engineered to withstand natures worst, using
materials that will actually harden your line:
1. SteelIt stands up to cascading, is virtually maintenance-free and lasts much longer than wood.
2. ConcreteFrom record hurricane wind gusts and fooding, to the most corrosive soils, concrete
withstands environmental extremes.
3. HybridProvides you the best of concrete and steel in a single pole.
Storm hardening the grid isnt easy. There isnt one right answer. But over the years, weve found that making a change
in pole materials can be vital to a successful hardening strategy. When youre ready to harden your lines, let us
know. Well show how an investment in the right materials, backed by the right experience, will pay off for you.
Learn more at www.valmontutility.com.

2017 Valmont Industries, Inc. NAU 015 1017

 where he frst started seeing the squalls
impacting the southwestern parts of the
utilitys service territory. When the hur-
ricane began to approach Houston, the
team activated its emergency operating
plan, stationing frst-responder crews
within its service territory to respond to
escalating trouble, mobilizing logistics,
safety and resource management teams,
as well.
Harvey was a moving target for us,
said Scott, who has been with Center-
Point Energy for 18 years. AEP received
the direct hit and impact, and we pre-
dicted it would come through as a weak
hurricane or a tropical storm. Every
plan was based on a snapshot of time
based on what we anticipated with the
impact. We had to be fuid with our de-
cision making; and when we anticipated
escalating impacts, we stood up our
CenterPoint Energy used drones to capture the extent of the flood and infrastructure damage
following Hurricane Harvey. Courtesy of CenterPoint Energy. full-blown emergency operating plan by
mobilizing resources, setting up staging
Harvey was unusual in that it wasnt just hurricane dam- sites and pulling in off-system resources.
age, but it was mainly a historical fooding event, said Kacee Every year, CenterPoint Energy conducts a storm drill and
Kirschvink with Entergy Texas. Harvey made landfall more practices its functional as well as fuid emergency operating
than once, dumping a record amount of rainfall on southeast plan. Within this strategy, the utility builds in different contin-
Texas. The fooding that came as a result was what made Hur- gencies and scenarios into its drill days, so the team can make
ricane Harvey restoration unlike other hurricanes. Our em- decisions for different types of events. Hurricane Harvey, how-
ployees and our customers did an outstanding job of working ever, followed its own plan. It was completely different than
together and making the best of a diffcult situation. anything we have ever seen, Scott said. If you look at 2008
with Hurricane Ike, it came through our territory, and, the
CenterPoint Energy: next day, the sun was out and we could restore service. For this
Gearing Up for a Marathon Restoration storm, we knew that it was going to be a marathon and not a
As Hurricane Harvey started making landfall, CenterPoint sprint, so we prepared ourselves for that.
Energys distribution operations center was ready and waiting. Whenever a storm approaches, CenterPoint Energy tries to
Edward Scott, director of operations for distribution power restore power as quickly and safely as possible, and proactively
delivery at CenterPoint Energy, monitored the storm from respond to the emergency, according to Scott. We get our
the utilitys distribution evaluation center in Houston, Texas, eyes on damage frst, and then we isolate down to restore any
customers that can have service, he said.
CenterPoint Energy mobilized its assessment teams, which
used drones in inaccessible areas to proactively identify what
needed to be restored. Next, the utility was able to isolate
known faults through its advanced distribution management
system and intelligent grid technology. We used drones dur-
ing this event more than we ever have, Scott noted. Due to
the inaccessibility of the structures, they really worked for us.
We also had helicopters fy over the transmission lines to ob-
serve the infrastructure and damage, as well.
Through its investigation, the utility discovered the Memo-
rial substation sustained severe damage as a result of the high
water and fooded control houses. The substation, transmis-
sion and distribution groups came together to work with the
community to set up the mobile substation just outside of a
Afer Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas, CenterPoint Energys
crews responded to damage caused by flooding and tornadoes. church. As a result, they were able to restore power to 9000
Courtesy of CenterPoint Energy. local customers.

12 T&D World | December 2017

 Within the distribution system, poles
and wires were down, and because the
ground was saturated, the crews also
had to wrangle with vegetation manage-
ment issues. Because of the tornadoes
that Hurricane Harvey spawned, over-
head and underground infrastructure
also were impacted, leading to down
wire and toppled H frames.
After the assessment, CenterPoint
Energys internal crews focused on
bringing the key facilities and critical
infrastructure back on-line. Then, after
identifying areas that had multiple lev-
els of damage, the utility arranged logis-
tics and equipment for the mutual aid
crews. Overall, about 1500 mutual assis-
tance crews and contractors from seven
states provided assistance. Shortly afer CenterPoint Energy restored power following Hurricane Harvey, the utility pre-
pared to send line mechanics to Tampa afer Hurricane Irma. Courtesy of CenterPoint Energy.
CenterPoint Energy opened up stag-
ing sites in those areas that sustained signifcant impact and our families with young children, we opened up a daycare in
damage. Before bringing crews to the staging areas, the utility our downtown offces so our employees could do their jobs.
arranged for lodging, shelter and work assignments for the In addition, CenterPoint Energy donated $1.25 million to
crews to maximize productivity. Also, the utility notifed the Hurricane Harvey recovery and relief efforts, and the employ-
off-system crews about safe routes into the staging areas be- ees also donated $125,000 to an employee relief fund, with the
cause of fooded roads. They faced challenges with the high utility matching $200,000. The community was very apprecia-
water and accessibility into a lot of the areas, and, in these tive to CenterPoint Energy for all its hard work and support.
spots, we had to pull in Marsh Masters and airboats to even The Houstonians were very thankful when the crews restored
gain access, Scott said. power, Scott said. They posted signs thanking the linemen,
For CenterPoint Energy, the utility experienced just under and they came together to support one another.
300,000 outages at its peak, but 1.27 million customers were Once the water receded, the utility and the community
impacted throughout the storm. Because many of the linemen started focusing on the rebuilding stage. Day by day, the feld
live in the local community, they had to face a lot of damage crews made progress replacing damaged equipment and re-
to their own personal properties along with restoring power constructing infrastructure. At the tail end of the restoration
to customers. To help those employees personally affected by effort, CenterPoint Energy turned its attention to helping
the storm, CenterPoint Energy offered assistance. Employ- utilities impacted by Hurricane Irma. We knew the need was
ees, neighbors and coworkers reached out and offered assis- shifting east, and we wanted to be there to help others who
tance like shelter and ride-share programs, Scott said. For helped us during Harvey, Scott explained.

CenterPoint Energy crews, with help from Alabama Power, restort to Because tornadoes and squalls slowed down power restoration,
using airboats to inspect the flooded Memorial substation. crews worked 16-hour shifs until all the repairs were complete.
Courtesy of CenterPoint Energy. Courtesy of CenterPoint Energy.

