NEW YORK STATE ELECTRIC & GAS ROCHESTER GAS AND ELECTRIC EMERGENCY RESPONSE PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT PART 105 REPORT WIND STORM MARCH 8 – MARCH 15, 2017 TABLE OF CONTENTS CONTENTS Executive Summary....................................................................................................................................................... 1 1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................... 3 1.1. Area and Incident Command System (ICS) Structure ................................................................................... 5 1.2. Restoration Priorities ................................................................................................................................. 11 1.2.1. System Restoration Priorities ................................................................................................................ 11 1.2.2. Customer Restoration Prioritization ...................................................................................................... 16 2. Planning and Preparation .............................................................................................................................. 17 2.1. Weather Forecasts and Planning Actions taken ........................................................................................ 17 2.1.1. March 6 .................................................................................................................................................. 18 2.1.2. March 7 .................................................................................................................................................. 18 2.1.3. March 8 .................................................................................................................................................. 19 3. System Restoration ........................................................................................................................................ 21 3.1. System Damage .......................................................................................................................................... 23 3.2. Resource Utilization ................................................................................................................................... 27 3.2.1. March 6 .................................................................................................................................................. 27 3.2.2. March 7 .................................................................................................................................................. 28 3.2.3. March 8 .................................................................................................................................................. 29 3.2.4. March 9 .................................................................................................................................................. 31 3.2.5. Ongoing Restoration Phase: .................................................................................................................. 34 3.3. Mutual Assistance ...................................................................................................................................... 36 3.3.1. Pre-Event ............................................................................................................................................... 36 3.3.2. Event ...................................................................................................................................................... 36 3.3.3. Internal Resource Moves ....................................................................................................................... 37 3.3.4. NAMAG .................................................................................................................................................. 37 3.3.5. Public/Private Mutual Assistance Protocol Mutual Assistance Group .................................................. 38 3.3.6. Winter Storm Stella ............................................................................................................................... 39 3.4. Internal Calls............................................................................................................................................... 40 3.5. PSC Reporting ............................................................................................................................................. 42 3.5.1. Notifications from Staff ......................................................................................................................... 42 3.5.2. EORS Submittals ..................................................................................................................................... 43 3.6. Estimated Time of Restoration (ETR) Management................................................................................... 44 3.6.1. Global ETR .............................................................................................................................................. 45 3.6.2. Regional and Local ETRs ......................................................................................................................... 46 3.7. Wires Down Management ......................................................................................................................... 47 3.8. Damage Assessment .................................................................................................................................. 50 3.8.1. March 8 RG&E Central ........................................................................................................................... 54 3.8.2. March 9 NYSEG Lockport ....................................................................................................................... 54 3.8.3. March 9 NYSEG Lancaster ...................................................................................................................... 54 NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) i 3.8.4. March 9 RG&E Central, including Sodus ................................................................................................ 54 3.8.5. March 10 ................................................................................................................................................ 55 3.8.6. March 11 – 19 ........................................................................................................................................ 55 3.9. Materials and Supplies ............................................................................................................................... 56 4.0 Communications and Customer Support ...................................................................................................... 59 4.1. Customer Relations Center (CRC)............................................................................................................... 60 4.1.1. RG&E ...................................................................................................................................................... 60 4.1.2. NYSEG .................................................................................................................................................... 61 4.1.3. Upfront Greetings .................................................................................................................................. 61 4.1.4. Inbound Customer Calls: IVR and Customer Representatives ............................................................... 62 4.1.5. Outage Representative Staffing ............................................................................................................. 65 4.2. Life Sustaining Equipment (LSE), Special Needs, and Critical Facilities ...................................................... 66 4.2.1. Life Sustaining Equipment Customers ................................................................................................... 66 4.2.2. Automated calls to LSE and Special Needs Customers .......................................................................... 66 4.2.3. Critical Facilities ..................................................................................................................................... 68 4.3. Customer Appeals ...................................................................................................................................... 69 4.4. Public Outreach .......................................................................................................................................... 70 4.4.1. Media Summary ..................................................................................................................................... 71 4.4.2. Direct Media Interactions: ..................................................................................................................... 74 4.4.3. Social Media Posts and Customer Engagement: ................................................................................... 76 4.4.4. Emails to Customers: ............................................................................................................................. 79 4.4.5. Websites ................................................................................................................................................ 81 4.4.6. Outage Alerts – Communication by Phone, Email and/or Text ............................................................. 81 4.5. Municipal Outreach.................................................................................................................................... 86 4.5.1. Proactive Municipal Outreach – Pre-Event ............................................................................................ 86 4.5.2. Municipal Officials’ Conference Calls ..................................................................................................... 86 4.5.3. Municipal Outreach and Coordination – During Event .......................................................................... 89 4.5.4. County/EOC Coordination ..................................................................................................................... 91 4.5.5. Documentation Methods ....................................................................................................................... 93 4.6. Community Assistance ............................................................................................................................... 94 4.6.1. Dry Ice and Bottled Water ..................................................................................................................... 94 5. Safety.............................................................................................................................................................. 95 6. Self-Assessment ............................................................................................................................................. 98 6.1. What Went Well......................................................................................................................................... 98 6.1.1. Preparation Phase.................................................................................................................................. 98 6.1.2. Restoration Phase .................................................................................................................................. 99 6.2. Areas For Improvement ........................................................................................................................... 100 6.2.1. Preparation Phase................................................................................................................................ 100 6.2.2. Restoration Phase ................................................................................................................................ 