Director, Operations Services, Met-Ed Pennsylvania House Republican Policy Committee Hearing on Storm Response Tobyhanna Township Municipal Building Pocono Pines, Pa. August 9, 2018
Planning and Forecast for Winter Storm Riley in Stroudsburg Area Weather forecast and notification of pending severe weather Due to atmospheric changes and wind patterns, accurate weather forecasting is a moving target reinforced by these nor easters Early in week of February 25, FirstEnergy (FE) Meteorological Services began monitoring impending weather event forecast to impact most of FE s 10 operating companies, including Met-Ed s service area Meteorological Services issued first weather alert morning of February 28 Weather alert noted that beginning the morning of March 2, wind gusts of approximately 40 to 50 mph with isolated gusts of up to 55 mph were forecast in Met-Ed service area Snow also forecast, but expected to be less than 4 inches 2
Planning and Forecast for Winter Storm Riley in Stroudsburg Area (Continued) Next weather alert issued March 1, forecast for 6 to 9 inches of wet snow across northern and eastern Pennsylvania 9 of 10 FE utility companies impacted by wind, snow and rain On March 2, updated forecast shows snow accumulation of 10 to 14 inches in northern portions of Met-Ed area 3
FE Internal Requests for Additional Line Support Upon receiving first weather forecast February 28, Met-Ed identified need for 160 supplemental line workers Subsequent change in forecast on Monday, March 2 called for nor easter with significant increase in weather intensity, including heavy, wet snow In response, Met-Ed increased request on March 2 to include 400 additional line workers and 200 damage assessors FE requests mutual assistance support On February 28, FE began participating in daily mutual assistance calls with Regional Mutual Assistance Groups (RMAGs) Discussed resource needs and availability for all FE operating companies FE requested additional line workers through various mutual assistance partners, including: North Atlantic Mutual Assistance Group Southeastern Electric Exchange Great Lakes Mutual Assistance Group 4
FE Internal Requests for Additional Line Support Resources were scarce given many member companies located in Mid-Atlantic and New England regions were expected to be and were impacted by Winter Storm Riley and/or Quinn Other FE affiliates also severely impacted In addition to working with RMAG organizations, FE worked concurrently to secure resources from non-rmag utility companies and contractors 85% of line workers secured from non-rmag process Once restoration efforts completed for other FE affiliates, additional FE affiliate line workers became available to assist Met-Ed 5
Entire FE Territory Impacted by Winter Storm Riley on March 2 and 3 On morning of March 2, Winter Storm Riley, a powerful nor easter, brought heavy, wet snow to entire Met-Ed service area, reaching 12 inches in some areas Snow fell at very high rate of 1 to 2 inches per hour In Pike County, Riley brought up to 20 inches of snow; Quinn brought up to 14 inches of additional snow As storm escalated, Met-Ed area began experiencing wind gusts of approximately 60 mph, while still snowing Damage and outages throughout FE area, including Met-Ed Hardest hit areas of Met-Ed: Stroudsburg (Monroe and Pike counties) Easton (Northampton) Reading (Berks) York 6
Damage from Winter Storm Riley 273,398 Met-Ed customers affected 52% of Met-Ed distribution circuits impacted 75,673 customers in Pike and Monroe counties affected 38,199 in Pike County 37,474 in Monroe County Accounted for 28% of all Met-Ed customers affected Storm hit all of Met-Ed areas, which affected ability to immediately focus resources on Monroe and Pike counties 7
Damage in Total Met-Ed and Stroudsburg-Area Only 60% of Met-Ed outages caused by trees 88% of outages in Monroe and Pike counties caused by trees Nearly all tree outages were caused by off right-of-way trees outside of Met-Ed tree-trimming corridor Equipment Met-Ed Total Stroudsburg Area Only Crossarms Replaced 1,351 867 Fuses Replaced 1,122 655 Poles Replaced 573 289 Transformers Replaced 242 105 Wire & Cable Replaced (Miles) 40.4 31.3 8
Damage in Total Met-Ed and Stroudsburg-Area Only (Continued) All 4 source circuits serving Pike County were severely damaged and out of service 9 circuits were so heavily damaged, Met-Ed proactively deenergized each entire circuit to enable service restoration Equates to 660 circuit miles in length Restoration of these circuits took until Saturday, March 9 Terrain is heavily wooded and mountainous, requiring off-road work, which was further complicated by deep snow De-energizing heavily damaged circuits supports safe and efficient damage assessment, tree removal and equipment repair, while maximizing restoration resources Continued high winds prohibited aerial work on March 3 OSHA considers winds exceeding 40 miles per hour, or 30 miles per hour if work involves material handling, as unsafe working conditions 9