December 2017 | T&D World 13

 FPL: Assembling
a Restoration Workforce
Just as the Texas utilities and coop-
eratives were emerging from the de-
struction of Hurricane Harvey, another
hurricane blasted Florida and Georgia.
With winds gusting up to 140 mph, Hur-
ricane Irma slammed all 35 counties
served by FPL, inficting outages to 90%
of customers, or 4.4 million out of 5 mil-
lion customer accounts.
No county that we serve went un-
scathed, said Bill Orlove, a spokesper-
son for FPL. Much of our service ter-
ritory experienced tropical storm or
hurricane winds, which caused trees,
vegetation and other debris to impact
our power lines, poles and equipment.
FPL processed mutual assistance crews at the Lake City processing site in Lake City, Florida. In response, FPL created the largest
Courtesy of Florida Power & Light. restoration workforce in U.S. history
with more than 27,000 personnel from
30 states. Linemen traveled in bucket
truck convoys from as far north as New
York and west as California to help re-
store power swiftly and safely.
We greatly appreciated the support
we received from around the country
and Canada to help us return our cus-
tomers lives back to normal, Orlove
said. We understand how frustrating
it can be without power, and we did not
stop until everyones lights were back
on. We had an army of workers from all
over the country working throughout
the day and night, in hot weather and
challenging conditions, and they were
dedicated to restoring power on behalf
of our customers.
To coordinate the crews, FPL opened
The largest restoration workforce in U.S. history helped get the lights back on afer Hurricane
Irma. Courtesy of Florida Power & Light.
30 staging sites, which operated like
mini cities where crews could receive
their equipment and work orders and
FPLs Process for Prioritizing Repairs and Restoration
fuel up their vehicles. The staging sites
When a severe storm strikes, Florida Power & Light (FPL) follows an overall plan,
provided all of their food, lodging and
which calls for restoring power to the largest number of customers as safely and quickly
showering facilities, Orlove said. In ad-
as possible. Rather than basing this strategy on where customers live, when they report
dition, FPL staff worked from these sites
an outage or the status of their account, FPL follows this strategy for restoration:
to coordinate the restoration effort at
Repair any damage to power plants and power lines that carry electricity from the
the local or regional level.
plants to the local substations.
FPL focused on frst rebuilding ma-
Restore power to critical facilities, such as hospitals, police and fire stations, com-
jor power lines and restoring power to
munication facilities, water treatment plants, transportation providers and shelters.
critical infrastructure. Next, the crews
Return service to the largest number of customers in the shortest amount of time,
began transitioning to tackle the small-
including service to major thoroughfares that host supermarkets, pharmacies, gas
er groups of outages in thousands of
stations and other needed community services.
neighborhoods across the state of Flor-
Repair the infrastructure serving smaller groups and neighborhoods, converging
ida. Crews found widespread damage
on the hardest-hit areas until every customers power is restored.
in the hardest-hit communities, includ-

14 T&D World | December 2017

EMERGENCY
RESTORATION
As North Americas largest
contractor, Quanta Services
mobilized several thousand crews
for Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.

THE QUANTA FAMILY OF COMPANIES

Allteck Line Contractors Brink Constructors, Inc. Can-Fer Utility Services
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J.W. Didado Electric M. J. Electric, LLC North Houston Pole Line

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Quanta Utility Engineering Services Service Electric Company Summit Line Construction

Sumter Utilities Valard Construction

713.629.7600
www.QuantaServices.com
ing whole trees pulling down power
lines and dense vegetation blocking
roadways, which initially delayed
crews from getting in to make the
necessary repairs, Orlove noted.
Once the crews in the feld com-
pleted a particular job, FPLs staff at
the staging site communicated with
the 4.9 million smart meters for busi-
ness and residential customers to
ensure the customers had power and
the repairs were complete.
Before Hurricane Irma even
made landfall, FPL made signifcant
investments in hardening its systems.
Over the last 11 years, FPL saw its in-
vestments in the grid pay off during Duke Energy Floridas crews and contractors replaced more than 1100 transformers, 3000 power
Hurricane Irma by reducing the res- poles and 1000 miles of wire following Hurricane Irma. Courtesy of Duke Energy.
toration time. The majority of the unexpected and extensive Duke Energy Florida, which had more than 1.3 million peak
damage was caused by fooding as well as toppled trees, which customer outages. This was a historic storm with widespread
took down power lines, poles and equipment. About 90% of damage, said Peeveta Persaud, a spokesperson for Duke
the transmission structures, which were made of concrete or Energy. All 35 of the counties Duke Energy Florida serves
steel, held up during the storm, and the main hardened power were affected.
lines did not fail due to high winds, Orlove said. Since the last group of hurricanes came through Florida
in 2004 and 2005, Duke Energy Florida spent more than
Duke Energy Florida: Hardening Its System $2.4 billion to harden its electrical system. For example, the
Linemen not only came to the assistance of FPL but also utility employed smart technology to self-heal or redirect pow-
er to restore customer outages, detect and correct trouble on a
Lending a Helping Hand: power line, and isolate and reroute electricity. Also, Duke En-
Duke Energy Donates to Relief Eforts ergy Florida replaced wood poles with concrete or steel poles
and implemented grid automation and smart grid devices to
Hurricane Irma inflicted widespread outages and damage to
improve service reliability year-round.
Duke Energy Floridas service territory. To help the local commu-
Even so, Hurricane Irma inficted signifcant damage
nity and its own employees, the utility provided assistance. Here
across Duke Energy Floridas entire distribution system. Line-
are some ways the utility aided in the recovery efort:
men had to repair or restring 1000 miles of wire, replace 3000
The Duke Energy Foundation contributed $1 million to
poles and replace 1100 transformers. In addition, the utility
Hurricane Irma relief eforts, including $350,000 to local com-
experienced signifcant damage to the backbone of its electri-
munity agencies; $250,000 to the Volunteer Florida Foundation;
cal system the transmission system, which sustained dam-
$250,000 to 14 United Way agencies; and $150,000 to Duke
age to 124 lines and 74 substations.
Energys Energy Neighbor Fund to assist eligible Duke Energy
Duke Energy Florida began preparing for Hurricane Irma
Florida customers with their home energy bill in times of crisis.
on Sept. 5, and the storm targeted its service territory on Sun-
The Duke Energy Foundation matched employee dona-
day, Sept. 10, and Monday, Sept. 11. Restoration began on
tions to hurricane relief eforts, resulting in a match of more
Sept. 12.
than $108,000 for Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, for a total dona-
Following the storm, Duke Energy Florida manually sur-
tion of $216,000.
veyed the damage by foot patrol and in vehicles riding out
When Duke Energy Florida experienced 1.28 million peak
lines. In addition, the utility relied on helicopters and drones
outages on Sept. 11, many of its Florida employees who sup-
to assist in Hurricane Irma response efforts, which provided a
ported restoration dealt with their own outages, evacuated
further opportunity to examine the extent of damage.
family members and home damage. Duke Energy initiated an
Restoration work was very labor intensive, often requir-
assistance program for impacted employees as part of its Relief-
ing vegetation clearing, accessing areas on foot and climbing
4Employees program.
poles where bucket trucks could not go, Persaud said.
Grants were available for eligible evacuation assistance,
After conducting a comprehensive damage assessment
including lodging, food, clothing or personal items, and travel-
across the service area, Duke Energy Florida deployed work-
related evacuation costs.
ers, equipment and other resources to certain areas to begin
Human resource employees were available to impacted
the complex job of power restoration. First, the utility focused
employees 24/7 for the duration of the event.
on restoring power to critical infrastructure such as emergen-

16 T&D World | December 2017

Linemen help Duke Energy Florida and FPL
get the lights back on afer Hurricane Irma
afected 1.3 million customers in Florida.
Courtesy of Duke Energy and Florida Power & Light.
cy centers, fre stations, hospitals, and
other public safety and health facilities.
At the same time, the linemen repaired
major transmission lines, damaged sub-
stations and other large-scale equipment to restore power to
the largest number of customers as quickly as possible. After
making these large repairs, the feld workforce focused on re-
storing power to small areas and individual customers.
Duke Energy had more than 12,000 line technicians, dam-
age assessors, vegetation management and support staff in
Florida to assist with all aspects of restoration, removing tree
debris from lines, resetting poles and restringing wire. Duke
Energys crews worked out of 15 staging locations through-
out its service area. Before the hurricane even hit, the utility
worked with community partners to pre-identify staging loca-
tions for these crews and then, based on the local impact, de-
termined which locations to activate.
During the restoration, all Duke Energy employees and
contract workers worked in accordance with standard work
practices and contractual requirements such as required rest
periods. The majority of our crews worked from 5 a.m. to
9 p.m. to take advantage of the daylight hours when they could
be the most productive and safe, Persaud said. We also had
crews that worked through the night on critical infrastructure
repairs and emergency situations. At night, support personnel
refueled vehicles and restocked materials and supplies after
our crews completed their 16-hour day so they were ready for
the next shift.
To keep the crews safe during restoration, Duke Energy
crews and contractors conducted pre-job safety briefngs prior
to beginning work. This enabled them to identify potential
hazards at their work location, including traffc, trees, vege-
tation and weather impacts. In the safety briefng, they also
identifed ways to mitigate the hazards, including hydration
guidelines and establishing safe work zones.
As part of the storm planning, Duke Energy actively pre-
pared for the logistical needs of its workers in advance by co-
ordinating food, water and lodging for crews and contractors
throughout the restoration process. In addition, the utility
managed the day-to-day restoration work through constant
communication between the crews in the feld and the local
Duke Energy operations centers.
By Sept. 20, Duke Energy had restored electricity to all 1.3
million customers impacted by Hurricane Irma in Florida.
Crews continued working until all remaining isolated outages
were restored. Crews continued repair work on isolated and
scattered power outages or cases where a meter or other cus-
tomer equipment was damaged, and required repair and in-
spection, Persaud said. In many of the companys hardest-hit
areas, repairs included rebuilding the electrical system as a
result of signifcant damage.
Through the tireless work of the utilities own linemen as
well as mutual assistance crews and contractors, the utilities
in Texas, Georgia and Florida were able to emerge from the
storms stronger, more resilient and ready for the next storm
on the horizon.
December 2017 | T&D World 17
 Line Contractors Unite
to Restore and Rebuild
Afer high winds and heavy rain in Texas
and Florida, contract linemen swifly came
to the rescue of impacted utilities.
By Amy Fischbach, Field Editor

