Damage Assessment: The Key to Quicker Outage Restoration and Storm Recovery

Introduction

Many utility companies have dealt with their fair share of storm-related damages over the last few years. A large portion of the difficulties associated with restoration can be directly attributed to the way in which damage assessments are conducted. Since these assessments help utilities identify and prioritize storm-affected areas, utilities need ways to simplify and expedite this data collection process to improve response time and restore service efficiently- particularly when the next storm is moving in.
Consider some of the major events that have affected areas of the United States. In 2004, a series of major storms impacted both the Gulf and Atlantic coasts, affecting millions of lives. Numerous utility assets were permanently damaged, and while repairs were taking place, other major storms were building. According to Progress Energy Florida, two-thirds of its service territory was out of power during Hurricane Frances. The utility’s field equipment also received major damage as a result of wind and water. Similar devastation to a utility’s network can result from ice and snowstorms, tornados, mud slides, and earthquakes.

To be prepared utilities need, at the very least, to define a damage assessment procedure and response plan that details who will be involved and how data will be analyzed. The plan should include procedures to identify the best solution for restoration and ensure that data collected during the initial field assessment activity is useful. Incorporating mobile computing, communication technology, and automatic metering integrated with dispatching, Outage Management Systems’ (OMS) predictive engines, and accurate Geographic Information Systems (GIS) can also be leveraged to significantly improve a utility’s response in an emergency. Intergraph has focused on solutions for damage assessment workflow and the enabling technology to make it successful. The first phases of damage assessment, initial restoration, and follow-on damage assessment are essential to efficiently and quickly restoring power.

Better Planning for Initial Field Survey

In the past, many damage assessment activities in the past have been an unplanned or a loosely planned deployment of staff. Utilities would send out droves of personnel to collect information that would help them paint a picture of the extent of damage to the distribution system. Once all of the data was collected, it was brought back to the office, fed into the computer, and analyzed to make strategic decisions on how to direct storm restoration efforts. Often, the utility was already well into the actual restoration on an ad-hoc basis – repairing the closest, easiest, or what was perceived to be the most significant outage – before much definitive analysis could be completed. Not planning specifically where to send personnel results in “holes” in the assessment that may change or improve the restoration effort if the data were known.
In a non-digital environment, a damage assessment plan is just as valuable in enhancing the use of resources and speed restoration. Some utilities rely on paper reports from "scouts" to survey pre-defined “sample” areas of the overall service territory. A sample area reflects a regional view of field conditions and can indicate relative extents of damage to prioritize resources. These are later compiled into a computer at their emergency operations center to begin analyzing and preparing the restoration efforts. The map in Figure 2 helps illustrate this concept. Each sample area is a microcosm of a broader area. The data collected from the sample helps the utility estimate damage for the entire area.

Figure 2. Data collection sample areas from separate ZIP code regions in adjacent counties that are pre-defined for personnel deployment.

Enhancing Data Collection with Mobile Computing

The data collection process can be augmented and expedited with mobile computing hardware and software. Crews collect field data using mobile computers and provide it in real time to the operations center. With real-time information, decisions are faster and more accurate, speeding crew deployment. Incorporating a mobile workforce management system that stores information about the equipment and experience level of the crew can ensure the right are assigned to particular jobs.
To expedite field data collection, pre-built digital forms can be used to prompt crews to accurately capture a representative sample or specific numbers of conditions or damage in the field. Sample areas as discussed above can be assigned during this process, as well.

Figure 3. A pre-defined form on Intergraph’s oneMobile application makes damage assessment data collection simpler.
Some utilities have begun deploying hand held gaming consoles during field damage assessment. A simple touch to a predefined button captures information and reduces the time to navigate through spreadsheets or to type data into forms.

Real-Time Computing

The Intergraph environment supports round-trip electronic methods of collecting the initial damage assessment information. During the optimal workflow, field assessors use mobile computers to inventory the damaged facilities and these data are communicated real-time to the back office applications, which can include OMS and GIS to help in predicting further damage, outages and help drive restoration priorities.

Real-time data can help dispatchers determine where likely damage is, and they may redeploy or reroute crews or initiate new work orders. Field workers are even able to initiate work orders for other crews if a utility finds this advantageous.
Unfortunately, during major storm events, communication coverage is sometimes limited. Areas where wireless network access is typically available may not have a working tower, prohibiting real-time communication. Intergraph’s mobile solution supports a "store and forward" method of data delivery. The field data is stored locally on the mobile unit until a wireless network is available, then sent either automatically or by operator command.