101 NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) ii TABLE OF TABLES Table 1: Historical Weather Events ...............................................................................................................................2 Table 2: System Priorities ............................................................................................................................................11 Table 3: Equipment Priorities ......................................................................................................................................12 Table 4: Internal Bullitin Regarding Dig Safely .............................................................................................................15 Table 5: Critical Facility Descriptions ...........................................................................................................................16 Table 6: Customers Outages and ETRs ........................................................................................................................22 Table 7: Distribution System Damage Summary .........................................................................................................23 Table 8: NYSEG Lancaster/Lockport Transmission Circuit Outage Summary ..............................................................24 Table 9: RG&E Central/Sodus Transmission Circuit Outage Summary ........................................................................24 Table 10: NYSEG Lancaster/Lockport Distribution Circuit Outage Summary ..............................................................25 Table 11: RG&E Central/Lakeshore Distribution Circuit Outage Summary (Lockouts) ................................................25 Table 12: Substation and Circuit Impacts ....................................................................................................................26 Table 13: Rochester Line FTEs arrived or En route by 3/11/17 at 06:00 AM ..............................................................33 Table 14: Rochester and Sodus Tree Crews arrived or En route by 3/11/17 at 06:00 AM ..........................................33 Table 15: Lockport and Lancaster Line FTEs arrived or En route by 3/10/17 at 09:00 PM .........................................33 Table 16: Lockport and Lancaster Tree Crews arrived or En route by 3.10.17 at 09:00 PM .......................................33 Table 17: CMP and UI FTEs ..........................................................................................................................................34 Table 18: Rochester Line FTEs arrived or En route by 3/13/17 ...................................................................................34 Table 19: Rochester and Lancaster Tree Crews arrived or EN route by 3/13/17 ........................................................34 Table 20: NYSEG Lancaster Resources by Day .............................................................................................................35 Table 21: NYSEG Lockport Resources by Day ..............................................................................................................35 Table 22: RG&E Central by Day....................................................................................................................................35 Table 23: RG&E Sodus Resources by Day ....................................................................................................................35 Table 24: Internal Call Schedule ..................................................................................................................................41 Table 25: Notifications from Staff ................................................................................................................................42 Table 26: EORS Submittals ...........................................................................................................................................43 Table 27: Response to P/F/P tickets for NYSEG Lockport and RG&E Sodus ................................................................47 Table 28: Response to P/F/P tickets for NYSEG Lancaster and RG&E Central .............................................................48 Table 29: Company Wire Guards Trained ....................................................................................................................49 Table 30: Wire Guards Deployed .................................................................................................................................49 Table 31: Cumulative Wires Down by Day...................................................................................................................49 Table 32: Trained Damage Assessors by Division ........................................................................................................50 Table 33: Damage Assessors by Day ............................................................................................................................52 Table 34: Sample OMS Data for NYSEG Lancaster/Lockport Damage (March 8) ........................................................53 Table 35: Transformer Availability ...............................................................................................................................57 Table 36: Pole Availability ............................................................................................................................................57 Table 37: Storm Kit Availability ....................................................................................................................................58 Table 38: NYSEG Electric Emergency Call Answer Rate ...............................................................................................63 Table 39: RG&E Electric Emergency Call Answer Rate ................................................................................................64 Table 40: CRC Staffing ..................................................................................................................................................65 Table 41: Blaster Call Details .......................................................................................................................................67 NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) iii Table 42: Critical Facilitites Called by Day ...................................................................................................................68 Table 43: INquiry Disposition by Division ....................................................................................................................69 Table 44: News Releases .............................................................................................................................................70 Table 45: Media Interactions .......................................................................................................................................74 Table 46: Media Interactions Continued .....................................................................................................................75 Table 47: Social Media Engagement ............................................................................................................................78 Table 48: Twitter and Facebook Engagement by Date ................................................................................................78 Table 49: NYSEG Customer Emails ...............................................................................................................................79 Table 50: RG&E Customer Emails ................................................................................................................................80 Table 51: NYSEG Alerts ................................................................................................................................................81 Table 52: RG&E Alerts ..................................................................................................................................................82 Table 53: Phone Call Scripts.........................................................................................................................................83 Table 54: Text Message Scripts....................................................................................................................................84 Table 55: EOCs and Staffing Requests .........................................................................................................................91 Table 56: EOC Staffing .................................................................................................................................................92 Table 57: Dry Ice and Bottled Water Distribution Locations .......................................................................................94 Table 58: Safety Incidents ............................................................................................................................................97 TABLE OF FIGURES Figure 1: Area Command ICS Structure .........................................................................................................................7 Figure 2: Area Command Deputy ICS Structure.............................................................................................................8 Figure 3: Incident Command ICS Structure ....................................................................................................................9 Figure 4: Blue Sky Roles ...............................................................................................................................................10 Figure 5: EEI Measures ................................................................................................................................................17 Figure 6: Atmos Forecast from March 8 at 7:10 AM ...................................................................................................19 Figure 7: March 8 Storm Mode notification Emails .....................................................................................................21 Figure 8: March 6 Email outlining planned activities to prepare for the weather event. ...........................................27 Figure 9: March 7 Email outlining planned activities to prepare for the weather event. ...........................................30 Figure 10: Outage Detected Email ...............................................................................................................................84 Figure 11: Outage Detected with ETR Email ................................................................................................................85 Figure 12: Outage Restored Email ...............................................................................................................................85 NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) iv TABLE OF PHOTOS Photo 1: Photo of Storm Damage Taken March 11 in Brighton, NY ..............................................................................4 Photo 2: Sample of Level 1 priority wire down of a phase-to-phase arc. Still Photo Taken From Video. ..................13 Photo 3: Photo of Storm Damage Taken March 11 in Lancaster, NY ..........................................................................20 Photo 4: Photo of Storm Damage Taken March 10 in GreeCe, NY ..............................................................................22 Photo 5: Photo of Storm Damage Taken March 11 in Rochester, NY .........................................................................26 Photo 6: Photo of Storm Damage Taken March 10 in Webster, NY ............................................................................39 Photo 7: Photo of Storm Damage Taken March 11 in Greece, NY ..............................................................................41 Photo 8: Photo of Storm Damage Taken March 10 in Penfield, NY ............................................................................46 Photo 9: Photo of Storm Damage Taken March 12 in Lancaster, NY ..........................................................................55 Photo 10: Photo of Storm Damage Taken March 10 in Rochster, NY .........................................................................58 Photo 11: Photo of Storm Damage on March 9 ..........................................................................................................82 