L
ine contractors stand by, ready and willing to help With so many Quanta Services crews on the ground in Tex-
when emergency strikes. So when two hurricanes as, Shea drove from Tennessee to the western side of Hous-
packed a one-two knockout punch to Texas and Flori- ton, Texas, to witness the devastation personally. He arrived
da, line contractors swiftly mobilized their line crews. at about midnight and the next morning, as the sun rose over
Many traveled from across the U.S. and all had to overcome
obstacles to help restore power and rebuild the Texas and
Florida electric power grids.

Coming Together
Quanta Services mobilized 1500 line workers for Hur-
ricane Harvey and sent 3100 to Florida following Hurricane
Irma. Even though Quanta is structured as different operat-
ing units and compete against each other, when there is an
event like this, the power of one goes into effect, said Jody
Shea, senior vice president for Quanta Services. We coordi-
nate the movement of resources and the support through a Sumter Utilities crews traveled to Texas to get the lights back on for
single chain of command. those residents afected by Hurricane Harvey. Courtesy of Quanta Services.

Linemen from Irby Construction stand in knee-deep water to help restore power on the southeast Texas coast. Courtesy of Quanta Services.

18 T&D World | December 2017

the hurricane-stricken city of Rockport, Texas, he found the
damage to be similar to that of Hurricane Katrina.
Katrina more or less hit a very compact area, but with
Harvey, it was so spread out, Shea observed. I drove for two
hours and continued to see power lines lying on the ground.
Just when I thought that we were close to being done with the
restoration, I would see houses that were destroyed and areas
that were completely devastated. The impacts from the food-
ing will affect Texas for quite a long time.
Great Southwestern Construction Inc. crews were on the
road the day after AEP Texas called on MYR Group for as-
sistance, according to Mark Hammons, regional manager for
Great Southwestern in Tahlequah, Oklahoma.
While Hurricane Harvey was typical to other hurricanes of
similar magnitude, this time around the restoration hit a per-
sonal chord with some of the linemen. Some of our employ-
ees live in the area where the hurricane made landfall, Ham-
mons said. One foremans house was completely destroyed. Matt Compher, Quanta vice president of safety, health and environ-
mental, views the damage in south Texas. Courtesy of Quanta Services.
Another MYR Group subsidiary, The L.E. Myers Co., also
felt the impacts of the hurricane with fooded roads to its go, Stupec said. We keep one to two tool kits ready for just
offces and food damage to employees homes. Even though these situations in our tool room. They include everything the
these employees lost power to their houses, they continued crew will need to start work.
doing storm work, said Aaron Stupec, district manager for Great Southwestern line crews stocked their work trucks
L.E. Myers in Pasadena, Texas. with the proper gear. Armed with hoists, grips, slings, wire cut-
ters, press heads, hand lines and other hand tools, 63 Great
Hitting the Open Road Southwestern linemen traveled in a convoy down the highway.
Other MYR Group subsidiaries E.S. Boulos, Sturgeon Once they arrived on-site, they split ways to travel to the vari-
Electric Co. Inc. and Harlan Electric Co. provided assis- ous restoration zones.
tance following Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Harlan Electric Sturgeon Electrics crews each traveled on their own, and
sent about 20 crew members to Georgia to work with Southern then they met up at night, which was safer for everyone in-
Company and another 50 to Florida to assist Florida Power & volved, according to Tom Barclay, senior operations manager
Light (FPL). for Sturgeon Electric in Topeka, Kansas. Its typically a safety
After Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas, Westar
Energy released its Sturgeon Electric crews through its mutual
assistance program. The general foremen selected the restora-
tion team based on who volunteered frst as well as who had
distribution equipment available.
On Monday, Aug. 28, the Sturgeon Electric crews hit the
road. Around the same time, CenterPoint Energy and Texas
New Mexico Power called on L.E. Myers, which then deployed
33 workmen to provide mutual assistance.
Before driving south, the contractors equipped their feld
crews with the materials and equipment necessary for the res-
toration. In addition to preloading Sturgeon Electrics trucks
with distribution tools, the contractor also packed up head-
lamps, rainsuits, drinking water, sqwinchers, bug spray, sun-
screen and other standard personal protective equipment.
L.E. Myers ensured its distribution crews had their usual
kitting and doubled up on all the secondary connections. In
addition, the contractor prepared its chain saws with backup
chains and oil, and the linemen stocked suffcient wire for
both primary and secondary along with plenty of cover, load
breaker tools and isolators. To get power on for as many cus-
tomers as possible, L.E. Myers tries to keep it simple and be as
prepared as possible, according to Stupec. A line worker for Sturgeon Electric climbs a pole wrapped with vines
Some of our crews already were tooled up and ready to to make repairs following Hurricane Harvey. Courtesy of MYR Group.

December 2017 | T&D World 19


E.S. Boulos, an MYR Group subsidiary, sent line crews to hurricane-
stricken Florida. Courtesy of MYR Group.
hazard to convoy with all the trucks, so we mitigate by con-
voying in smaller groups, Barclay said. Also, larger groups
are harder to accommodate in restaurants, in traffc and in
hotels.
In the case of L.E. Myers, all the crews were local to the
Houston area, so they traveled separately as they were working
in separate locations. Before the crews started work, the gen-
eral foremen looked for a safe route to the project location.
Because of the heavy fooding, this was sometimes the most
demanding task.
Sometimes we had to wait for daylight in order to fnd a
safe route, Stupec said. Roads were totally underwater, and
in some cases, you couldnt tell where
the road was.
The devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey
created dificult working conditions for crews.
Non-accessible work in easements required
use of mini derricks to set poles.
Courtesy of Great Southwestern Construction.
20 T&D World | December 2017
Quanta Services crews also faced similar access challenges
because of fooded roads, said Shea, a former journeyman
lineman and owner of Service Electric. I-10 was closed, and
our linemen couldnt get to where they had to report to, Shea
recalled. For two or three days, crews were trapped in the
fooded areas. By the time they knew they had to turn around,
there was water behind them. They were stranded on islands
in little towns east of Houston.
Overcoming Obstacles
When the L.E. Myers crews arrived at the restoration zone,
they described the atmosphere as wet and quiet, with a lot of
fooding. No streetlights were on and, when the wind calmed
down, sometimes you could hear the faint sound of a genera-
tor running, Stupec said.
Within the storm-stricken zone, the linemen came across
downed trees, poles and conductor, a signifcant amount of
debris, blown transformers, and fooded houses and cars.
Weve seen similar damage on other storm restoration
efforts, but we have never encountered anywhere near the
same amount of standing water, Stupec said.
Following Hurricane Harvey, the heavy rain provided the
most signifcant challenges during the restoration, according
to Sturgeon Electric. Wind damage is typically the bigger de-
structive force, but fooding was the bigger problem on this
storm, Barclay said. It was hard to be productive with the
storm surge water still in place, but we pushed through to help
as much as we could.
In addition, the crews faced an unexpected challenge
droves of mosquitos, which came as an unpleasant surprise
to the linemen. To keep them protected while working in and
near the foodwater, Great Southwestern provided the line
crews with muck boots and safety nets.
For Quanta Services, the burgeoning mosquito population
was the No. 1 topic for all the workers in Texas. They tried
some netting around their hardhats and their faces, and they
used various types of bug spray, Shea noted. Some were us-

