Back to News

Electric utilities increase efforts to ‘storm harden’ infrastructure

Electric utilities increase efforts to ‘storm harden’ infrastructure

ATLANTA - Almost one in five electric utilities say they will increase their efforts to “storm harden” their distribution systems in 2007, says a new Chartwell report.

“Storm hardening” has emerged as an area of emphasis for a number of electric utilities and regulatory agencies in an effort to improve the reliability of distribution systems, according to Storm Hardening: Trends and Case Studies in Distribution Reliability 2007.

The report features new data from a Chartwell survey of more than 100 North American utilities. The data is supplemented by research and reporting that shows increasing storm hardening activities in the wake of major power outages cased by the devastating hurricanes of 2004 and 2005, record heat waves in 2006, and this winter’s wind and snow storms in the Midwest, Northeast and Pacific Northwest.

“Our research shows that ‘storm hardening’ can involve many things, from trimming trees more aggressively to making sure structures can withstand high winds and storm surge,” says Scott Johnson, Chartwell senior research analyst. “While the definition may be broad, it is clear that utilities are applying the lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina and other major storms, in an effort to prevent long-term outages that might seriously impact the economy in their regions.”

Among those utilities are Florida Power & Light (FPL) and Long Island Power Authority (LIPA), both of which launched major initiatives in 2006 to strengthen their transmission and distribution grids. The report features case studies of these programs.

Storm Hardening: Trends and Case Studies in Distribution Reliability 2007 is available as a stand-alone product from Chartwell for $895. The report is part of the Chartwell Energy Delivery & Reliability Series, which focuses on reliability issues in electric distribution systems.

The Research Series is a 12-month membership that includes a data summary and accompanying data based on Chartwell’s extensive annual utility survey; regular in-depth reports and case studies covering distribution reliability issues; one-on-one consultation with Chartwell research staff on topics covered; profiles of vendors poised to help utilities in this arena and more.

For information on the report or series membership, contact Bill Grist at (800) 432-5879, (404) 237-9099 or bgrist@chartwellinc.com; or visit www.chartwellinc.com or Chartwell’s Energy Library at www.energylibrary.com.

About Chartwell Inc.