Using an open format for the damage assessment form can allow the utility to tailor the capture forms for the specific storm, crew, or process. Intergraph’s solution uses HTML, allowing great flexibility for various utilities and the specific field collection required – in both emergency and maintenance situations.

Newer Technology Advancements Enhancing Damage Assessment and Restoration

While more and more utilities are benefiting from deployment of mobile computing methods, other technological advancements are even further enhancing and changing the damage assessment process.
“Smart Meters” are increasingly being installed by distribution companies. The smart meter provides “on-off” or voltage level signals via wireless communications that can be picked at the control center or through devices carried by crews. Coupling these readings with visual field visual inspections helps increase the information available to properly assess the damage.

Smart meter readings can be collected via helicopter flyovers, as well. Helicopters can pick up the readings for a larger area, reducing the number of ground crews that must be deployed (or allowing them to be deployed to other areas). Helicopters can also better accumulate data in areas of severe damage, where ground crews can’t or shouldn’t navigate.

Summary Reporting

The next step in an effective damage assessment process involves decision support. Initial damage assessment reports must be reviewed and analyzed, and this is most efficiently accomplished via an intranet. Intergraph provides Web-based reporting for a utility’s entire service area that can allow access and input from management, dispatchers, crews, and engineers, as well as provide inter-utility communication and planning when the damage crosses service areas of multiple utilities.

These reports typically include summary views of current outages and the status of crews. A report that is specific to damage assessment would be used to summarize the level of damage after a major event. Similar to the mobile forms, Intergraph's Web reports are easily customizable to present the results as needed by each company. Alternatively, existing statistical reporting applications can be used to analyze the collected data.

Damage assessment summary reports can then be used to appropriately staff a more thorough investigation of the service territory. The utility can derive resource levels from the summary reports, possibly necessitating the addition of outside crews. Additionally, utilities can use summary reports to communicate the level of damage and estimated restoration timeline to the media. This initial communication with customers can greatly improve customer satisfaction during and after a storm.
Map-based reports using Intergraph's GeoMedia® suite can also assist utilities with internal and external reporting. A simple thematic map of a utility’s service territory can be generated automatically, reflecting the initial field damage assessment surveys. The utility can create other maps to meet the specific reporting requirements of its organization.

Backbone Feeder Restoration and Follow-up Damage Assessment

Once an initial assessment is completed and summary reports are reviewed, the utility can identify the critical feeders as the first step in restoration. Better understanding of what will be restored from critical feeders allows a reassessment of the damage. Critical feeders – the major trunk lines that support a large electrical load to customers – receive priority so that service can be restored to the largest portion of customers as soon as possible. Once critical feeders are identified in the storm-affected areas, a second assessment may be necessary or desirable to ensure that the restoration efforts continue to be prioritized properly.

Utilities often need a second, more-detailed assessment when a storm's damage is severe, and more specific damages need to be identified. Intergraph has addressed this fundamental requirement with both dispatcher and mobile client applications. Intergraph's dispatcher application can be used to give critical feeder assessments to crews. The assessment order can be sent wirelessly to these crews, who can then use the routing functionality to arrive at their assigned location.
During in-depth field assessments, field crews can use mobile devices to create specific jobs at known repair points. For instance, a member of the field survey crew will be "riding the line" from a substation. As illustrated below, the critical feeder assessor: (1) can monitor his/her location using the live mobile dispatch information, which displays the crew location as well as the facilities on a map screen. When the field crew discovers a repair point, he or she can create a field order. That field order can be tied directly to the problem device. Once the job is created, the outage statistics are updated and a dispatcher (2) can quickly review it, and assign the work to the appropriate restoration crew (3).

The critical feeder assessor has a direct link to back-office systems that monitor, update, and assign field orders to the mobile workforce. Even non-mobile-enabled crews should be able to communicate work completion and follow-up work using a cellular phone or radio. Dispatchers can then update the restoration efforts in the OMS in order to maintain the operational view of the electrical network. As more and more services are restored, the Intergraph system reports the progress to supervisors, managers, and executives. Summary maps can also be dynamically updated, reflecting restoration progress.

Conclusion

Effective restoration requires planning, preparation, and execution and depends significantly on the initial storm-impact assessment. Intergraph has developed a comprehensive solution for damage assessment that helps utilities identify the most devastated regions, report on these hard-hit areas, and manage work assignments and progress toward restoration. Ultimately, these tools help utility and communications customers maintain customer satisfaction, improve crew safety, meet regulatory reporting requirements, and optimally deploy field resources.

Intergraph’s solution for damage assessement includes oneMobile, InService, onePortal, and other Intergraph products that support round trip mobile applications for engineering, maintenance and emergency response, interfaced with Outage Management, Intranet reporting, and GIS.