Near Rockport, Texas, which was hit by Hurricane Harvey, crews use a
specialized track machine to access work sites. Courtesy of Quanta Services.
ing dryer sheets. They rubbed them on their hardhats and
fame-retardant shirts, and that seemed to work a little bit.
Overall, however, it was pretty rough with the mosquitos.
In addition, the linemen also had to be careful when wad-
ing through the water because a lot of the local wildlife was
disturbed, especially in Florida. There were sightings of an
alligator or two as well as several snakes, Shea said. Obvi-
ously, all those things were disturbed with the foodwater.
Beyond watching out for wildlife, feld crews also had to
be aware of possible backfeeds into the distribution system.
As residents returned home and switched on their generators,
they could unknowingly cause a backfeed, putting linemen at
risk. To protect its feld workforce, Quanta Services provided
all linemen with personal voltage detectors.
If they had it on their person, and they were walking
through backyards or lots and got close to something ener-
gized, it sounds an alarm, Shea said. Since there were so
many contractors working on this storm, AEP also required
the linemen to wear rubber gloves and rubber sleeves, and we
also had a lot of grounds in the air.
Accessing Work Locations
Crews also confronted the challenge of accessing their work
locations. After the hurricanes made landfall, Quanta Ser-
vices crews used airboats and specialized tracked equipment.
For example, one of the operating units provided a Wilco, a
large piece of equipment that can navigate through the water.
Within a few days, the water receded south of Houston but
north of the city. We provided amphibious machines, which
have tracks and propellers, Shea said. They can go into the
mud and swamp, and when the water gets deep enough, they
can serve as a boat and carry six to eight linemen and their
tools to the work site.
For Sturgeon Electric, the linemen rented small boats and
canoes to cross the storm water. In areas with low water levels,
the linemen wore rubber boots. Its a huge safety hazard to
wade through any kind of storm water, but some guys do it
when there are no other good options, Stupec explained.
To provide an extra level of safety, L.E. Myers assigned one
of its employees to walk ahead of the equipment and crews
with waders on to inspect the depth of water and access to the
work location. If it was too deep or access was an issue, the lo-
cation would be worked after the water receded, Stupec said.
Arranging Logistics
Quanta Services crews were scattered across the restoration
zone in Texas. For example, after Hurricane Harvey obliterat-
ed a local airport, thousands of linemen used the runway as a
staging area. In the beginning of the restoration, the linemen
slept in their trucks and trailers, but as power was restored,
they were able to move to hotels.
When the Great Southwestern crews arrived on-site, the
atmosphere as chaotic, which Hammons says is typical for the
frst day of storm restoration work. With so many crews com-
ing in at one time, it takes time to get everything lined out as
far as materials, logistics and lodging.
Initially, the crews stayed in trailers with makeshift cots
and bathrooms, but eventually, they were put up in hotels.
AEP Texas provided meals for the crews, but after power was
restored, Great Southwestern began taking care of meals for
its own linemen, who worked long hours to get the power
restored.
Sturgeon Electric worked from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., and dur-
ing 16-hour workdays, the linemen fought mosquitos the en-
tire time. More than 16 hours a day were not authorized, or
we would have worked them, Barclay said.
Meanwhile, CenterPoint Energy provided hotel rooms and
arranged meals for the Sturgeon Electric crews. The meals,
which were arranged by CenterPoint in a tent, were very good,
which is unusual for storm work, Barclay said.
Restoring and Rebuilding
During the restoration, the Great Southwestern linemen
focused on repairing distribution lines by replacing poles and
repairing down wire. In addition, the crews also demolished
24 miles of 345-kV line that had been destroyed completely.
L.E. Myers crews focused on overhead and underground
residential distribution, which included secondary. In many
cases, the trees fell on top of backyard power lines, snapping
the pole or damaging the wire.
We spent a lot of time accessing and getting into peoples
backyards with the help of tree trimmers, and we had to re-
place a lot of snapped poles and wire, Stupec said. We typi-
cally worked 16-hour days, including weekends. No shift work
was conducted due to safety concerns.
During the restoration, Quanta Services crews focused pri-
December 2017 | T&D World 21

A line worker from Sturgeon Electric performs repairs on a distribu-
tion transformer impacted by Hurricane Irma. Courtesy of MYR Group.
marily on rebuilding. In some areas, they would set a new pole,
remove wire from the trees, splice it back together and make
it operable. The damage, however, was extremely widespread,
Shea noted.
Not only the fooding but the winds destroyed the poles
and wires, and when they started coming down and made
phase-to-ground, the transformers started blowing up, Shea
stated. In the areas where the substations and transmission
lines were totally destroyed, it was more of a rebuilding effort.
Some Quanta Services operating units focused on building
the feeder distribution lines out of the substation and work-
ing with AEP to install a portable substation to get the cities
back up and running. The substation was in the middle of
nowhere, and 5 miles of transmission lines were just lying on
the ground, Shea recalled.
In other areas, linemen had to serve as detectives just to
fnd the existing power line. They knew there was a line in
a particular spot because they could see some of the stubs of
the broken off poles, Shea said. When they couldnt fnd the
tops of the poles or the wire, they sometimes found it a mile
away. They had to survey some lines from scratch and rebuild
them.
Focusing on Safety
As with any storm restoration project, safety was a top con-
cern for the contractor crews and host utilities. For example,
22 T&D World | December 2017
each of the operating units for Quanta Services had its own
safety team. The safety professionals were not only available
on-site, but they also worked with the feld workforce to ad-
dress any of their needs. In addition, Quanta Services coordi-
nated a safety conference call in which lessons learned were
reviewed as well as ways to support the feld workforce efforts.
Quanta Services was committed to keeping its linemen safe
during the restoration efforts in both Texas and Florida. The
linemen go out there, and they want to do whatever it takes to
help people, Shea said. Once the call comes and we start de-
ploying our workers, its like being a parent with kids out late
at night. You dont know when they are going to come home,
so you worry about them. They often work in terrible condi-
tions, so we put a lot of effort into making sure that 3100 went
to Florida and 3100 came back home.
According to Hammons, when Great Southwestern crews
go out on storm work, their mindset quickly changes. It brings
the team together, and the guys raise their levels of awareness
to make sure they are looking out for one another, Hammons
explained. The crews get very focused on getting the publics
power restored as quickly and safely as we possibly can.
Coordinating Crews
Shortly after Hurricane Harvey hit Texas, Hurricane Irma
was right on its heels. As such, many contractors, which had
linemen on the ground in Texas, had to shift resources to
Florida. For example, Asplundh Tree Expert Co. LLC and its
utility infrastructure subsidiaries mobilized more than 4700
employees to Florida two weeks after sending 400 employees
to Texas. The workers focused on helping 22 utilities and mu-
nicipalities to restore power.
In addition to the tree trimming crews, Asplundh also sent
about 1000 employees from its infrastructure subsidiaries
Asplundh Construction, Utility Lines Construction Services,
Musgrove Construction, American Lighting and Signaliza-
tion, Grid One Solutions and American Electrical Testing.
The crews, which stem from as far away as the upper Midwest
and Massachusetts, assisted with assessing damage and re-
building infrastructure.
Other contracting companies, including Quanta Services,
had to handle the migration of crews from Texas to Florida.
The company assigned a single storm contact, Brian Standish,
who worked hand in hand with all the operating units to iden-
tify the availability of their workforce, where they were located
and what kinds of equipment they had on hand.
Once the contractor crews were released from Texas,
Quanta Services mobilized many of these crews to Florida
to assist the impacted utilities following Hurricane Irma. In
Texas, the crews worked primarily for CenterPoint Energy, En-
tergy, AEP Texas, Texas New Mexico Power, Lower Colorado
River Authority and several cooperatives. When Hurricane
Irma hit, Quanta deployed its largest amount of resources on a
storm to work for Duke Energy, FPL, Georgia Power, Georgia
Transmission and local cooperatives.
Our Florida customers were calling and wanting to know
when we would be released from Texas, Shea said. At that
 Utility and Line Contractor Crews Work Side by Side to Restore Power
When Hurricane Irma slammed Florida shortly afer Hurricane Harvey flooded
Texas, line contractors and electric utilities deployed their available linemen to
the storm-stricken areas. Through the Southeastern Electric Exchange, workers
from 90 utilities from 25 states and Canada came to Florida to provide assistance
to Duke Energy Florida.
For example, Kansas City Power & Light (KCP&L) and its transmission contrac-
tor came to the aid of both Florida Power & Light and Duke Energy Florida. As
part of the Midwest Mutual Assistance Group, KCP&L already had released 189
distribution contractor personnel and five transmission contractor personnel to
Houston following Hurricane Harvey. As Hurricane Irma approached Florida, the
utility deployed all of its line contractors, and 37 KCP&L linemen, 14 KCP&L sup-
port personnel and 150 tree contractors for the expected two-week restoration.
The first wave of resources departed Kansas City for Orlando, Florida, on Sept.
9. When they arrived, they were assigned to Punta Gorda, Florida, north of Fort
Myers, Florida. Then, on Sept. 13, KCP&L sent a second wave of nearly 40 more
distribution linemen and support personnel as well as 26 full-time tree contractors
to St. Augustine, Florida.
When the KCP&L contractors and linemen arrived on-site, they were ready
to get to work on the restoration. Because they were accustomed to restoring
power following ice storms in Kansas, they had to deal with an entirely new set of
challenges in Florida. Of course, we are accustomed to snow, wind, rain, flooding
and ice, said Jeremy McNeive, manager of media communications for KCP&L.
We were very aware of our surroundings as FPL and Duke talked about alligators,
water moccasins and bugs.Staying hydrated has been a focus with plenty of fluid
and breaks to cool down. Workers have to watch out for heat stress and have done
a great job of staying hydrated.
The linemen focused on safety throughout the entire restoration process by
organizing tailgate meetings every morning and also on each job site before beginning restoration
eforts. Linemen must be aware of their surroundings, wear V-watches and always work as a team,
McNeive said. There should never be an individual of by himself or herself.
During the restoration efort, KCP&L focused on rebuilding entire distribution lines, installing
primary and secondary wire, and replacing poles. One challenge they consistently faced during the
restoration was the amount of vegetation. As such, the linemen worked closely with the vegetation
contractors to get vegetation out of the way to restore power.
As all crews worked throughout the weekend, they continued to be in good spirits and very
productive, restoring power to thousands of customers despite dificult conditions, McNeive said.
There are still several large outages, and restoration has been dificult due to limited access to poles, many of which are located on back
property lines in low-lying areas.