Photo 12: Photo of Storm Damage Taken March 10 in Penfield, NY ..........................................................................93 Photo 13: Photo of Storm Response on March 10 in Greece, NY................................................................................94 Photo 14: Photo of Storm Damage Taken March 11 in Rochester, NY .......................................................................96 APPENDICES A: NYSEG and RG&E Electric Emergency Response Plan B: Division Maps, Weather Forecasts, Damage Prediction Models and Crew Details C: Other Procedures D: Outage Data Summary E: Customer Contacts F: News Releases, Website Updates and Social Media G: PSC EORS Reports H: Municipal Outreach I: NAMAG Conference Call Notes J: LSE and CF data K: Incident Action Plans NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) v EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report details the emergency preparation and restoration efforts of New York State Electric & Gas Corporation (NYSEG) and Rochester Gas and Electric Corporation (RG&E) (the Companies) before, during and immediately following the windstorm that affected the area on March 8, 2017. The windstorm brought system-wide damage of a scale comparable to other substantial weather events, including Superstorm Sandy and Tropical Storms Irene and Lee. More than 250,000 NYSEG and RG&E customers experienced power outages during the storm with Lancaster (NYSEG), Lockport (NYSEG), Central (RG&E) and Sodus (RG&E) being the hardest hit areas. While 14 of 17 divisions experienced at least 1,000 customer outages, nearly 170,000 customer outages occurred in RG&E Central and more than 56,000 occurred in the NYSEG Lancaster and Lockport areas. While winds continued to affect the service territories until late on March 9, service restoration began as soon as it was safe for crews to work. For NYSEG, this was in the evening of March 8 and, for RG&E, the morning of March 9. Service was restored on March 11 to all customers in the Lockport (NYSEG) and Sodus (RG&E) areas, on March 13 in Lancaster (NYSEG), and on March 15 in the Central area (RG&E), which was the most severely affected area. This report will describe the methods and procedures that the Companies use to restore power in a safe and efficient manner in accordance with our filed and approved Electric Utility Emergency Response Plan (the Plan). The Plan lays the groundwork for successful restoration following emergencies of all sizes. For the March 8 windstorm, over 5,000 personnel responded to the event. This includes 3,000 field personnel from internal, contract and mutual aid sources. Crews from New York, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Vermont, Virginia and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick, Ontario, and Quebec all contributed to the restoration efforts. For this event, 921 poles and more than 300 distribution transformers were replaced. In addition more than 6,000 wires down were reported. Despite the significant damage, the Companies had adequate supplies available and distributed total of 81.95 tons of dry ice and 9,292.4 gallons of water during the response. NYSEG received 66,121 outage calls between March 8 and March 13 while RG&E received and handled 76,426 outage calls between March 8 and March 15. As the table that follows demonstrates, the wind gusts during this storm were comparable to Superstorm Sandy and those experienced in the NYSEG service area during Irene and Lee in July of 2012. While the Irene and Lee response occurred in the summer months, both the Superstorm Sandy and March windstorm restorations were affected by winter weather and snow events. However, the weather event occurring during the March 8 windstorm restoration efforts, unofficially named Winter Storm Stella, was more extreme than Superstorm Sandy’s Winter Storm Athena. As a result of Winter Storm Stella, the western New York areas were affected by extreme cold temperatures (lows of 12 degrees F) and 26.5 inches of lake effect snows during the windstorm restoration effort. NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 1 of 102 Measure NYSEG and RG&E March Windstorm Superstorm Sandy / Winter Storm Athena Tropical Storms Irene/Lee Forecasted weather Wind gusts of 50 mph in western NY likely, 60 mph possible; followed by nor’easter forecast for eastern NY and lake effect for western NY and Rochester areas Hurricane forecast to make landfall with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph; all company areas in forecast target Actual Weather Winds above 30 mph with gusts to 75 mph continued for 29 hours Customers affected (electricity services) Gusts exceed 70 mph in western NY, 81 mph in Rochester, followed by cold temps, significant snowfall in Southern Tier and western NY NYSEG: 88,478 RG&E: 179,471 Peak Customer Impact NYSEG: 47,847, 3/8 4 PM RG&E: 123,233, 3/8 8 PM NYSEG: 117,000 RG&E: 27,000 NYSEG: 56,237 Broken Poles 921 1,110 167 Wires Down Transformers damaged 6,080* 302* 7,695 516 1,256 56 Duration (start – fully restored) NYSEG: 6 days RG&E: 8 days NYSEG: 11 days RG&E: 6 days NYSEG: 6 days 143,303 NOAA issues general guidance for strong to severe weather; NWS reports moderate risk of severe weather over SE NY and NY/PA border (45% chance of 75 mph winds) Wind gusts at 50 – 55 mph, exceeding 75 mph, two tornados at 80-100 mph in Elmira, extensive flooding 98,324 * Damage is listed for NYSEG Lancaster and Lockport and RG&E Central and Sodus divisions only. TABLE 1: HISTORICAL WEATHER EVENTS The Companies believe our overall response to this event was well executed; however, we strive for a corporate culture of constant improvement. As part of this culture, both NYSEG and RG&E hold after action debriefs to identify and standardize best practices as well as determine areas that could be improved. The final section in this report outlines our self-assessment to this event and actions the Companies are taking to improve our processes. NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 2 of 102 1. INTRODUCTION This report is being submitted in compliance with 16 NYCRR, Part 105 as directed by the New York State Department of Public Service. It summarizes the preparation and restoration efforts by NYSEG and RG&E (the Companies) in response to the windstorm of March 8 and focuses on the hardest hit areas which include the NYSEG Lancaster and Lockport divisions and the RG&E Central and Sodus divisions (see Appendix B for Company maps). NYSEG and RG&E began monitoring and preparing for a wind event beginning on March 6, which followed a prior windstorm on March 1. The forecast for the March 8 event was similar to the ones for March 1, with no advance indication that wind gusts would exceed 70 miles per hour. Incident and Area Command teams were partially activated in preparation beginning Monday, March 6, and expanded through Tuesday, March 7, with full Area Command activation occurring the afternoon of March 8. Service restoration began as soon as it was safe for crews to work. For NYSEG, this was in the evening of March 8 and, for RG&E, the morning of March 9. All customers were fully restored by March 15. Throughout the event, mutual assistance agreements were enacted, with resources coming from New York, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Vermont, Virginia, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick, Ontario, and Quebec. Further details on system damage, activation, planning and mutual assistance are detailed in Section 3. The Companies closely followed their Electric Emergency Response Plan (the Plan), included with this Report as Appendix A, in preparing for and responding to the March 8 windstorm. The Plan is updated annually and was approved by the New York Public Service Commission on March 13, 2017. The objectives of the plan are to:  Ensure the safety of employees, contractors, customers and the public;  Establish procedures that facilitate prompt and efficient response utilizing the Incident Command System (ICS) concepts and provide a coordinated and systematic approach to emergency preparedness and response;  Minimize service interruption time and the resulting impacts to customers;  Provide information to customers and officials on response progress; and  Provide a measure for evaluating the Companies' recovery from emergencies and a process for self-assessment and continuous improvement. NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 3 of 102 This report will provide the following information:  A chronology of planning and preparation activity, including weather forecasts, communications and resource planning. (Section 2)  System restoration information, including the Companies’ ICS organization, restoration prioritization, PSC reporting, internal calls, mutual assistance, customer outages, estimated time of restoration (ETR) management, wires down management, damage assessment process, system damage, and resource utilization. (Section 3)  Communication and customer support, including customer relations center activity, customer appeals, Life Sustaining Equipment (LSE) customer and Critical Facility contacts, community assistance, public outreach, and municipal outreach (Section 4)  Safety, including injuries (Section 5)  Self-assessment including the process followed, what went well and areas for improvement (Section 6) PHOTO 1: PHOTO OF STORM DAMAGE TAKEN MARCH 11 IN BRIGHTON, NY NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 4 of 102 1.1. AREA AND INCIDENT COMMAND SYSTEM (ICS) STRUCTURE The Companies’ response structure is modeled after the ICS framework developed by the National Incident Management System – Incident Command System Emergency Responder Field Operations Guide, based on the Department of Homeland Security National Incident Management System – Incident Command System – Emergency Responder Field Operations Guide, October 2010. ICS provides for a standardized, on-scene, all-hazards incident management approach that:    Allows for the integration of facilities, equipment, personnel, procedures, and communications operating within a common organizational structure; Enables a coordinated response among various jurisdictions and functional agencies, both public and private; and Establishes common processes for planning and managing resources. The Companies’ ICS organizational structure has been modified to accommodate the utilities sector. It is intended to be flexible and expand or contract as the situation warrants. It has two layers: an Area Command layer that coordinates companywide activity and an Incident Command layer to deal specifically with each affected operating area/division. Area Command has seven major functions, each led by a deputy or officer: Planning, Logistics, Public Information, Public Liaison (Outreach), Finance, Documentation and Safety, and includes an Area Commander Deputy to assist the Area Commander in managing these functions effectively. The two-layer structure ensures that priorities and resource allocations are based on system-wide needs and that Incident Command operations are consistent with corporate responsibilities. For smaller, localized events only the Incident Command level might be activated. The second layer, Incident Command, has six major functions: Planning, Operations, Logistics, Information, Outreach and Safety. Reporting to the Incident Commander are Section Chiefs and Officers, who may have Branch Directors and other personnel reporting to them during an emergency, and Command Staff (Coordinators and some Officers). For significant emergencies, often those of wide Company impact which may involve multiple Incident Commanders, the Area Command is activated. For this event, both Area and Incident Command were activated simultaneously, first to monitor initial forecasts and preparatory response, and then with full scale command staff activation after impact. In support of the Companies’ Area Command there are executive and advisory groups engaged to provide help, guidance and remove any potential barriers. In this event, these groups were engaged at the pre-planning phase and throughout restoration. Additionally, Area and Incident Command teams are supported by organizations that are fully assigned to their regular duties as these tasks support critical