Utilities practice emergency management principles and work with governments and first responders across the country during and after extreme events have landed.
There are four core focus areas of emergency management:
The first focuses on prevention and mitigation practices aimed at reducing risks due to emergency situations such as wildfires.
The second focus area relates to the utility’s preparedness. How ready are utilities to handle specific emergency situations? Some apply predictive models to determine where an incoming storm may impact them and to what degree. This allows utilities to prepare and plan accordingly. With years of experience and developed emergency plans in handling service interruptions and extreme events, utility staff are well prepared. As extreme events are becoming more and more common (see major events in Indicators), emergency management practices will play a greater role in outage management.
The third wave is response. Once an extreme event occurs, it is critical that utilities respond in an integrated and systemic manner that is in accordance with their strategic response plan.
The final phase of emergency management is recovery – a period of closing off restoration efforts, identifying lessons learned and ensuring continuity of operations and services to customers.