point, some companies were just getting started on the resto-
ration from Harvey. When Irma hit, they released some of our
resources, who often went home for a day and then directly to
Florida to help.
Compounding the challenge, Hurricane Maria blacked
out Puerto Rico and inficted widespread outages on the
Virgin Islands. In turn, Quanta Services mobilized one of its
operating units to Turks and Caicos, and considered sending
crews to Puerto Rico and the impacted islands.
Gaining Appreciation
Throughout the hurricane restoration effort, the line con-
tractors worked long hours and endured challenging condi-
tions to restore power. In response to their hard work, the lo-
cal communities were supportive and appreciative, Hammons
said. For example, the linemen received a lot of special thanks,
and the public frequently stopped by to give the crews food or
offer their appreciation. This does a lot for the guys morale,
and its really what keeps the guys going in such diffcult work-
ing conditions, Hammons said.
Shea agreed. When there is total devastation, people step
up and the community comes together to help, he said. Even
though the people didnt have any power, they had their grills
out and they were cooking meals to feed the linemen.
Hammons was proud to be part of the restoration and
thanked AEP for calling on his company to provide assistance.
We have a very dedicated workforce, and our employees are
the most important part of our company, Hammons said.
We appreciate their willingness to go work day and night to
get the power back on as quickly as possible.

December 2017 | T&D World 23

 Restoration Begins
with Support
Manufacturers and suppliers keep
materials flowing for an army of responders.
By Gene Wolf, Technical Writer

T
he 2017 hurricane season will probably go down in
history as one of the most destructive and expensive
hurricane seasons in history. In addition, it will go
down as one of the biggest restoration efforts per-
formed by the electric power delivery industry in history. Pow-
er grids along the Gulf Coast and the East Coast of the U.S.
were hard hit by winds, rain and fooding. In the Caribbean,
it was worse as the infrastructure on several islands was de-
stroyed and the power grids were completely wiped out.
Estimates for restoring electric power have reached night-
mare proportions throughout the devastated areas. It is esti-
mated rebuilding will take months, if not years.
On the mainland, convoys from utilities around North
America hit the highway after loading up all the supplies
heavy-duty utility vehicles could carry. In the Caribbean, air-
lifts and shiploads of material began moving, and the slow
process of rebuilding started.
The condition of the storm-damaged areas was assessed
and resources were sent to the region. Work on the region
damaged by Hurricane Harvey is fully under way, and the
Hurricane Irma rebuild is moving forward. Hurricane Maria
restoration is proceeding slowly. At the height of the restora-
tion effort, more than 60,000 workers from more than 250 in-
vestor-owned electric utilities and electric cooperatives assem-
bled to help. These workers included line crews, engineers,
technicians, tree trimmers and other support personnel.
Front Line
Electric utilities in regions hard hit by the hurricanes
activated their mutual assistance network, but boots on the

Utility personnel gathered in staging areas

for safety briefings, work assignments and
to restock their trucks for the days work.
Courtesy of AEP Texas.

24 T&D World | December 2017

Factory workers put in long hours and gave up time of to keep materials flowing to the storm-relief efort. Courtesy of Hastings.
ground require tremendous logistical support. Keeping these
frontline troops supplied with the necessary hardware and
equipment requires a huge effort on the part of manufactur-
ers, vendors and suppliers. These companies make up the
supply chain the electric utility industry depends on for day-
to-day support, but the supply chain shifts to a more intense
structure when disaster strikes. They understand restoration
efforts require equipment and materials be delivered to stag-
ing areas daily. It is a nonstop effort to keep the crews well
stocked and not waiting on parts.
To keep the work fowing, manufacturers and vendors
stepped up their efforts in getting supplies to the front line.
Without crossarms, poles, transformers, fuse links, splices,
insulators, conductor, connectors and the thousands of other
items essential to supplying power to customers, the restora-
tion process would be impossible. The 60,000-plus utility per-
sonnel working in the feld were the tip of the iceberg. They
were supported by a huge network of people producing, pack-
aging, shipping and delivering all the nuts and bolts needed
to rebuild the damaged grid.
Speed of response is everything after a storm hits the grid,
according to Eatons Cooper Power Systems LLC. This is the
reason why Cooper monitors every hurricane and tracks out-
ages in the hurricane-devastated areas. This monitoring is
critical to the companys storm boss, who gives hourly reports
to all response teams. Storm alerts are rated yellow, orange
or red, and are updated continuously. Using this information,
the teams quickly ramp up operations for restoration materi-
als used during storm recovery. This information is essential
for the teams to expedite production and shipping for the re-
sources required for immediate storm restoration efforts.
Ramping Up Support
Border States Electric (BSE) has been working with manu-
facturers to keep supply disruptions to a minimum for short-
term power restoration and long-term rebuilding efforts. BSE
maintains a $2 million storm inventory that includes cross-
arms, poles and insulators. According to the supply chain so-
lutions company, GE reported one of its circuit breaker plants
in Puerto Rico was impacted by Hurricane Maria. BSE also
noted Okonite added capacity in 2017 that would help with
the demand for medium-voltage cable needed in the rebuild
effort. In addition, the company monitored other distribution
equipment suppliers to stay on top of the resupply effort.
A DIS-TRAN packaged substations team monitored the
storms, utilities and sub-suppliers across the country to sup-
port the restoration effort in storm-ravaged regions. The com-
panys goal was to keep projects moving forward and ensure
there were no logistical headaches to their customers.
Utilities use a great deal of material to get their systems
operational after being damaged by a storm. Mike Edmonds,
president of S&C Electric Co.s U.S. business unit, said, S&C
has a long history of working hand in hand with our customers
during major weather events. Before the hurricanes reached
land, S&C began ramping up production for such essentials
as fuse links, padmounted switches and switchgear. We have
prioritized the delivery of this equipment.
Factory personnel are working 24/7 to produce all the es-
sential equipment needed to get the grid affected by the hur-
ricanes back in full operation, Edmonds added. At the same
time, commercial teams organized, scheduled and prioritized
the delivery of the equipment to support the utilities needs
effciently.
In the frst few weeks of restoration, S&C had produced
95,000 fuse links, 35 units of pad-mounted switchgear and
15 motor operators to assist impacted utilities. S&C made a
$55,000 contribution to the American Red Cross to aid in the
overall relief effort, Edmunds said.
High winds and falling trees took a toll on overhead distri-
bution lines and their supporting structures. Many suppliers
such as Hughes Brothers Inc., Falcon Steel America, Valmont
Industries Inc., DIS-TRAN, Laminated Wood Systems Inc.,
Trinity Meyer Utility Structures LLC, Sabre-FWT, Eaton and
others met the challenge of the rebuilding effort.
Siemens Corp. mobilized its sales and consulting engi-
neers, service technicians and service departments in the
hurricane-damaged areas. These groups were on-site to pro-
vide support in assessing electrical systems. The company also
helped utilities to establish effcient recovery plans, where
needed. According to Siemens, all of its production plants
across the country had dedicated capacity to respond to hur-
ricane restoration projects. Siemens used local distribution by
stocking its warehouses to full capacity with the necessary dis-
tribution equipment.
December 2017 | T&D World 25