business functions. Termed informally “blue sky roles,” these groups include but are not limited to Customer Relations Center, Energy Control Center, Environmental Services, and Corporate Security. NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 5 of 102 Area and Incident Commanders are responsible for all aspects of response unless and until they activate other ICS roles and delegate tasks to those individuals. Depending upon the scope of an emergency, the Area and Incident Commanders have the option of activating whichever positions are deemed necessary to manage the current event. A key ICS concept is to maintain a manageable span of control; typically with three-to-seven subordinates to each position. As an event escalates, the number of involved personnel increases as the ICS expands in order to maintain a manageable span of control. The Companies’ ICS structure maintains this manageable span. It also ensures:        Common terminology and clear text; A modular and flexible organization; Management by objectives; Use of an Incident Action Plan; Resource management: processes for categorizing; ordering; dispatching; tracking; and recovering resources; Chain of command and unity of command; and Information management: gathering, sharing and speaking with one voice. In this case, NYSEG and RG&E had ICS activation according to the needs required of this type of Class III Event, with Incident Command teams in the Companies’ Lancaster and Lockport divisions at NYSEG and RG&E Central and Sodus at RG&E. Also due to event scope, the Area Command team co-located to RG&E’s West Avenue facility at the onset of the event. At NYSEG and RG&E, the Incident Commander (IC) is generally responsible for all incident activities, including the execution of strategies, tactics and the ordering and release of resources. The IC manages of all emergency response operations specific to the area they supervise. In this event the Companies activated positions according to the figures below: NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 6 of 102 Area Commander Area Commander Deputy* Area Command Assistant Area Command – Safety Officer Area Commander Deputy structure shown on a separate chart Assistant Area Commander Planning Incident Commander Incident Commander Incident Commander Incident Commander Contractor Coordinator Vegetation Management Coordinator Incident Commander Structure shown on a separate chart Aviation Coordinator Resource Tracking Coordinator Planning Section MAG Liaison OMS Coordinator Support Pool (Admin and Field) FIGURE 1: AREA COMMAND ICS STRUCTURE NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 7 of 102 Area Commander Deputy* Area Command Deputy Assistant Assistant Area Commander Logistics Assistant Area Commander Public Information Officer Assistant Area Commander Public Liaison Officer Stores Coordinator Website Coordinator SOEM/MEMA Liaisons Fleet Coordinator Customer Response Messaging Unit Leader PLO Support IT Coordinator Facilities Coordinator Security Coordinator Food and Lodging Coordinator Assistant Area Commander Finance/Admin Assistant Area Commander Documentation Documentation Coordinator Customer Response Messaging Support Email Coordinator Internal Communication Coordinator Social Media Reporting Coordinator Dry Ice/Bottled Water Coordinator Critical Needs Branch Director Life Support Equipment Customer Coordinator Critical Facility Coordinator Recorded Call Coordinator Coordinator – An individual who coordinates activities in the field working with people who report to the local Incident Commander. They DO NOT supervise those roles in the field. Branch Directors and Section Chiefs – An individual with supervisory responsibilities. FIGURE 2: AREA COMMAND DEPUTY ICS STRUCTURE NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 8 of 102 Incident Commander Planning Section Chief Operations Section Chief Logistics Section Chief Crew Tracking Unit Leader Transmission/ Distribution Branch Director Dry Ice / Bottled Water Unit Leader OMS / ETR Support Branch Director Substation Branch Director Special Project Coordinator Wires Down Branch Director Food/Lodging Unit Leader Vegetation Management Branch Director Logistics Support Branch Director Circuit Information Coordinator Damage Assessment Branch Director Pole Setting Branch Director GIS Mapping Support Field Circuit Coordinator Safety Officer Public Information Officer Public Liaison Officer Liaison (County and Local) Fleet Unit Leader Facility Unit Leader IT Unit Leader Supply Unit Leader Security Unit Leader FIGURE 3: INCIDENT COMMAND ICS STRUCTURE NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 9 of 102 Blue Sky Roles Event Oversight Customer Facing Operations Corporate Systems Post Event Emergency Preparedness Customer Relations Center Electric Operations Corporate Security Asset Management and Planning Executive Team Customer Service Energy Control Center Facilities Talent Management HR Life Support Advocate Environmental Services IT Support Retail Access, Customer Sat and Appeals Line Operations Operations Technology Pilot Stores Service Restoration Crews Telecom Substation Operations Vegetation Management FIGURE 4: BLUE SKY ROLES NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 10 of 102 1.2. RESTORATION PRIORITIES The Companies followed their Plan with regards to the Plan’s Section 8, Restoration. The first priority in any event, including this windstorm event, is the make safe period of the Companies’ restoration process, as outlined in Section 8.1.3 of the Plan which includes: Make safe efforts involve the classification and clearing of wires down and other hazards that may occur during storm events. The make safe process is in conjunction with the ICS/NIMS order of core priorities: Life Safety, Incident Stabilization, and Property Preservation. Specifically, wires down calls will be prioritized based on potential danger i.e. wires down on occupied vehicle or near populated area and/or determined as energized (arcing and burning). Resources are dispatched to identify and verify if the wires are energized or de-energized; and if energized, they are then made safe or appropriately guarded, until finally repaired. This effort will be coordinated with local and municipal agencies, to ensure the related activities such as opening roads or reestablishing access to critical facilities are included in the prioritization within the ‘make safe’ process. 1.2.1. SYSTEM RESTORATION PRIORITIES The Companies have set system restoration priorities, as outlined in the Plan, on seven system levels and four equipment levels. For this wind event, each Incident Commander was responsible to ensure that the levels were adhered to, and provided reports to Area Command through their filed Incident Action Plans (IAPs) (attached to this report as Appendix K) and during regularly scheduled Area Command meetings. Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 System Description Cases indicating that dangerous conditions exist such as live primary wires down, fires, or where danger to life is involved, shall be given immediate attention, that is, assigned the highest priority and addressed accordingly. Repairs to the transmission system that are causing customer outages. Repairs to substations:  Bulk power and transmission substations and switching stations  Distribution substations Primary distribution feeders and where practical:  Give priority to those feeders supplying concentrations of critical facilities  Restore primary feeders supplying the largest number of customers.  When completing restoration work in a specific area or location, consideration should be given to the complete restoration of customer service including those listed in 5 and 6 below in order to facilitate the total overall restoration process. Secondaries including distribution transformers supplying groups of customers. Individual services. Street lighting circuits. (Note: During lengthy emergencies street lighting in certain areas may be assigned a higher priority for security reasons as requested by local civil authorities.) TABLE 2: SYSTEM PRIORITIES NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 11 of 102 Electric system equipment restoration is prioritized as: Level 1 2      3  4      Equipment Description Power transmission equipment necessary to carry the system loads that are immediate or based on the short-term forecast o Restoration of this equipment is required in order to prevent the need to shed load, which would put additional customers out of service o The appropriate Branch Directors/Section Chiefs will make this determination Transmission and sub-transmission circuits that are locked out Substations that serve customers in the first priority category Distribution circuits that are locked out Distribution circuits with large sections out-of-service that will be restored based on: o Presence of customers in the first or second priority categories o Number of customers served by the section Based on customer priority categories: o Three-phase main line of the distribution circuit o Three-phase side taps o Single-phase side taps o Individual transformers o Individual services Individual services that are off Flickering and partial lights Limbs on wires, lights on Low wires All others that remain TABLE 3: EQUIPMENT PRIORITIES While still in the active wind event, the Companies were receiving reports of system level 1 hazards, including downed wires and wires on vehicles. For example, there were eight reports of wires on vehicles at RG&E on March 8. A sample Level 1 report is #300000711863 in the town of Webster, “Tree fell and wire lying on a car with the customer in it. Publishers Pkwy @ Hard Rd. Per fire” This was reported on March 8 at 2:50 PM and was completed by line crews by 4:00 PM that day. The Incident Command team focused on ensuring safety, mobilizing damage assessment teams, and including line resources in the field to make safe.  The line crews performed make safe activities by opening cut outs of large feeders with wires down, and where possible performed sectionalizing by operating switches to energize undamaged portions of the circuit while isolating sections where extensive damage had occurred.  If restoration was possible for some customers without slowing down make safe activities, this work was performed. However, Operations Section instructions to crews reinforced that due to the amount of damage reported and documented through SCADA and Outage Management System (OMS) system reports, their focus was to be on making safe.  Line crews observed significant tree damage, along with reports in OMS, and began reporting areas where tree damage had occurred and made safe, providing information to the tree crews so they could safely perform their work. NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 12 of 102 PHOTO 2: SAMPLE OF LEVEL 1 PRIORITY WIRE DOWN OF A PHASE-TO-PHASE ARC. STILL PHOTO TAKEN FROM VIDEO. OMS and SCADA data was analyzed by the Incident Command team who were in contact with ECC personnel. ECC personnel indicated that they had received alarms noting that there were transmission system issues. Incident Command dispatched substation resources (utility construction and maintenance [UC&M] resources) to the five NYSEG substations served by the transmission system (Collesville, Bennington, Wales, West Varysburg, Java) and the eight RG&E transmission circuits (34.5 kV circuits 733, 773, 761, 748, 747, 745, 764, 792) to isolate the trouble. In addition to ECC notifications, the division office also used data provided by fault indicators on the transmission system that communicated the points of failure to identify the source of the damage. UC&M crews were able to isolate the trouble and opened breakers on the affected substation to restore the transmission system. For details regarding restoration of substation and transmission circuits see Section 3.1 System Damage. As conditions allowed, Line resources were dispatched to the affected substations. Once at the substation, the line crews de-energized the affected circuits and began patrols of the circuit focused on identifying any unsafe conditions (wires down), isolating that condition, and where possible, began to restore portions of the affected customers on the circuit who were upstream from the source of the trouble. During the evening of March 8 the Incident Command teams used OMS, along with damage reports from the field, to identify the circuits with the largest number of customers impacted, and as conditions became safe on the morning of March 9 assigned these circuits to field circuit coordinators (FCCs) to begin repair and restoration activity. As OMS data was being reviewed for customer counts to prioritize NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 13 of 102 restoration, Incident Command was also receiving information from the Public Liaison Officer regarding any critical facilities that required prioritization. The complexity of the electric system in the Rochester area with regards to the underground system, multiple circuit ties and automated recloser schemes creates unique safety and restoration issues which requires and received particular focus and attention by Incident Command. The safety and restoration concerns were addressed in three separate ways, with the goal of adding multiple layers of safety.  