When weather brings life to a halt, Huntsville Utilities keeps on truckin’

HUNTSVILLE – A utility has a unique problem.

People only think about their power company twice – when their power goes out and when their bill comes in.

Neither are good.

After the double tornado hits across the Tennessee Valley the week of July 17, there were 29,000 customers without power after the July 17. Huntsville Utilities restored all but a handful of homes within 24 hours.

Then, July 21, the second round hit.

The storms brought EF-0 and EF-1 tornadoes. They were small but, for Huntsville Utilities, if the  storms down power poles and powerlines, it doesn’t matter their strength – the crews mobilize.

It is important customers understand Huntsville Utilities will always get the power back on with as little delay as possible.

Todd Long, administrator of Community/Public Relations for Huntsville Utilities, explained to 256 Today the process when inclement weather is on the way, and how the repair process works.

In weather-related outages, Huntsville Utilities, working closely with the National Weather Service, has crews standing by and trucks loaded with spare power poles. As soon as they get the all-clear from NWS, they roll.

“The storms and weather that week in July were unusual because they were back-to-back storms,” said Long. “As soon as we got things back online, another storm hit.

“Each substation has breakers, similar to your home only obviously much more powerful to scale. When something goes wrong at the substation, it will cause the breaker to trip, and it sends alarms to those responsible for repairs as well as those of us who have the responsibility of keeping the public informed.”

Long said if they are going to have an outage, it is best it be a substation outage because technicians can get a lot of customers back online quickly once the problem is fixed.

Downed power poles and power lines, however, is a whole different scenario.

“In a situation like that, and why it took so long for some customers is because the storm knocked down trees into power lines, blew down poles and power lines,” he said.

“The problem with poles and lines being down is that it can knock out power, for instance, to some houses on a street but not others, and when you have that all across the county like we did in July, the linemen have to go street by street by street. And sometimes, it takes days to get a new pole and lines back up.

“We know that even an hour’s outage is inconvenient, but considering how many poles and lines were down throughout the county, it went pretty quickly. By comparison, Memphis got hit by same storm we did, and they had 100,000 people without power.”

Also, during the first storm, crews from four other utility companies including Decatur and Russellville brought trucks over to help Huntsville Utilities after the storm passed.

“We work biggest to smallest outages,” Long said. “So, if we have a substation breaker that has tripped, we try to reset that and bring the most number of customers back online at once. And if it is a substation that covers 1,500 people, we are going to hit that substation first, as opposed to a street where there is a line down or a transformer damaged affecting five houses.”

If you have ever wondered why your neighbor has power but you don’t, it is likely downed lines in your neighborhood.

Long also shared that power poles are sunk six feet into the ground, so if it has been knocked over or snapped off, it has to be replaced and that takes time.

He said there are also numerous crews out on the roads working and they are constantly radioing into dispatch their needs – a 45-foot pole, a 25-foot pole, cabling – and someone is going out to “stores” and getting what they need and getting it to them as soon as possible.

Amanda Kemp, Huntsville Utilities visual media administrator, was on call during the first storm. She went to the electric operations headquarters to hear dispatch calls and get the information out quicker to customers.

“In a situation like the two storms in July, the goal is to get every person back up and running as quickly and as safely as possible,” she said. “Even under normal conditions linework is a dangerous job.

“So, we need for the population to be prepared. The power may go out for two or three hours, but when that second storm hit, it took a little longer, and we know people got impatient, but it was a highly unusual situation.”

Here are some of the most common complaints during a serious storm outage and how to prevent them:

• I can’t use my CPAP without the power, and other medical-related outages.
  People with medical issues should have a backup plan from their doctor for if the power were to go out. They should speak with their doctors about critical needs and then understand the priority. A CPAP for instance, is not a critical need, but oxygen is. Make sure you have a backup plan from your doctor in case the power is off more than hour or two because the utilities cannot restore power to just one home.
• My power’s been out, and I haven’t seen a power truck.
  The crews do not come to individual houses. Not seeing a truck does not mean technicians aren’t working on it.
• I went out looking for a truck and haven’t seen any within my neighborhood.
  Don’t do that! Downed power lines and the rain are dangerous, and you could stumble into a situation that puts yourself and workers in danger.
• How long is it going to take to get the power back on?
  Customers should be assured Huntsville Utilities has dozens of crews out working after a storm and it is very difficult to determine timing. Poles are sunk six feet into the ground and replacing them sometimes a full day. If a transformer blew, it takes time to get it repaired or replaced, but that does not mean crews are not working on it.
• Stay informed.
  Huntsville Utilities sends out messages through social media, local news outlets, and by recorded updates by telephone. When the power is out, there is less access to information, but try using hotspots on your smartphone or a battery-operated emergency radio.
• If possible, buy a generator.
  They are a bit pricey, but they can be worth the investment if you have serious medical issues or other needs requiring power.
• Keep a weather alert radio.
  A weather radio running on batteries (keep the batteries fresh) will provide information about what is happening in the community, including updates on power outages.