'Very different from anything we've experienced': SMUD uses lessons from January storms to improve

The utility said it has examined every step of its power restoration process going into this winter.

The utility said it has examined every step of its power restoration process going into this winter.

US HOW SMUD IS MAKING SOME CHANGES. RIGHT NOW, THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE IN THE SACRAMENTO AREA ARE IN THE DARK. WE’RE SEEING THIS MASSIVE TREE CAUGHT IN THE POWER LINES HERE. MORE THAN 50,000 CUSTOMERS ARE IN THE DARK. THERE IS NO ESTIMATED TIME OF WHEN THE POWER WILL BE BACK ON. ONE YEAR AGO, OUTAGES WERE CLIMBING BY THE MINUTE. I REMEMBER HOW SUDDENLY THINGS CHANGED ON DECEMBER 31ST AND HOW LONG IT LASTED UNTIL THOSE TWO WEEKS. A SERIES OF STORMS LED TO MAJOR INFRASTRUCTURE LOSS FOR SMUD. 600,000 CUSTOMERS EXPERIENCED AN OUTAGE. THE LOGISTICS THAT GO BEHIND ALL OF THIS ARE ENORMOUS, SMUD’S CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER FRANKIE MCDERMOTT SAYS THE STORM WAS UNPRECEDENTED. IT’S NOW THEIR BENCHMARK FOR FUTURE PLANNING. WITHIN A WEEK AFTER THE STORM CAME IN JANUARY, PRIOR TO EVEN THE 1ST OF FEBRUARY, WE FORMED A TEAM TO SAY THIS WAS DIFFERENT. THE STORM SPARKED CHANGES, STARTING WITH INCREASED INVENTORY FOR THE POWER COMPANY’S MOST VULNERABLE INFRASTRUCTURE. THE BIGGEST HIT IS WHAT YOU SEE HERE IN JANUARY, SMUD REPLACED MORE THAN 425 POWER POLES, MORE THAN A THIRD OF THE AMOUNT THEY USUALLY DO IN AN ENTIRE YEAR. THEY HAD ENOUGH MATERIALS THANKS TO A CONSTANT STREAM FROM SUPPLIERS, BUT MCDERMOTT ADMITS IT WAS TIGHT. WE DON’T WANT TO RELY ON THAT HAPPENING AGAIN. WE WANT TO HAVE OUR OWN INVENTORY NOW, SO 700 POLES ARE READY TO GO. LOGISTICS HAVE ALSO BEEN RESTRUCTURED. THE INITIAL RESPONSE ASSESSING THE DAMAGE, THE EXTENT OF THE DAMAGE, THE MATERIALS THAT GO WITH THAT. HOW THEN WE RESTORE HOW WE PRIORITIZE. SMUD HAS ALSO DEVELOPED NEW TOOLS FOR INTERNAL COMMUNICATION. THIS IS ACTUAL THIS IS WHERE SMUD VEHICLES ARE AT THIS MOMENT, ALLOWING DECISION MAKERS TO GET UPDATES IN REAL TIME. WHAT ISTHE DAMAGE OUT IN THE FIELD WHERE WHERE ARE OUR RESOURCES IN THE FIELD? WHERE ARE OUR VEHICLES? MCDERMOTT SAYS HE BELIEVES ALL OF THIS CAN HELP SMUD IMPROVE ON ITS MOST IMPORTANT GOAL. ACCURATE UPDATES AND FASTER RESTORATION TIMES FOR ITS CUSTOMERS. I THINK THE PUBLIC CAN BE MORE ASSURED THAT WE WILL BE EVEN MORE EFFICIENT AT EACH STEP, DRIVEN OUT OF THE EXPERIENCES WE SAW IN JANUARY. I’M

'Very different from anything we've experienced': SMUD uses lessons from January storms to improve

The utility said it has examined every step of its power restoration process going into this winter.

The Sacramento Municipal Utility District says that it now has a new benchmark for severe winter weather following the unprecedented damage caused by last January's storms.According to SMUD, 600,000 customers experienced an outage over a several-week span beginning on New Year's Eve. To restore power, the utility had to replace more than 425 poles. SMUD Chief Operating Officer Frankie McDermott said that was about a third of the replacements done in a typical year. "This was different. This was very different from anything we've experienced," he said. The January 2023 storms are now the new high water mark for the kind of damage that the utility will be ready for in the future. | Storm Ready 2024 | City of Sacramento reflects on lessons learned 1 year after a series of damaging winter stormsMcDermott said that shortly after the stormy pattern concluded, SMUD decision-makers met to dissect their entire outage response process."We really had to look at our overall system over the last year to be prepared for storms that are going to be more severe in the future," McDermott said. In addition to increases in inventory, SMUD has also added new technology to improve in-house communication. An app will allow responders in the field to quickly tell decision-makers exactly what equipment has been damaged and to what extent.Logistics for delivering replacement materials have also been restructured. McDermott said he believes that by making these changes at each step of the restoration process, SMUD customers can expect more efficient response times and more accurate communication from the utility."I think the public can be reassured that we will be even more efficient at each step driven out of the experiences we saw in January," McDermott added. SMUD customers can now sign up for more detailed notifications during an outage. The new service will provide updates on when a crew is called to an outage, when a repair is ordered and an estimate of how long that repair could take. This is in addition to the estimated time of power restoration. It was one year ago that severe storms hit Northern California. This week, KCRA 3's Storm Ready 2024 series looks back at what happened and how agencies in our area are changing protocol because of the storms.

The Sacramento Municipal Utility District says that it now has a new benchmark for severe winter weather following the unprecedented damage caused by last January's storms.

According to SMUD, 600,000 customers experienced an outage over a several-week span beginning on New Year's Eve.

To restore power, the utility had to replace more than 425 poles. SMUD Chief Operating Officer Frankie McDermott said that was about a third of the replacements done in a typical year.

"This was different. This was very different from anything we've experienced," he said.

The January 2023 storms are now the new high water mark for the kind of damage that the utility will be ready for in the future.

| Storm Ready 2024 | City of Sacramento reflects on lessons learned 1 year after a series of damaging winter storms

McDermott said that shortly after the stormy pattern concluded, SMUD decision-makers met to dissect their entire outage response process.

"We really had to look at our overall system over the last year to be prepared for storms that are going to be more severe in the future," McDermott said.

In addition to increases in inventory, SMUD has also added new technology to improve in-house communication. An app will allow responders in the field to quickly tell decision-makers exactly what equipment has been damaged and to what extent.

Logistics for delivering replacement materials have also been restructured.

McDermott said he believes that by making these changes at each step of the restoration process, SMUD customers can expect more efficient response times and more accurate communication from the utility.

"I think the public can be reassured that we will be even more efficient at each step driven out of the experiences we saw in January," McDermott added.

SMUD customers can now sign up for more detailed notifications during an outage. The new service will provide updates on when a crew is called to an outage, when a repair is ordered and an estimate of how long that repair could take.

This is in addition to the estimated time of power restoration.

It was one year ago that severe storms hit Northern California. This week, KCRA 3's Storm Ready 2024 series looks back at what happened and how agencies in our area are changing protocol because of the storms.

'Very different from anything we've experienced': SMUD uses lessons from January storms to improve

The utility said it has examined every step of its power restoration process going into this winter.

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