For awareness purposes, during the initial onboarding process the Mutual Aid line crews were provided a description of the electrical system which contained information regarding the system configuration described earlier, along with the system voltages and other relevant information. The Mutual Aid crews were assigned FCCs with local knowledge of the system, in some cases the FCCs were retirees of the line department that had been hired back to assist with storm restoration.  The Planning Section Chief, with guidance and input from the Energy Control Center identified circuits that would be worked with local line crews rather than with outside crews.  When the amount of Mutual Aid crews expanded rapidly in response to the level of damage, local trouble and line crews were redeployed to directly lead the Mutual Aid line crews, enabling a safe and efficient use of the incoming line resources. As damage assessment data identified broken poles, or any facilities that involved utility coordination, the Pole Setting Branch Director was coordinating with Dig Safe NY (DSNY) to ensure proper procedures were followed. To expedite restoration, NYSEG and RG&E took the responsibility to replace/set poles versus involving other utilities. A copy of code rule 753 was distributed to key ICS staff in the pole room. The Companies’ Gas Operations personnel issued a safety bulletin related to damage prevention provided below. Coordination with Dig Safe NY was continuous throughout the event. At RG&E the majority of the pole holes were hand dug by contractors, others by company or mutual aid personnel. In some instances the holes were hand dug to prevent delays while waiting for stakeouts to clear. While in other cases, hand digging was necessary due to the pole location. Many poles were in rear lots with limited access to mechanized digging equipment. The pole digging process is fully compliant with Dig Safe requirements. If augers or other mechanical means were used for excavation then Dig Safe procedures were also followed. NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 14 of 102 Example of internal bulletin regarding Dig Safely: Process for Pole Replacement During Storm Damage Prevention Initiative  Call in by phone or I-Notice through the web all dig safe tickets for pole hole excavations being excavated by means of power equipment o Be sure to enter in comments that “(name of company) is performing work for RG&E”  Check all DSNY ticket locations against our ARC GIS maps to verify if any gas facilities are involved within the excavation area  Provide a working list of pole hole locations to Underground Facility Inspector (UFI) personnel o  If there is no gas located in vicinity after UFI checked, then no further action is necessary For excavations that show gas in area via maps, have UFI personnel act as crew guides for pole excavating crews to ensure stakeout has been completed o NOTE: If stakeout is not completed upon arrival UFI personnel can stakeout our facilities utilizing their Tough Books to access GIS Maps to confirm facility locations  Crews performing pole excavations MUST wait for a positive response from all agencies on DSNY tickets prior to excavating, unless the entire excavation is dug by hand or by vacuum excavation  If gas facilities are not within 15’ of pole hole/excavation, an all-clear will be provided to the excavator by RG&E  If High Pressure facilities are found to be within the area of excavation a High Pressure standby is required prior to excavation TABLE 4: INTERNAL BULLITIN REGARDING DIG SAFELY NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 15 of 102 1.2.2. CUSTOMER RESTORATION PRIORITIZATION In addition to prioritizing restoration on system concerns, customer restoration is also prioritized. There are three levels of customer prioritization associated with facilities critical to public health and safety. Level 1 Critical Facility Descriptions  Hospitals and Emergency Medical Facilities  Emergency Shelters and Cooling Centers  Fire, Police, Paramedic and Rescue Facilities  Emergency Management Offices  Water and Waste Water  Critical Utility and Communication Facilities  Fuel Transfer, Distribution, and Fuel Loading Facilities (ports)  Mass Transit (tunnels, bridges, ferry terminals, major rail facilities)  Airports  Military Bases  Critical Flood Control Structures 2  Nursing Homes and Dialysis Centers  Facilities to Support Other Critical Government Functions  Prisons and Correctional Facilities  Communication (Radio, TV, etc.) 3  Event Specific Concerns  High Rise Residential Buildings – 12 stories or greater  Facilities providing key products and services  Managed accounts, large employers and other key facilities Critical Facility definitions referenced in the above figure are:  Level 1: Critical to public health and safety.  Level 2: May include some of the same types of facilities described for Level 1 depending on the event type. These facilities provide significant public services but are considered to some extent less critical by government agencies.  Level 3: These facilities provide public services but are considered to some extent less critical than Level 2 by government agencies. TABLE 5: CRITICAL FACILITY DESCRIPTIONS Critical facility customers are identified prior to events and are coded in the system to ensure prioritization during the event. Circumstances in a particular Division or emergency may warrant flexibility with the above priorities. In those cases Incident Command Branch Directors/Section Chiefs, often in consultation with local and regional authorities, may change restoration priorities to satisfy specific emergency situations. During this event, the Incident Commander developed a priority restoration list in conjunction with information from the Public Liaison Officers (PLOs) and Section Chiefs. In addition, the Companies work to assist with other situations and facilities that may not be considered as Level 1, 2 or 3 priorities but are important to the communities we serve. For example, RG&E worked to have power restored to 15 schools in time for classes to resume on Monday, March 13. Of these 11 were restored by Sunday, March 12. The remaining four schools were restored on March 13. NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 16 of 102 2. PLANNING AND PREPARATION This section provides a chronology of the activities that the Companies took to activate and prepare for the weather and includes information regarding the meteorological resources relied upon by the Companies. The meteorological resources include an Energy Event Indicator (EEI) rating, with specific forecasts for each division, and a summary of how forecasts feed into the Companies’ damage prediction model. Preparation activities discussed in this section include activation of area and incident command and an overview scheduled event preparation calls. As local weather conditions changed dramatically from forecasted conditions (and deteriorated), the past experience of incident management personnel drove the Companies to undertake additional preparatory activities. 2.1. WEATHER FORECASTS AND PLANNING ACTIONS TAKEN Two contract meteorologist companies, Schneider Electric and Atmos, provide forecasts to the Companies multiple times daily, including when warnings are issued or there are significant changes in the forecasts. The Companies also use National Weather Service and other publically available weather data. Schneider Electric’s forecast includes an Energy Event Index (EEI) rated 1-5, which rates the potential severity of several weather conditions including wind speed, wind gust, snow and ice. An EEI-1 is the lowest severity level while an EEI-5 is the most severe rating that is given. See below for further details: FIGURE 5: EEI MEASURES When a forecasted weather event indicates an EEI-2 or higher, Emergency Preparedness personnel run the Companies’ damage prediction model (DPM). The primary inputs for the DPM are the weather forecasts. The primary outputs of the DPM are potential number of customers impacted, equipment damage and resource requirements. Leading into this weather event, no forecast was received above an EEI-2. The week prior, on March 1, the Companies had experienced a wind event with gusts over 60 mph, followed by an underground network outage at RG&E on Sunday at 4:34 AM. For the March 1 wind event, the weather forecast had indicated winds from 40-60 mph, with resulting winds at 60 mph causing more than 106,000 interruptions, 217 broken poles, and all but three Divisions (13 of 16) reaching major storm classification. On Monday, March 6, at 8:16 AM and 10:15 AM the Energy Control Center (ECC) issued a NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 17 of 102 broadcast email alerting employees that NYSEG and RG&E respectively were no longer in Storm Mode for the March 1 event. 2.1.1. MARCH 6 At 6 AM on March 6, the Schneider Electric weather forecast included, an EEI-2 level warning for a potential weather event, stating the following: Spotty rain/snow showers are expected to develop during the day. Rainfall: Up to 0.10”. This activity will transition to lake effect snow showers at night. Snowfall amounts are expected to remain below hazard levels. Strong west-southwest winds sustained at 16-28 mph will develop during the day. Common gusts of 35-45 mph can be expected with peak gusts up to 50 mph possible. The potential for stronger gusts will have to be monitored. EEI-2/3 gust chance: 80%/10%. As a result of the EEI-2 forecast, Emergency Preparedness ran the damage prediction model (DPM); the model indicated a potential impact of nearly 4,500 customer outages with 45 incidents at NYSEG and a potential impact of about 3,200 customer outages and 26 incidents at RG&E. These levels would be considered slightly increased trouble from normal baseline. It is important to note that this first, as well as later pre-event DPM runs consistently predicted damage levels well within the ability to manage effectively given current onsite Company and contractor resources, with full restoration anticipated within 24 hours. (Damage Prediction Model results can be found in Appendix B.) Based on the available forecast and DPM results, Area Command, Electric Operations leadership and Incident Commanders prepared for a potential event. As per normal procedures, Company and crew counts were assessed (the contract crew counts are confirmed each Monday and daily rosters are queried and emailed to Area Command, Area Command Planning and Emergency Preparedness using ARCOS (a commercially-available call out system)). Given the anticipated location of the outages, Incident Commanders remained in the Companies’ NYSEG Lancaster/Lockport divisions and RG&E Central. 