• COVID infection rates of service area

• Public health emergency declarations in service territory

• Governmental, regulators and PUCs guidelines and restrictions   

Preventative Measures

First and foremost for Utilities consideration is the safety, health and wellbeing of its employees, workforce and contractors responsible for ensuring reliable service and response. Utilities need to safeguard their employees taking the necessary precautions to minimize exposure in order to maintain a healthy and responsive workforce. These cost-driven efforts and considerations include:

• Continuously educate employees about COVID-19 with important health and safety information

• Reminders on handwashing, social distancing, increase hygiene measures

• Enhance sanitation at company facilities including decontamination and remediation if necessary

• Institute additional personal protective equipment protocol

Work and Staffing Modifications

Utilities are being required to modify work practices and service to both ensure continued sustained reliable service while minimizing the risk to employees and the utilities operations. In addition, they are instituting modified staffing practices for the new “norm” without compromising service to customers. These considerations include:

• Identifying Critical Control Center Personnel and the necessary sequestration, combined with Working in smaller teams

• Staggering starting times with overlapping shifts and locations for field crews

• Rotating coverage with determined percentage of line workers on paid bench time, due to reduce risk exposure

• Moratorium on disconnections, late charges, reprioritize work to minimize outages, and additional inspections for equipment serving hospitals and other critical service facilities

• Suspend various types of non-critical repair and compliance work on equipment to limit customer exposure 

Response

Utilities major consideration is its ability to maintain service levels, response and restoration during these challenging and restrictive conditions. During these times, utilities are committed to protecting the people working for them while ensuring operations, response and infrastructure are supported throughout an emergency when customers need service now more than ever. These considerations include:

• Prepare, modify and drill storm and emergency plans prior to unexpected events to ensure storm restoration can be managed under new conditions

• Processing and staging external resources

• Hotel and Lodging resources

• Caterers, Restaurants and Meals 

Cost Tracking and Recovery

While COVID-19 Costs are still being incurred and the final amounts remain uncertain, utilities need to have in place systems and tracking ability to capture all the associated expenses.  It is unclear how the costs related to stay-at-home, telework requirements and other business operational modifications and restrictions are likely to be addressed. Local governments mandated suspension of service disconnects, combined with the alteration of the power flow patterns, due to non-functional commercial and industrial consumers, will have significant revenue impacts to the regulated Utility.  The final COVID-19 costs and loss of revenue could be substantial and warrant recovery from the regulators and PUCs. The regulators have yet to define the parameters to allow utilities to track and defer the incremental costs of this public health emergency for potential cost recovery. 

At this time, the utility cost impact of operating and responding for this unprecedented event is unknown, but utilities need to be diligent to mine the necessary data in order to be in a position and be well advised to report the financial incremental impact of COVID-19. 

Conclusion

Utilities are always under intense pressure to ensure the reliability of the service they provide. Customers and regulators expectations and scrutiny continues to increase, while reliance on electricity is greater now than ever before, especially with the pandemic. Given the outbreak will extend for months; it is only a matter of time that severe weather-related outages will occur. 

I pray for the safety of the Utility crew members. I am grateful that all my family members are able to work safely and remotely at home, while continuing the practice of social distancing and doing our best towards the business continuity of our nation. 

At CGI, we have supported utilities for more than 30 years, with many transformation processes. We are ready to do the same for you again with our OpenGrid Solutions related to COVID-19 Cost Tracking and Recovery, Utility Crisis, and Storm Restoration Management.

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This thought leadership article was originally shared with Energy Central's Utility Management Community Group. The communities are a place where professionals in the power industry can share, learn and connect in a collaborative environment. Join the Utility Management Community today and learn from others who work in the industry.

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