Service Restoration More than 2,300 FTEs supported service restoration efforts Included over 900 line workers: approximately 700 line workers were from FE affiliates and outside contractors Approximately 450 tree contractor FTEs, over 270 hazard/damage assessors and other support personnel Staging sites On March 2, three staging sites were opened to support restoration efforts: 1 in Easton and 2 in Stroudsburg Staging sites provide centralized area to: Lay down, distribute and store materials Assign work Provide lodging, food service and vehicle parking 10
Service Restoration (Continued) Wednesday, March 7 snow event resulted in few additional outages, but delayed service restoration efforts Crews worked morning of March 7 Crews were directed to stand down at noon due to heavy snow, poor travel and poor visibility Work resumed Thursday morning, March 8 Restoration focused on customers without service since March 2-3 11
Service Restoration Process Power Plant 1. Isolate and make safe; assess damage 2. Repair high-voltage lines/restore essential functions Transmission Lines 1 2 3. Restore hospitals and critical facilities 4. Repair main feeder/distribution lines 5. Restore areas with largest number of customers 6. Restore individual homes Local Substation 2 1 4 1 3 Although this is the preferred process during major service restoration efforts, the order may change due to specific conditions. 5 Distribution Lines 6 12
Review of May Thunder and Lightning Storms 111,894 Met-Ed customers affected 81,461 customers in Monroe and Pike counties affected 30,185 in Monroe County and 51,276 in Pike County Accounted for 73% of all Met-Ed customers affected Compared to March event, May storms more localized, so resources were able to be deployed to the affected areas faster Equipment Number Crossarms Replaced 520 Fuses Replaced 638 Poles Replaced 138 Transformers Replaced 95 Wire & Cable Replaced (Miles) 6 13
Review of May Thunder and Lightning Storms (Continued) Tree damage 88% of Met-Ed outages caused by trees 92% of outages in Monroe and Pike counties caused by trees Majority of outages caused by off right-of-way trees outside of Met-Ed tree-trimming corridor 14
Winter Storms Riley and Quinn Entire Met-Ed March 2-11, 2018 Restoration Increment Customers Restored Percent Restored Cumulative 24 hours 126,865 46.4% 48 hours 165,858 60.7% 72 hours 198,187 72.5% 96 hours 210,475 77.0% 120 hours 227,835 83.3% 144 hours 243,494 89.1% 168 hours 254,978 93.3% 192 hours 265,006 96.9% 216 hours 272,437 99.6% 230 hours 273,398 100.0% 15
Winter Storms Riley and Quinn Monroe and Pike Counties Only March 2-11, 2018 Restoration Increment Customers Restored Percent Restored Cumulative 24 hours 7,620 10.1% 48 hours 10,761 14.2% 72 hours 17,786 23.5% 96 hours 24,492 32.4% 120 hours 38,475 50.9% 144 hours 48,412 64.0% 168 hours 58,902 77.9% 192 hours 67,633 89.4% 216 hours 74,750 98.8% 230 hours 75,653 100.0% 16
May Thunder and Lightning Storms Entire Met-Ed May 15-20, 2018 Restoration Increment Customers Restored Percent Restored Cumulative 24 hours 76,297 68.2% 48 hours 91,158 81.5% 72 hours 104,235 93.2% 96 hours 110,417 98.7% 120 hours 111,751 99.9% 126 hours 111,894 100.0% 17
May Thunder and Lightning Storms Monroe and Pike Counties Only May 15-20, 2018 Restoration Increment Customers Restored Percent Restored Cumulative 24 hours 54,834 67.3% 48 hours 65,935 80.9% 72 hours 77,288 94.9% 96 hours 81,244 99.7% 120 hours 81,395 99.9% 126 hours 81,461 100.0% 18
Met-Ed s Commitment to Pike and Monroe Counties Going forward, Met-Ed is committed to enhancing reliability and outage restoration in Pike and Monroe counties The area will remain a significant focus of our infrastructure improvement and vegetation management plans Most notably, these plans include: Equipment upgrades and circuit rehabilitation Installing new circuit ties with remote control switching for quicker restoration Leveraging smart meter technology to quickly detect and verify outage restoration, and Enhanced vegetation management practices 19
Appendix Damage Photos for March 2-11, 2018 Storms 20
Winter Storm Damage 21
Winter Storm Damage 22
Winter Storm Damage 23
Winter Storm Damage 24
Winter Storm Damage 25
Stroudsburg-Area Service Restoration Underway 26
Winter Storm Damage Service Restoration 27
Met-Ed Staging Sites 28
Appendix Damage Photos for May 15-20, 2018 Storms 29
Damage from May Thunder and Lightning Storms 30
Damage from May Thunder and Lightning Storms 31
Damage from May Thunder and Lightning Storms 32
Met-Ed Service Restoration 33
Met-Ed Service Restoration 34
Met-Ed Service Restoration 35
Met-Ed Service Restoration 36
Met-Ed Staging Sites 37
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