Crews work to restore power in the Corpus Christi and Port Aransas
area of Texas with the material provided by Utility One Source manu-
facturers, vendors and suppliers. Courtesy of Utility One Source.
Likewise, GEs emergency-response teams supported util-
ity customers impacted by the hurricanes. In addition to pro-
viding T&D equipment, GEs feld service engineers helped
utilities to evaluate and repair hurricane-damaged electrical
equipment. The company also contributed $500,000 to the
American Red Cross and pledged to match the donations its
employees made to disaster-relief organizations.
More Than Material
There were several cases where the hurricanes impacted
those supporting the restoration effort, too. The Doble En-
gineering Co.s Houston, Texas, laboratory was temporarily
closed because of Hurricane Harvey and the damage it infict-
ed on the region. Doble notifed customers its employees were
safe and the lab would be reopened as soon as possible. The
company asked customers to use its other labs. Each lab is part
of the Doble network and had access to all customer records
because of the computer systems data-sharing abilities. Until
the Houston operation was reopened, Dobles other labs were
available to close ranks and support customers rebuilding
efforts to restore power.
It also was personal for ABB. The company has factories
and other facilities in the storm-damaged regions, and many
of its employees and their families needed support. ABB
helped employees and affected communities in Florida, Texas
and Louisiana by partnering with the American Red Cross to
ensure swift emergency aid for the victims of Irma and Har-
vey. ABB is matching employees donations dollar for dollar.
In addition, ABB mobilized service teams from all over the
U.S. as well as Canada, Mexico and other countries to help our
customers return to operations as quickly and as safely as pos-
sible, said Greg Scheu, president of ABB Americas.
Scheu also noted ABB factories had ramped up supplemen-
tal inventories and teams of service experts. In addition, the
company manned a disaster customer service center to assist
its utility and industrial customers with damage assessment as
well as to coordinate the correct response.
26 T&D World | December 2017
When thinking about storm restoration support from man-
ufacturers, the typical response is supplying equipment and
materials quickly, but Falcon Steel went beyond the typical
concept. The company has a 226,000-sq-foot lattice manufac-
turing and galvanizing facility in Conroe, Texas. It had been
spared by Harvey and the fooding. The company reached
out to authorities with a different type of offer. Falcon Steel
allowed the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, FEMA,
American Red Cross, U.S. Coast Guard, Montgomery County
and City of Conroe emergency management offcials to use
the facility in whatever manner they felt would beneft the
community best.
Within 36 hours, our phones were burning up with calls
for requests to utilize the facility, said James Taylor, presi-
dent and CEO of Falcon Steel. Within fve hours from the
frst request, our Falcon Steel America Conroe warehouse had
opened and become a critical and major location for Mont-
gomery County donations coming in from across the country.
Tens of thousands of donations were being received, sorted
and housed on a daily basis to be distributed to shelters for
food evacuees and others who endured damage during this
historic storm.
Falcon Steel America was also asked if [the company]
could house frst responders coming in from across the coun-
try to participate in the search and rescue efforts, Taylor said.
We stocked our breakroom shelves and refrigerators, and
purchased additional coffee pots that day, and then opened
our front-offce building space to allow these dedicated men
and women to have a place to rest, wash up, relax, eat and
sleep before their shift would start all over again.
The Personal Touch
Restoration after storms also requires a great deal of con-
ductor and cable to rebuild distribution circuits and trans-
mission lines. This is an area where Southwire has a lot of
experience. Southwire keeps an inventory of wire and cable
for storm recovery in its factories to be ready when disasters
occur. Southwires storm specialists monitored hurricanes
Harvey, Irma and Maria and worked closely with the utilities
in the path of the storms. Once it was determined where the
storms would hit land, Southwire prioritized production space
and began producing wire and cable for the restoration effort.
Not only were Southwire employees busy keeping four fac-
tories running 24/7, producing wire and cable to fulfll storm-
related orders, they also found time to take part in Project
GIFT. According to Southwire, Project GIFT began as an out-
let to serve those suffering in the wake of disaster, and we con-
tinue to focus our efforts in that same spirit of giving back.
Southwire gathered emergency supplies bottled water,
paper goods, cleaning supplies, nonperishable food, baby
items, pet supplies, personal hygiene products, ice chests and
other items for victims of Harvey and Irma. As a result, the
company flled more than 22 semi-trucks for its Project Gift.
Utility One Sources support for the restoration efforts
took a personal turn. The company planned to exhibit at the
ICUEE expo on Oct. 3-5 in Louisville, Kentucky. When the
hurricanes hit, Utility One Source re-
ceived many requests for equipment to
support the restoration effort. The com-
pany opted to send several units sched-
uled to be at ICUEE to those who need-
ed the equipment for restoration efforts.
Utility One Source also sent supplies,
cases of water and food to its Houston
company, Custom Truck & Equipment,
for the staff to distribute. In addition to
supplies, the company sent three boats
and four amphibious vehicles to help aid
in the relief efforts.
Many requests for help are real emer-
gencies and time is limited. During the
restoration effort, Hastings Hot Line Hubbell employees pack snacks and other items for care packages to send to workers in the
storm zone. Courtesy of Hubbell.
Tools & Equipment in Hastings, Michi-
gan, received an emergency order from a Texas distributor at employees volunteered to work overtime on the weekends to
11:30 a.m. The distributor needed four sets of custom-made ramp up production rates. In addition, more than 100 employ-
grounds and a live-line tester shotgun stick to install the ees changed their Labor Day weekend plans to go into work to
grounds, and the order had to be completed and shipped to help get the lights back on in the stricken areas.
Texas by 1 p.m. for arrival that same day. Initially, SEL shipped 525 products to 28 customers in the
Hastings fulflled the order on time, even with multiple hurricane-impacted areas. SEL also expedited all shipping,
changes to the order in the 90-minute window. The company with more than 75% of its orders shipping within 24 hours. In
pulled people from different departments to do whatever it addition, SEL offered a disaster discount of 25% on all prod-
took to make it all happen. The customer was so grateful it ucts bound for the affected areas. This disaster discount has
had pizzas delivered to all involved with the order. a long history with SEL that goes back to the Mississippi River
food of 1993. There also was the personal touch of caring.
Reaching Out The employees and SEL President Edmund Schweitzer donat-
Hubbell Power Systems Inc. knew restoration would be ed more than $300,000 to hurricane relief funds.
challenging. Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria were power-
ful storms. The company started receiving orders two days in Rebuilding
advance of Harveys landfall and it never let up. Hubbell was This has been a hurricane season for the record books with
prepared as it has a dedicated Hubbell emergency action team several Category 4 hurricanes and two Category 5 hurricanes.
(HEAT) that specializes in storm response and is always ready Islands were wiped out, major metropolitan areas were food-
to act quickly. Over the next three weeks, Hubbell shipped ed and the grid was damaged beyond what anyone expected,
1 million pounds of utility products in response to Harvey. but there also have been restoration efforts for the record
When a customer ordered an item not in stock, its manu- books. Armies of responders throughout North America an-
facturing facilities rose to the challenge. One example was im- swered the call for help in regions devastated by the storms.
mediately producing more than 500 cutouts for a Texas utility Where the electric delivery system had been damaged heavily,
and shipping them directly to Houston to keep things rolling. these frontline troops began the process of restoration.
In addition to all the material, equipment and tools, Hub- While workers were risking their lives, another army of sup-
bell employees donated approximately 500 storm packs for pliers vendors and manufacturers worked around the
utilities in Texas. The packs included two bottles of water, a clock to keep the supplies of equipment, hardware, conduc-
towel, a T-shirt, snacks and a handwritten card. The packs tors and other material fowing into the storm-ravaged areas.
were shipped to Texas with the product shipments for delivery. The electric industry knows how important getting the
When Irma hit, Hubbell prepared another 500 storm packs for power back on is to the community. It is more than a job for
utilities in Florida and Georgia and sent them with the storm those in the industry, it is in their DNA. Loss of electricity rips
shipments of arresters, insulators, cutouts, pole line hardware, the fabric of society and yanks the lifeline on which so many
tools, grounding equipment, gloves, connectors and more. depend. From every corner of the industry, everyone worked
When substations drown, the control and protection together to bring back electricity and, with it, societys sense
equipment really suffers. Before anyone can reenergize the of normalcy and security. This was an epic rebuild in every
circuits coming out of them, the protection and control sys- sense of the word. It refected a partnership among utilities,
tems must be operational. Schweitzer Engineering Labora- contractors and vendors that developed over many past storm-
tories (SEL) stepped up to help its utility customers in a big restoration efforts. There are plenty of lessons learned that
way after the devastation of Harvey and Irma. Hundreds of its will be applied to future storms to respond even quicker.