2.1.2. MARCH 7 At 6AM on March 7, the Schneider Electric weather forecast remained at an EEI-2 threat level, with forecasted maximum wind gusts of 50 to 60 mph. TOMORROW: Isolated light rain/snow showers possible through the day, however mostly dry conditions expected. Lake-effect snow showers are expected to develop tomorrow night. Winds increase to hazard levels in the afternoon/evening. Rainfall: Up to 0.10”. Snowfall: Up to 0.50”. Winds: Southwest-west at 1030 mph, common gusts to 35-45 mph, peak gusts to 50-60 mph. Chance of EEI-2 Sustained: 60%. Chance of EEI-2/3 Gusts: 80%/40%; highest chances across LOCK-LAN and ROCH. Following receipt of the above forecast, Emergency Preparedness ran the DPM again, which indicated a slight increase in potential NYSEG customer outages to 6,000 and 68 incidents and RG&E customer NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 18 of 102 outages to 4,200 and incidents to 33. These levels continued to indicate an event that could be restored within 24 hours given the onsite resources. Weather forecasts continued at an EEI-2 level, with the following issued at 3 PM: Isolated light rain showers possible until 7pm. Rainfall: Less than 0.05”. After 4am Thu, light snow showers possible in AUB-GEN-SOD-CANA. Snowfall: Less than ¼”. Winds: West-southwest at 20-35 mph, gusting 40-50 mph. Peak gusts: 50-60 mph from now-7pm in LAN-LOCK and ROCH. Timing of gusts > 35 mph: now-4am Thu. EEI-2 sustained chance: 80%. EEI-2/3 gust chance: 80%/40%. 2.1.3. MARCH 8 At 7:00 AM Area and Incident Command conducted a conference call with the Schneider Electric meteorologist who confirmed the forecast of potential gusts up to 60 mph. NYSEG and RG&E ran the DPM based on these most recent forecasts; results continued to indicate only slightly elevated levels of trouble in the NYSEG Lancaster and Lockport divisions and the RG&E service area. The Companies ensured additional company and contract staffing was in place for the anticipated escalated trouble, including activating Incident Command and select Area Command staff. Following the 7 AM Area Command weather call, the Companies continued preparation activities, relying on the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), Emergency Operating Procedures (EOPs), Area Command and other role checklists and job aids, and steps outlined in the Companies’ Plan. At 7:10 AM, the Companies’ Atmos meteorologist issued a similar forecast: FIGURE 6: ATMOS FORECAST FROM MARCH 8 AT 7:10 AM It is critical to note that this stage of the event, in pre-planning, the Companies were preparing for a response to an incident with a high confidence forecast of 60 mph maximum wind gusts. See Section 3. NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 19 of 102 2 Resource Utilization for additional details on activities that took place March 8 as the wind event impacted the area. The winds continued to build, increasing velocity as the storm moved across the state, impacting RG&E Central with gusts recorded at 81 mph at the Rochester Airport at 1:35 PM. The start of the event at NYSEG was noon; RG&E was 1 PM for RG&E Central and 4 PM for RG&E’s Sodus division. This wind gust was the second highest gust recorded for Rochester, NY. By comparison, the peak gusts the Companies experienced during Superstorm Sandy were 75 mph. According to our meteorologists, absent a hurricane or severe thunderstorms, the severe hazard wind conditions that were actually experienced in the Companies’ service territory are extremely rare and difficult to forecast with accuracy. See Appendix B for copies of weather forecasts and a post-storm meteorology critique provided by Schneider Electric. PHOTO 3: PHOTO OF STORM DAMAGE TAKEN MARCH 11 IN LANCASTER, NY NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 20 of 102 3. SYSTEM RESTORATION This section covers System Restoration activities and damage that occurred on the system during the event. In addition to the event planning and preparation detailed above in Section 2, on March 8, NYSEG and RG&E went into “Storm Mode” placing all ECC, Electric Operations, Customer Service personnel and ICS teams on heightened awareness and activation. The Storm Mode communications are sent via email to all employees and posted on ECC situational awareness monitors for all essential personnel. FIGURE 7: MARCH 8 STORM MODE NOTIFICATION EMAILS Winds began in the western portion of New York and by noon had impacted NYSEG’s Lancaster and Lockport divisions with gusts recorded at 69 mph in East Aurora at 1:40 PM. The start of the event for Lancaster and Lockport was at noon on March 8. Winds continued through the day, subsiding at 8 PM. The start of restoration for Lancaster and Lockport was 9 PM on March 8. For RG&E the winds continued throughout the night. Conditions weren’t safe to start restoration for RG&E until 6:00 AM March 9. More than 250,000 NYSEG and RG&E customers were impacted by this event. A summary of key milestones for the event is shown on Table 6 on the following page.  NYSEG: Outages peaked for NYSEG at 4 PM on March 8. Company personnel began restoration activities once winds subsided sufficiently for field personnel to safely begin restoration work, with this initial work focused on make safe activities through 9 PM that night.  RG&E: The winds continued to be severe throughout the evening of March 8 and into the morning of March 9, with outages continuing to accrue throughout the entire wind event. Crews were able to begin restoration work on March 9 at 6 AM. NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 21 of 102 Peak Customers Out 47,847 Peak Day/Time Start of Restoration Established Global ETR (90% restored) Last Customers Restored NYSEG 3/8/17 4 PM Lancaster 3/8/17 @ 9 PM 3/11/17 @ 11 PM 3/13/17 @ 6 PM 42,033 3/8/17 4 PM Lockport 3/10/17 @ 11:30 PM 3/11/17 @ 4 PM RG&E 123,233 3/8/17 8 PM Central 117,884 3/8/17 11 PM 3/9/17 @ 6 AM 3/12/17 @ Midnight 3/15/17 @ 6 PM Sodus 4,929 3/8/17 4 PM 3/11/17 @ 11 PM 3/11/17 @ 5 PM Note: Data on the above table has been updated to reflect validated data subsequent to the publication of the Scorecard report. TABLE 6: CUSTOMERS OUTAGES AND ETRS For each day of the event, the Area Commander and each Incident Commander prepared an Incident Action Plan (IAP). Copies of the IAPs are included in Appendix K to this report. PHOTO 4: PHOTO OF STORM DAMAGE TAKEN MARCH 10 IN GREECE, NY NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 22 of 102 3.1. SYSTEM DAMAGE As demonstrated by the number of broken poles, transformers and the number of downed wires, the Companies’ distribution and transmission systems sustained extensive damage during this wind storm event. Most of the damage impacted the distribution system which significantly slowed the restoration process. Furthermore, in Rochester there were a relatively lower number of outage instances related to entire circuit lockouts. This is indicative of more damage in areas fed from fused taps and in rear lots. As an example in Rochester, 40% of the broken poles were located in rear lots and off road which required significant labor, time and special equipment to complete repairs. A summary of the damage assessment surveys is provided below: Division Total Circuits # of Circuits Locked # of Broken # of Distribution in Division Out Poles transformers replaced NYSEG Lancaster/Lockport 175 13 167 80 RG&E Central 460 20 664 205 RG&E Sodus 44 1 41 17 Total 679 34 872 TABLE 7: DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM DAMAGE SUMMARY 302 Total circuits are the number of distribution circuits in each division. Of those total circuits, the circuits locked-out are those that were locked-out automatically and made non-operational due to faults detected by the control devices at the substation level. Locked-out circuits are not returned to service until the fault (or faults) had been cleared. A number of sub-transmission facilities were affected in several areas. Listed below are the sustained outages (including lockouts) that occurred during the event as well as the momentary interruptions (trip/recloses) that other facilities experienced during the impact phase: NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 23 of 102 NYSEG Lancaster/Lockport Transmission Circuit Outage Summary Voltage Level Transmission Facility Lockout Time of Trip Time of Close Customers Affected* 34kV 34kV 34kV 34kV 34kV 34kV 34kV 34kV 34kV 34kV 34kV 230kV 345kV 34kV 34kV 34kV 34kV 34kV 34kV 34kV Davis - Alpine Tp - Cole Rd. 531 Cobble Hill - S. Colden - Holland 520 (S. Colden, Holland - Java Tp -Holland) Portersville Rd. 520 (Java) Java Tsp - Portersville 520 Line Robinson - Hinman Rd. - Vine St. 510 Chestnut St. - Vine St. 510 (Chestnut St.) Bagdad to Legion Drive 505 Line(Legion Dr., Bennington to Cowlesville Dayton, FrogVal.) 552 Line (Bennington) Cowlesville - Broadway Tap 552Line (Cowlesville) Legion Dr. - Palmers 510 Line Vine - Hinman 502 Line (Vine St.) Niagara - Robinson Rd. 64 Stolle Road to Five Mile Road 29 Line Girdle Rd - E. Aurora 54702 Stolle - Cobble Hill 52052 Girdle - E. Aurora 518 Vine St. - Hinman Rd. 510L Big Tree - Orchard 526 Erie St. - Gardenville 515 Erie St - Dick Rd. 533 Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y N N N N N N N 3/8/17 12:43 3/8/17 13:10 3/8/17 13:10 3/8/17 13:10 3/8/17 13:53 3/8/17 13:53 3/9/17 2:59 3/8/17 13:27 3/8/17 13:27 3/8/17 21:26 3/9/17 9:07 3/8/17 14:33 3/10/17 16:49 3/8/17 13:08 3/8/17 13:10 3/8/17 13:08 3/8/17 13:41 3/8/17 13:52 3/8/17 14:56 3/8/17 17:30 3/8/17 21:29 3/8/17 16:00 3/9/17 14:20 3/8/17 21:32 3/8/17 15:53 3/10/17 23:14 3/9/17 03:21 3/9/17 22:10 3/9/17 22:05 3/9/17 03:48 3/9/17 10:06 3/8/17 14:33 3/10/17 16:49 3/8/17 13:08 3/8/17 13:10 3/8/17 13:08 3/8/17 13:41 3/8/17 13:52 3/8/17 14:56 3/8/17 17:30 2,026 4,049 1.697 0 2,150 0 3,778 1,236 1,107 184 2,158 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 *Note: Customers affected may not reflect customers restored as the above reflects the total served at the source i.e. per Level 2 of restoration priorities (Transmission). Per Level 4 of restoration priorities, the actual restoration of distribution feeders occurred later. TABLE 8: NYSEG LANCASTER/LOCKPORT TRANSMISSION CIRCUIT OUTAGE SUMMARY RG&E Central/Sodus Transmission Circuit Outage Summary Voltage Level Transmission Facility Lockout Time of Trip Time of Close 34kV 34kV 34kV 34kV 34kV 34kV 34kV 34kV 34kV 34kV 34kV 34kV 34kV 34kV 34kV Transmission Circuit 733 Transmission Circuit 773 Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y N N N N N N N 3/8/17 12:55 3/8/17 13:08 3/8/17 14:27 3/8/17 14:45 3/8/17 14:57 3/8/17 16:53 3/10/17 13:57 3/11/17 15:18 3/8/17 15:38 3/8/17 13:42 3/8/17 13:48 3/8/17 17:14 :38:06 PM 3/8/17 13:48 :14:56 3/8/17 14:34 3/8/17 15:17 3/12/17 13:00 3/12/17 12:30 12:3012:30 3/9/17 22:20 3/9/17 15:20 3/10/17 14:55 3/14/17 17:28 3/13/17 16:17 3/12/17 16:00 Trip and reclose Trip and reclose Trip and reclose Trip and reclose Trip and reclose Trip and reclose Trip and reclose Transmission Circuit 761 Transmission Circuit 748 Transmission Circuit 747 Transmission Circuit 745 Transmission Circuit 764 Transmission Circuit 792 Transmission Circuit 742 Transmission Circuit 730 Transmission Circuit 789 Transmission Circuit 759 Transmission Circuit 707 Transmission Circuit 793 Transmission Circuit 778 Customers Affected 6 2,269 1,084 2,689 522 2,459 2 1 Note: The “Time Restored” may not reflect the full customer restoration due to underlying distribution damage TABLE 9: RG&E CENTRAL/SODUS TRANSMISSION CIRCUIT OUTAGE SUMMARY NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 24 of 102 A number of distribution facilities were affected in several areas. Listed below are the sustained outages that occurred during the event: NYSEG Lancaster/Lockport Distribution Circuit Outage Summary Voltage Level Distribution Facility Time of Trip Time Restored Customers Affected 34kV Davis 531 3/8/17 12:32 3/8/17 16:25 2,233 4kV Tyler St 462 3/8/17 13:55 3/8/17 23:36 1,823 4kV Ebenezer 361 3/8/17 12:35 3/8/17 15:15 1,142 12.5kV Wehrle Dr 331 3/8/17 14:45 3/8/17 21:20 1,098 12.5kV Werhle Dr 332 3/8/17 13:30 3/8/17 22:35 906 4kV Java 280 3/8/17 13:21 3/9/17 17:00 900 4kV Java 281 3/8/17 12:08 3/10/17 11:33 789 4kV Cowlesville 451 3/8/17 12:40 3/9/17 17:00 770 12.5kV Bennington Ctr 445 3/8/17 19:33 3/9/17 23:00 495 8.3kV South Colden 455 3/8/17 12:40 3/9/17 18:05 463 12.5kV West Varysburg 355 3/8/17 12:39 3/10/17 9:40 446 4kV Cowlesville 450 3/8/17 11:36 3/9/17 17:45 349 4kV Vine St 101 3/8/17 12:13 3/8/17 21:45 TABLE 10: NYSEG LANCASTER/LOCKPORT DISTRIBUTION CIRCUIT OUTAGE SUMMARY 518 RG&E Central/Sodus Distribution Circuit Outage Summary (Lockouts) Voltage Level 12.5kV 12.5kV 12.5kV 12.5kV 4kV 4kV 4kV 12.5kV 12.5kV 12.5kV 12.5kV 12.5kV 12.5kV 12.5kV 12.5kV 12.5kV 4kV 12.5kV 4kV 4kV Distribution Facility Time of Trip Time Restored Customers Affected Distribution Circuit 5293 Distribution