Calls for better preparation for storms by electric utilities

Some households without service a week after big storm

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On Monday, a week after gale-force winds ripped through the south of Finland, more than 5,000 customers were still left without electricity.
      Wintry weather on Monday this week, with wet snow and gusty winds, caused new electricity outages in Espoo and Kirkkonummi, and a new storm is expected on Wednesday, which could cause further problems.
     
Director Veli-Pekka Nurmi of the Accident Investigation Board is calling on electric utilities to be better prepared for major problems in electricity distribution.
      “The Accident Investigation Board emphasised the preparation of electric utilities after the storms of the summer of 2010”, Nurmi points out.
      “The companies should consider if their capacity – electricians, supervisors, tree cutters, and machinery – has been gauged correctly in relation to the size of their own network. The people who have been at work have undoubtedly done all that is humanly possible.”
     
Nurmi noted that the conditions for doing the repair work were good this time, although the strong winds did cause some problems. However, it was relatively easy to move around in the south of the country, where there was no snow.
      He noted that all of the companies affected had problems in informing their customers about the situation. Some people ended up calling emergency response centres to enquire as to the duration of the blackouts. “Those questions do not belong there.”
      “It is quite clear that no telephone system can cope with 30,000 calls an hour. That is why means should be developed to reduce the flood of calls. For instance, customers could be sent text messages, or information could be put on the company’s website immediately when a problem occurs, while the mobile telephone masts still work.”
     
The recent storms affected customers of four electric utilities – Fortum, Vattenfall, Suur-Savon Sähkö, and Vatajankosken Sähkö. Of Fortum’s 621,000 customers, 190,000 were left without electricity at one point, and on Monday evening, 3,965 were still in the dark.
      Fortum’s most important channel of communication to its customers was the radio, which broadcast up to six messages a day.
      The company’s telephone capacity was not sufficient to take all of the telephone calls by customers reporting blackouts: 588,000 calls came on December 26th alone.
     
Vattenfall has 400,000 customers, 102,000 of whom were affected by blackouts, and 200 were without service on Monday evening.
      The company’s customer communications includes a map service and a free SMS message service for registered customers. Vattenfall sent more than 270,000 text messages on December 26th.
     
Suur-Savon Sähkö also has a text message service for registered customers. It also reported on problems on its website, and over local radio.
      About 40 per cent of its 100,000 customers were affected by blackouts.
     
Almost all of the 17,500 customers of Vatajankosken Sähkö were hit by problems, including the 1,000 who were still without service on Monday evening.
      Its emergency communications include local radio and newspapers, as well as the company’s own website.
     
Veli-Pekka Nurmi feels that when major interruptions occur in the electricity supply, distribution companies have three key priorities: fixing the faults, communication with consumers, and communication with rescue authorities, municipalities, and telecommunications companies.
     


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Storms leave thousands without electricity (2.1.2012)

See also:
  Report confirms that storms in summer 2010 caused unprecedented havoc (4.10.2011)

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