December 2017 | T&D World 27

 The Untold Story
of Hurricane Response
Afer the storm, vegetation management crews
clear the way for restoration to begin.
By Dave Shadle, Senior Editor
T
here is often an untold story about the invaluable
role members of the vegetation management pro-
fession play as part of practically every major storm
response. This year, 2017 may be remembered for
many things, but, undoubtedly, one of them will be the un-
precedented damage and disruption caused by the hurricane
season.
Hurricanes Harvey and Irma occurred more than two
weeks apart, severely impacting the Houston, Texas, area
along with Florida and parts of Alabama, Georgia, and South
Carolina. More than 60,000 workers from across the U.S. and
Canada mobilized to support the power industrys restoration
efforts for these storms. Included in this number were workers
from affected companies as well as mutual assistance crews,
contractors and other support personnel. Many of the frst
teams on the scene following the hurricanes included vegeta-
tion management professionals, who cleared the way for resto-
ration and rebuilding to begin. This is their story.
A panoramic night scene of an FPL staging site in Naples, Florida, shows
an army of vegetation management and line equipment at rest prior to
the next days recovery eforts. A large food tent and FEMA trailers where
recovery teams slept are visible in the background. Courtesy of Davey Tree.
28 T&D World | December 2017
IVM Expertise
Professional vegetation management companies are widely
known in the power sector for their expertise on integrated
vegetation management (IVM), the practice of managing the
vegetation in utility rights-of-way (ROW) by appropriately
clearing new and expanded ROW to maintain required clear-
ances, scheduled pruning, vegetation treatment for growth
control and removal of danger species. IVM programs help
to improve reliability and resiliency during normal times and
minor weather events.
However, these same companies frequently have a second,
related and critically essential line of business in storm re-
sponse when the inevitable major storms occur. The business
arrangement for storm response varies by VM company and
utility, but nearly all utilities and contractors today jointly plan
normally long before the storm season begins in prone
areas to develop the terms of engagement for deployment.
Planning includes everything from a range of pricing for
the various types of labor and support equipment that may
be involved to mileage rates, per diems and even work prac-
tices. When the call is made from a utility to its partner VM
company, the request to ramp up usually starts with a re-
gional manager who contacts headquarters or, in the case of
the Asplundh Tree Expert LLC, a coordinating storm center
staffed 24 hours a day. Resource availability is compiled for
the utility and then crews and equipment are compiled from a
callout list as the storm unfolds. Headquarters then manages
the dispatch of its resources.

Team Mobilization
Asplundhs Executive Vice President Gregg Asplundh, the
companys corporate storm coordinator, explained aggregat-
ing and mobilizing personnel as well as equipment resources
is a multistep process: Crews are released from their local
utilities and sent to pre-staging points requested by the re-
ceiving utilities. After the storm passes through, work is dis-
patched to the crews, sometimes in tandem with line crews
and sometimes without. He added, We also coordinate re-
sources through mutual assistance after crews are released,
and once all work is completed, crews are released to their
home utilities.
Part of the team mobilization when a storm is imminent
may be extensive travel to a designated staging location. How-
ever, Lewis Tree Service employees did not have to form a con-
voy and travel a long distance to respond to Hurricane Har-
vey, which came ashore in Rockport, Texas, on Aug. 25 as a
Category 4 storm. The storm was right in the backyards of the
companys Houston-based personnel. The crews found exten-
sive vegetation challenges in the hardest-hit areas, including
fallen trees pulling down power lines, debris blocking road-
ways and major fooding.
CenterPoint Energy had to use all six of its local tree con-
tractors at some point for the storm response, consisting of
about 75 crews with supervision per day over an 11-day span.
Lewis Wilderness Environmental Services team, based in Canada,
arrives in the U.S. over the Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge
(Michigan/Ontario) in route to support Hurricane Irma recovery.
Courtesy of Lewis Tree.
While CenterPoint did not need off-system mutual assistance
tree crews, external mutual assistance airboat crews were used
in some cases to ferry tree workers to locations with tree issues.
Staff from Lewis Trees Texas offce worked through the
Harvey restoration process and then valiantly deployed to help
respond when Irma hit, despite the fact many of the employ-
ees own homes were impacted severely by the Texas storm.
Other VM companies deployed to Texas to assist utilities
with restoration, including 400 personnel from Asplundh
and more than 160 Wright Tree Service employees, who were
under the direction of 11 general foremen. The Wright Tree
crews came from six different home utilities and three states.
The crews included two division managers, two division super-
visors, and a safety supervisor to provide assistance and over-
sight for numerous restoration projects.
Back-to-Back Responses
When Irma hit, just two weeks after Harvey, The Davey

December 2017 | T&D World 29

 to return home as they drove from surrounding states and
northern Florida to the hard-hit areas of southern Florida.
Sara Dreiser, a project manager for DRG, said crews trav-
eling to Florida encountered the intense traffc after driving
hundreds of miles from their home base and all that followed
encounters with Irma in Tennessee and Georgia as a tropical
depression and accompanying monsoon-like rain. This is not
uncommon for professional VM companies. ACRT Inc. refers
to its frst-wave responders, who sometimes have to preposi-
tion in or near the path of a storm, as storm riders.
Because weather can be both unpredictable and unavoid-
able, utilities and tree companies plan as much in advance as
possible, including mapping out potential trouble spots and
marshaling points for resources. Whether prepositioned or
mobilizing in real time as an expanding need is recognized,
once on-site, the frst meeting between VM contractors and
other storm crews is an orientation focusing largely on safety.
Crews are often new to one another and frequently working

A Lewis Tree crew removes a large tree from a main road in Florida.
Courtesy of Lewis Tree Service.