Circuit 5198 Distribution Circuit 5187 Distribution Circuit 5238 Distribution Circuit 2172 Distribution Circuit 419 Distribution Circuit 414 Distribution Circuit 5159 Distribution Circuit 5160 Distribution Circuit 5173 Distribution Circuit 5137 Distribution Circuit 5163 Distribution Circuit 5108 Distribution Circuit 5196 Distribution Circuit 5135 Distribution Circuit 5315 Distribution Circuit 460 Distribution Circuit 5161 Distribution Circuit 2220 Distribution Circuit 294 3/8/17 13:25 3/8/17 13:48 3/8/17 13:49 3/8/17 13:56 3/8/17 14:18 3/8/17 15:37 3/8/17 16:01 3/8/17 13:03 3/8/17 13:57 3/8/17 15:07 3/8/17 14:10 3/8/17 14:50 3/8/17 14:28 3/8/17 16:23 3/8/17 15:25 3/8/17 12:51 3/8/17 13:17 3/8/17 14:54 3/8/17 16:05 3/8/17 13:08 3/9/17 18:00 3/13/17 14:27 3/11/17 14:00 3/11/17 16:10 3/11/17 1524 3/9/17 18:00 3/10/17 10:00 3/11/17 16:40 3/11/17 16:00 3/9/17 17:00 3/10/17 19:55 3/8/17 18:45 3/12/17 15:40 3/10/17 11:15 3/9/17 15:14 3/11/17 19:25 3/9/17 15:00 3/12/17 13:18 3/9/17 17:04 3/13/17 12:15 874 37 1624 787 1130 489 151 1955 2736 2364 1676 2289 2129 1110 651 1341 958 895 910 70 Note: The “Time Restored” reflects the time that the feeding circuit breaker was closed. TABLE 11: RG&E CENTRAL/LAKESHORE DISTRIBUTION CIRCUIT OUTAGE SUMMARY (LOCKOUTS) NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 25 of 102 Substation and circuit impacts are summarized below: Division Total # # Total # # Dist. Customer Customer % Substations Substations Dist. Circuit Outages Outages at Outages Out of Circuits Lockouts Due to Peak due to Service NYSEG Lockouts Lockouts 63 11 175 13 28,183 42,033 67% RG&E (Central) 108 7 460 20 24,176 117,884 21% RG&E (Sodus) 28 1 44 1 520 4,929 11% Total 199 19 n/a n/a (Lancaster/Lockport) 679 34 52,879 TABLE 12: SUBSTATION AND CIRCUIT IMPACTS PHOTO 5: PHOTO OF STORM DAMAGE TAKEN MARCH 11 IN ROCHESTER, NY NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 26 of 102 3.2. RESOURCE UTILIZATION In the past 11 years, the Companies have had five Class III events that resulted in damage that caused five days or more of restoration for a portion of affected customers. The Companies’ Area and Incident Command leads determined within the first hours after the event began that the Companies were in a multiple day event. This section will detail the activities the Companies engaged in to determine the resource needs and acquire resources leading into the event and after event impact. 3.2.1. MARCH 6 Incident and Area Command teams were partially activated in preparation beginning Monday, March 6, Based on weather forecasts, damage prediction model reports, and experience it was determined that the areas most likely to be impacted with minor trouble would be the Lancaster and Lockport divisions at NYSEG and most of the RG&E service area. Area Command activated the Area Command Deputy and Assistant Area Command-Planning, who in turn alerted their teams to the potential for a weather event. The advisory team was also engaged and aware. The event-specific alerts began on March 6 at 11:17 AM (Figure 8). A leadership meeting for Electric Operations had been scheduled in Mechanicville; as a result, key members of Area and Incident Command were going to be in the same location, and able to work faceto-face. However, those Incident Commanders under an EEI-2 weather alert with a three-hour travel time were instructed to remain in their home office locations (three Local ICs covering the western most areas, NYSEG Lancaster/Lockport, RG&E Central, and RG&E Fillmore/NYSEG Hornell). FIGURE 8: MARCH 6 EMAIL OUTLINING PLANNED ACTIVITIES TO PREPARE FOR THE WEATHER EVENT. NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 27 of 102 As a result of the forecast, DPM results, and experience (in particular the prior week’s weather), Area Command began review of the following Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), again above the norm for an EEI-2 weather event, but with an abundance of caution: SOP 2014-006 Weather forecasts of Electrical Event Index 3 or higher  SOP 2011-015 Call in additional crews  SOP 2011-003 Additional crew support  SOP 2012-055 Division openings – Rapid staff increase  SOP 2011-024 Ramping up and down contractors  SOP 2015-003 Activating local ICS (Decentralizing trouble/outage management) NYSEG and RG&E initiated storm readiness activities with employees and contractors, including storm duty activation and mobilization requirements. These preparations, included a call at 1:00 PM, with westernmost local ICs, as a follow-up to 11:17 AM email (Figure 8), instructing any ICs with EEI-2 winds not to travel with more than 3 hours (i.e. stay local and activated for potential minor trouble). Given the forecasts issued on Monday, March 6 for Wednesday March 8 were for gusts up to 50 mph; concentrated the threat to the western portion of the Companies’ service areas, the resources were reviewed and agreed upon by Area Command, Incident Command and the executive and advisory groups. 3.2.2. MARCH 7 On Tuesday, March 7, all contract line and tree crews were held on site. This was covered on the 7:30 AM call with the local Incident Commanders and ECC for trouble preparations, and captured in an email later that morning at 11:35 AM (Figure 9). Based on weather forecasts, associated DPM reports and experience, including the most recent weather event, it was determined that the areas most likely to be impacted with minor trouble would be Lancaster and Lockport at NYSEG and most of the RG&E service area. NYSEG and RG&E began confirming employee and contractor field resources from all divisions on March 7 at 11:38 AM. There were 400 internal line full time equivalents (FTEs), 102 Substation FTEs, 121 contractor line FTEs, and 95 tree crews (approximately 190 FTEs) staged across our service territories and ready (Appendix B). Our prior statewide wind event on March 1 in NYSEG Lancaster and RG&E Central utilized 102 contract line FTEs and 23 tree crews. All crews were instructed to be at their storm site by 7:00 AM on March 8, and all line and tree personnel were instructed not to be released. Crews from every region were instructed to be packed and arrive at work ready to travel. Additionally, the Companies had Area and Incident Command functions staffed and ready for activation, including wire guards, damage assessors, OMS coordinators, dry ice coordinators and public liaison officers. The Companies ensured additional company and NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 28 of 102 contract staffing were in place for escalated trouble, which included activation of Incident Command and select Area Command staff. The Call Centers, Energy Control Centers and IT departments also increased their staffing levels to manage additional storm related work. 3.2.3. MARCH 8 The forecasts for March 8 weather and the DPM runs associated with those weather forecasts did not indicate significant impacts to our transmission and distribution system (weather forecasts were not severe, and our damage prediction model (Appendix B) indicated only one broken pole for all of RG&E). However, when the Companies factored in the experience of our Incident Command System (ICS) team, in particular following the March 1 weather event outlined above, the Companies, led by Area and Incident Command, began to take actions which were above and beyond those normally taken. Area Command was regularly engaged in reviewing resources available versus the predicted need. Based on the weather forecast and DPM reports as of 6:00 AM on March 8, the number of line and tree resources necessary to ensure restoration of the predicted damage within 24 hours was approximately 60. At that time, significantly more internal line workers were confirmed as available and external contract line workers as well as tree crews were being held. As a result, on the morning of March 8 the available Company and contract resources were many multiples of the predicted need (623 internal/contract line FTEs (including substation personnel) versus 50 needed; 190 tree crew resources vs 13 needed). These resources were at the various divisions within the Companies and were available to be deployed. A planning call was held March 8 at 7:00 AM with on-call meteorologist from Schneider assigned to the NYSEG and RG&E account, local Incident Commanders, ECC and Emergency Preparedness for trouble preparations. While our SOP triggers a call at EEI-3 or above, the Companies went beyond that and requested a call at the lower threshold of EEI-2 as discussed in Section 3.2.1.8. In the 8 PM Area Command Call, the Area Commander ensured that all participants were aware that the Companies at least anticipated that this would be a 72 hour event, if not longer. Decision making and actions from shortly after impact on March 8 forward was based on a significant event, even though the full duration was not known at that time. NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 29 of 102 FIGURE 9: MARCH 7 EMAIL OUTLINING PLANNED ACTIVITIES TO PREPARE FOR THE WEATHER EVENT. NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 30 of 102 On March 8, as the weather system began causing more extensive damage than predicted based on the lower wind forecast, Area and Incident Command began to make adjustments to resource requests.  At 5:58 PM, Area Command requested 240 line FTEs, based on preliminary damage information entered into the Companies’ OMS; this request was made to NAMAG leadership; a call was scheduled by NAMAG for 7 PM. However, this initial call did not result in fully meeting the resources requested. A future call was schedule for the next day. See Section 3.3 for details on Mutual Assistance calls.  At 7:29 PM, Area Command moved all remaining available internal company and contract line resources to the affected areas (NYSEG Lancaster and RG&E Central). At this stage, the worst impacts of the weather event had passed the state, and the threat was minimal for the remaining service area.  At 11:59 PM, Area Command requested Assistant Area Command – Planning and the MAG Liaison to request 200 FTEs, again based on OMS data, reports from Incident Commanders and intelligence from crews returning from the field.  Throughout this process, the Companies, led by the Contractor Coordinator in Area Command Planning, were contacting contract line resource companies. These contacts included contract line companies affiliated with the Companies' operating Companies in New York, Connecticut and Maine, other contract contractors the Companies' have had prior relationships with, contract companies that have been referred to the Companies or contacted the Companies to note their availability. It included contractors in the US and Canada. This activity, which began on a smaller scale during the preparation phase, was escalated on March 8. It continued in parallel to the mutual assistance activities underway. The Area and Incident Command teams were fully activated based on the system impact to coordinate and manage the response. Individuals from Avangrid Networks, NYSEG, RG&E, Central Maine Power and United Illuminating supported the restoration activities. 3.2.4. MARCH 9 Actual wind speeds that occurred on March 8 were substantially stronger than the forecast indicated, with an official recorded peak gust of 81 mph in Rochester, NY. As a result, NYSEG Lancaster and Lockport, as well as most of the RG&E service area experienced a significantly increased number of power outages. Area Command determined that NYSEG and RG&E would need an additional 780 line FTE resources, and 80 tree crews resources within 48 hours from the start of restoration, from all resource sources to fully staff for restoration. NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 31 of 102 Specifically, the first three large requests for resources were made as part of an iterative process that actually began during the impact phase, and through the start of restoration at RG&E, i.e. between noon on March 8 and 6:00 AM on March 9. Additional resource requests were made as customer outages, broken poles, and wires down continued to increase throughout this period. As the trouble and damages increased, so did our initial resource requests, in large blocks and in a stepped fashion.  