Tree Expert Co. was among the organizations that helped

Florida Power & Light Co. (FPL) assemble and preposition
what FPL called the largest restoration workforce in U.S. his-
tory. More than 1000 employees from Davey Tree and its sub-
sidiaries mobilized to support FPL, including hundreds who
traveled from as far away as Maine and California in addition
to those who traveled directly from Harvey recovery efforts
in Texas. The Davey Tree personnel, including folks from the
Davey Resource Group division (DRG), were staged in Lake
City and Daytona Beach, Florida presumably safe areas
about 48 hours before the storm subsided, according to Scott
Anderson, a product developer and market manager for DRG.
As the magnitude of the storms impacts became evident,
FPL and other utilities continued to call in additional support A guard stands by to prevent people from entering the work area.
Photo by Tracy Hawks, Ocala Electric; courtesy of Asplundh.
personnel who could help the utilities work essentially around
the clock to assess damage, clear vegetation and restore ser-
vice. Anderson confrmed the initial stages of the storm were
fuid, with the call numbers growing almost hour to hour.
In fact, more than 4700 Asplundh Tree employees and its
utility infrastructure subsidiaries from around the U.S. were
deployed to Florida to help 15 utilities and municipalities re-
store power in the wake of Irma. Likewise, nearly 650 Wright
Tree employees, under the direction of 43 general foremen,
were deployed to three service areas, including FPL, Tampa
Electric Co. and Duke Energy Corp. to respond to the hur-
ricane. These crews came from 22 different home utilities and
12 states.

Setting the Stage

In preparation for major events like Harvey and Irma, VM
companies routinely stage as many workers and equipment as
close to the recovery area as feasible. Because of the scope of
Irma and her last-minute change in trajectory from Floridas
east coast to west coast, mobilizing storm response crews hit A Tree Inc. contractor works in a live oak above floodwaters to assist
thousands of Florida residents on the road who were trying with CenterPoint Energys Harvey recovery. Courtesy of CenterPoint Energy.

30 T&D World | December 2017

in locations other than their local service territory. Safety
requirements and area practices, communication protocols
and, fnally, work priorities are addressed. The No. 1 focus is
everyone goes home safely.
Working in a hurricane-affected area is different than any
other storm situation, said Kevin Puls, director of eastern op-
erations for ACRT. Each employee of ACRT must meet a min-
imum qualifcation of experience and training to be consid-
ered for the companys storm team. These team members as
well as employees that are part of the utilitys embedded ACRT
team go through a rigorous training course that is specialized
in teaching the challenges that they can expect to encounter
on a daily basis while on storm work.
The company has what it refers to as a Ready Force, which
it sends around the country in response to storms as well as
other quick-response needs. Gregg Asplundh also empha-
sized storm training as he reported, We do drills throughout
the year with our utility partners and have established rules
for the road when employees leave their areas. Local small
storms are always an opportunity to evaluate the performance
of our crews on a small scale. Results from them are rolled into
a greater process.
Despite extensive preplanning by utilities and their con-
tract partners, responding to a major event nearly always in-
volves a triage exercise with one or more vegetation contrac-
tors assigned to construction companies and utility crews, so
they can work in partnership to assess damage, clear access to A toppled banyan tree rests in the lines, blocking a street near Miami,
Florida. Photo by Mick Linxwiler; courtesy of Asplundh.
lines and make repairs.
A practice used for Irma was the prepositioning of asses- such as emergency centers, fre stations, hospitals, water treat-
sors to identify probable trouble areas and expected recovery ment, and other public safety and health facilities is the
steps. Davey Tree sent arborists and tree crews as well as as- frst priority. Crews simultaneously plan for and repair major
sessors and mappers as part of damage-assessment teams. As- power transmission lines, damaged substations and other
sessors went in with initial responders to conduct what DRGs large-scale electrical equipment to restore power to the great-
Anderson referred to as quick sweeps. Then, as clearing of est number of customers as quickly as possible. The triage as-
trees and debris advanced, personnel supplied by full-service pect often comes into play with prioritizing the small pockets
tree companies and utility personnel prepared full damage of customers and areas hardest hit that may require rebuild-
assessments. ing the system.
Of course, restoring power to critical infrastructure Kaleb Smith, lead planner for DRG, obtained the Miami,
Florida, police chiefs phone number to call for a
police escort as he moved his crews throughout
the city. This enabled caravans of tree crews and
linemen to follow the most effcient routes pos-
sible, safely traveling the wrong way down one-way
streets and passing stoplights that were still out.
Smiths out-of-the-box thinking helped get crews
to areas requiring clearing throughout the Miami-
Dade metro area, thereby expediting the restora-
tion process.
Davey Tree personnel also aided the response
in the hardest-hit area of Naples/Ft. Myers, work-
ing with FPL foresters, tree crews and linemen to
complete circuit inspections. Some team members
assisted FPL directly, working with local foresters
to manage and dispatch hundreds of crew resourc-
Tree contractor Trees Inc. and line contractor Front Line maneuver boats over
floodwaters to remove a tree from a CenterPoint Energy primary, afer which they es for an entire site. Others spent much of their
were able to make line repairs to allow reenergization. Courtesy of CenterPoint Energy. time patrolling lines to identify downed wires and

December 2017 | T&D World 31

 tionship with a utility affected by Harvey or Irma.
Scott Asplundh, CEO and chairman of the board
of Asplundh, conveyed how cooperatively utilities and
their contractors work under mutual assistance arrange-
ments when he thanked Asplundhs utility customers
who released the companys crews from routine work to
assist with the hurricane restoration effort. In a press
release, he stated, With so many mutual assistance utili-
ties in the strike zone for these storms, we are especially
grateful to various rural electric cooperatives and mu-
nicipalities for their understanding and cooperation on
releases.

Behind-the-Scenes Administration
While it may seem mundane during a storm recovery
effort, the administrative process associated with man-
A Gainesville Regional Utility line is buried under uprooted trees and debris. aging a hurricane response is mind-boggling, to say the
Photo by Tracy Hawks, Ocala Electric; courtesy of Asplundh. least. Think about keeping track of the deployment of
thousands of personnel, tracking their food and hous-
ing needs, hours worked, expenses, safety and work
practice communications.
Thanks to modern technology, DRGs Anderson said
the endeavor is a little more manageable than it once
was. He explained, Davey Tree uses G Suite (former-
ly Google Apps for Work) forms for workforce coordi-
nation, time and expense tracking, and more. Also, a
number of our utility clients provide apps that can be
assessed directly from our smartphones.
Asplundh uses mobile time sheets, an electronic
roster and an automatic vehicle management system
all items the company considers the new normal for
storm restoration, with demonstrated improvements in
restoration times. Some VM specialty companies, like
Crews prepare to clean up afer a live oak with internal rot broke and fell into
FPL conductors in Cocoa, Florida. Photo by Joshua Paine; courtesy of Asplundh. CN Utility Consulting Inc., provided inspection and
coordination services for tree-related issues in response
trees while others worked in the feld directly with a smaller to Irma as well as key administrative services like time sheet
group of crews, leading them to sites and directing work. verifcation and approval to assist utilities with the mountains
of paperwork that follow such a storm.
Strategic Mutual Assistance Despite extensive pre-storm preparation, organized and
Events like Harvey and Irma require signifcant coordina- well-executed real-time marshaling by tree companies with
tion, and among the most important coordination mecha- their quick-response teams, resident or embedded personnel,
nisms for storm response and recovery efforts are the mutual and modern administrative aids such as G Suite, Harvey and
assistance arrangements in place among utilities. If connected Irma were quite challenging, to put it mildly. The size and du-
by string, the visible representation of these arrangements ration of these storms as well as fooding in some areas made
would crisscross the country with companies in the Southeast them diffcult to stage and maintain supplies such as fuel.
being connected for mutual aid to organizations in the North- Nonetheless, the VM community rose to the occasion, provid-
east and West, and those in the Midwest paired with compa- ing people and resources in record numbers and frequently
nies in the South and so on. arriving among the frst to the scene to help their utility
The partners in mutual assistance arrangements are fre- clients return life to normal as quickly as possible for the
quently diverse geographically by design in order to increase millions of affected people.
the probability that companies committed to assisting one an- Gregg Asplundh summed up his perspective on this un-
other will not be affected by the same storm or emergency told story, There is always a lot of sacrifce going on during
event. Mutual assistance has occurred between and among and following major storm events. I am proud that our people,
utilities for as long as the power industry has been in exis- their families and many of our customers all pitch in to get
tence, and more than a few tree companies followed and the job done for the utilities and their customers in storm-
assisted their customer utilities who were in a mutual aid rela- damaged areas.

32 T&D World | December 2017

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