03/09/17 at 09:00 AM: The Companies requested 120 line FTEs and 20 tree crews from the NAMAG IOUs, including digger resources as identified by Area Command through assessment results and OMS data. See the Mutual Assistance Section 3.3 for details regarding requests.  03/09/17 at 10:00 PM: The Companies requested an additional 260 line FTEs and received 100 FTEs. Area Command had determined a need for additional digger resources, which were part of the NAMAG request. These resource requests were made to the NAMAG organizations, while still also being obtained through other contract line and tree resource companies. See the Mutual Assistance Section 3.3 for details regarding requests. The Companies determine the start of restoration based on when field personnel are able to be dispatched without unacceptable safety risks from continued severe weather conditions and when the potential additional damage to the electric system from the storm would be low in proportion to the expected level of damage already sustained. Within five hours of the start of the event, Area Command and Emergency Preparedness worked in concert with Incident Command to determine the distinct start of restoration times.  NYSEG Lancaster/Lockport: on March 9, at 12:15 AM, Area Command had reviewed the National Weather Service issued wind graphs for March 8 to determine when the weather event had begun to diminish, to then compare this with the scale of damage reported at this day. Area Command set the start of restoration at March 8 at 9 PM for NYSEG Lancaster; at this same time, Area Command determined that RG&E had not yet been able to begin significant restoration activities due to the time the winds had begun to subside; therefore delaying start of restoration.  RG&E Central/Sodus: on March 9, at 8 AM, the RG&E start of restoration was determined to be 6 AM on March 9. The start of event and start of restoration was communicated to Area and Incident Command leads on the March 9 at 8 AM Area Command call. NYSEG and RG&E were able to secure 100% of the resources identified in the tables on the following page within 48 hours from the start of the restoration. Resources were obtained from Internal, North Atlantic Mutual Assistance Group (NAMAG), and New York Public/Private Utility Mutual Assistance Protocol (NYP/PUMA) requests, and on property movements. NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 32 of 102 Rochester Line FTEs arrived or en route by 3/11/17 at 06:00 AM From: Request Source: First Request Date: First Request Time: FTEs: Status: Working In: Various Utilities – See Appendix B Internal 3/8/17 10:00 AM 312 Arrived Rochester Various Utilities – See Appendix B Internal 3/9/17 3:00 PM 105 En Route Rochester Various Utilities – See Appendix B NAMAG 3/8/17 10:00 PM 740 Arrived Rochester Various Utilities – See Appendix B On Property 3/8/17 12:00 PM 83 Arrived Rochester Various Utilities – See Appendix B (NYP/PUMA) 3/10/17 05:00 PM 96 Arrived Rochester TABLE 13: ROCHESTER LINE FTES ARRIVED OR EN ROUTE BY 3/11/17 AT 06:00 AM Rochester and Sodus Tree crews arrived or en route by 3/11/17 at 06:00 AM From: Request Source: First Request Date: First Request Time: Crews: Status: Working In: Various Utilities – See Appendix B Internal 3/8/17 7:00 AM 83 Arrived Rochester Various Utilities – See Appendix B Internal 3/8/17 7:00 AM 7 Arrived Sodus TABLE 14: ROCHESTER AND SODUS TREE CREWS ARRIVED OR EN ROUTE BY 3/11/17 AT 06:00 AM Lockport and Lancaster Line FTEs arrived or en route by 3/10/17 at 09:00 PM From: Request Source: First Request Date: First Request Time: FTEs: Status: Various Utilities – See Appendix B Internal 3/8/17 12:00 PM 33 Arrived Lancaster Working In: Various Utilities – See Appendix B NAMAG 3/9/17 10:00 PM 79 Arrived Lancaster & Lockport Various Utilities – See Appendix B On Property 3/8/17 12:00 PM 34 Arrived Lancaster Various Utilities – See Appendix B (NYP/PUMA) 3/10/17 05:00 PM 5 Arrived TABLE 15: LOCKPORT AND LANCASTER LINE FTES ARRIVED OR EN ROUTE BY 3/10/17 AT 09:00 PM Lancaster Lockport and Lancaster Tree crews arrived or en route by 3.10.17 at 09:00 PM From: Request Source: First Request Date: First Request Time: FTEs: Status: Working In: Various Utilities – See Appendix B Internal 3/8/17 7:00 AM 34 Arrived Lancaster TABLE 16: LOCKPORT AND LANCASTER TREE CREWS ARRIVED OR EN ROUTE BY 3.10.17 AT 09:00 PM NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 33 of 102 NYSEG and RG&E additionally relocated the following Line FTE resources to Rochester from their sister utilities Central Maine Power (CMP) and United Illuminating (UI): From: Request Source: First Request Date: Request Time: FTEs: Status: Working In: CMP Internal 3/8/17 9:00 PM 50 Arrived Rochester CMP Internal 3/9/17 7:00 PM 24 Arrived Rochester UI Internal 3/8/17 9:00 PM 45 Arrived Rochester TABLE 17: CMP AND UI FTES 3.2.5. ONGOING RESTORATION PHASE: On Friday March 10 and Saturday March 11, meteorologist’s twice daily forecasts indicated that snow storm Stella would significantly impact large portions of the Northeast, and Area Command predicted that NYSEG & RG&E could lose more than 600 resource FTEs as other regional utilities would begin calling back their crews and contractors. To counter the expected loss of resources, it was determined that NYSEG and RG&E would need an additional 600 line FTE resources to reach our restoration goals. As anticipated, over 600 resource FTEs were recalled by their companies on March 12 and March 13. On those dates, NYSEG and RG&E were able to replace over 95% of the departed 600 line FTE resources from internal and North Atlantic Mutual Assistance Group (NAMAG) partnership requests, based on Company requests to NAMAG organizations made the day prior. The tables below illustrate the requests made on March 11 to mitigate the loss of resources redeployed to winter storm Stella at their respective utilities. Rochester Line FTEs arrived or en route by 3/13/17 Request Source: First Request Date: First Request Time: FTEs: Status: Working In: Various Utilities – See Appendix B Internal 3/11/17 2:00 PM 119 Arrived Rochester Various Utilities – See Appendix B NAMAG 3/11/17 2:00 PM 458 Arrived Rochester From: TABLE 18: ROCHESTER LINE FTES ARRIVED OR EN ROUTE BY 3/13/17 Rochester and Lancaster Tree crews arrived or en route by 3/13/17 From: Request Source: First Request Date: First Request Time: Crews: Status: Working In: Various Utilities – See Appendix B Internal 3/11/17 12:00 PM 24 Arrived Rochester Various Utilities – See Appendix B Internal 3/11/17 12:00 PM 9 Arrived Lancaster TABLE 19: ROCHESTER AND LANCASTER TREE CREWS ARRIVED OR EN ROUTE BY 3/13/17 NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 34 of 102 The tables below indicate the resources reported by Incident Commanders during the 8 PM Area Command calls; they include known on site resources and will not reflect any in transit FTEs. NYSEG Lancaster 3/8 3/9 3/10 3/11 Company Line FTEs (Local Division) 28 29 29 29 Company Line FTEs (Other Divisions) 5 4 4 14 Contractor Line FTEs 30 65 93 97 Total Line FTEs 63 98 126 140 Forestry Tree Crews 18 26 35 45 TABLE 20: NYSEG LANCASTER RESOURCES BY DAY 3/12 29 14 97 140 40 3/13 29 0 42 71 20 NYSEG Lockport 3/8 3/9 Company Line FTEs (Local Division) 2 4 Company Line FTEs (Other Divisions) 2 9 Contractor Line FTEs 2 37 Total Line FTEs 6 50 Forestry Tree Crews 0 25 TABLE 21: NYSEG LOCKPORT RESOURCES BY DAY RG&E Central 3/8 3/9 3/10 3/11 68 65 65 65 22 46 25 40 34 264 687 852 124 375 777 957 30 57 78 103 TABLE 22: RG&E CENTRAL BY DAY 3/10 4 9 37 50 25 3/12 65 40 1,111 1216 133 3/13 65 40 1,091 1195 114 RG&E Sodus 3/8 3/9 3/10 Company Line FTEs (Local Division) 10 8 9 Company Line FTEs (Other Divisions) 0 4 4 Contractor Line FTEs 0 46 38 Total Line FTEs 10 58 51 Forestry Tree Crews 0 3 10 TABLE 23: RG&E SODUS RESOURCES BY DAY 3/11 9 4 36 49 5 Company Line FTEs (Local Division) Company Line FTEs (Other Divisions) Contractor Line FTEs Total Line FTEs Forestry Tree Crews 3/14 65 40 1,318 1423 113 3/15 64 40 814 918 113 See Appendix B for Crew Availability Reports and Appendix C for copies of the referenced Reliability SOPs. NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 35 of 102 3.3. MUTUAL ASSISTANCE 3.3.1. PRE-EVENT Due to the forecast and resulting low level of predicted damage no pre-event mutual assistance calls were requested by the Company or by any other requesting entity. This wind storm was an event with limited warning and based on weather predictions from the National Weather Service, contract meteorologists, local and media-based weather services; DPM results, and resources available at the time, the event was not anticipated to last longer than 24 hours. Under these circumstances, initiating mutual assistance calls would have been inconsistent with the Companies’ procedure. Only after the event occurred with the resulting significant outages within the first hours of the event did the Companies have the information needed to initiate the mutual assistance process. 3.3.2. EVENT As the damage was made apparent at the outset of the event, and throughout the restoration process, the Companies sought and did not refuse any offers of mutual assistance in order to direct any and all available resources to restoration efforts. The Companies usual protocol is to engage our MAG Liaison ICS role, along with Contractor Coordinator personnel, all reporting to our Assistant Area Commander-Planning. In this event, in addition to the MAG Liaison and team, members of the executive team, including the President and CEO, Vice President – Electric Operations, Director-Emergency Preparedness and Operations Directors all engaged in requesting and responding to resource offers. These activities were then coordinated through the Assistant Area Commander – Planning team. The Companies participated on all mutual assistance (MAG) calls, and was the requesting utility for the first NAMAG call for this event. Formal call schedules are included on the following page and a record of conference call notes is found in Appendix I. The Companies enacted all mutual assistance agreements available, NAMAG, and the New York Public/Private Utility Mutual Assistance Protocol (NYP/PUMA). This was the first time that the Companies enacted the NYP/PUMA protocol. In post-event assessment, the Companies concluded that leveraging this agreement for local municipal assistance aided in the restoration due to the rapid mobilization and on-boarding of line workers. These resources were available as a result of the concentration of damage in areas served by National Grid and NYSEG and RG&E, which gave many local municipalities the ability to provide mutual aid as their systems were not affected by the wind event. Resources from both mutual assistance organizations responded for NYSEG and RG&E needs. NAMAG calls ultimately required activation of the neighboring mutual assistance group, Southeastern Electric Exchange (SEE) as a result of the need for resources across NAMAG utilities due to an additional storm that was forecast for a wide area of states (“Winter Storm Stella” on March 12-15). While a portion of NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 36 of 102 these calls for the other event occurred during the NY wind event, they were necessary as resources were required by NAMAG participants for events in neighboring states. 3.3.3. INTERNAL RESOURCE MOVES The Companies prepared and mobilized resources as follows:  Line resources throughout the Companies’ service areas were instructed to arrive to work on Wednesday, March 8 ready to travel.  Once the areas of impact were known, line resources were deployed to the affected areas from other divisions. 3.3.4. NAMAG Details on crew movements, including ETAs, can be found in Appendix B. The Companies initiated a request for a NAMAG call on Wednesday, March 8, by contacting the NAMAG chair at 5 PM. NAMAG calls were held at the following times and the Companies made the following requests:  03/08/17 at 07:00 PM: Based on known damage and general event situational awareness, the Companies requested 240 Line FTEs and 20 tree crews. The Companies received 89 line FTEs. An additional call (9 AM on March 9) was scheduled since the Companies’ needs were not met due to the initial lack of available resources by the NAMAG organization, and the Companies continued to seek resources through affiliated companies and contractor contacts.  03/09/17 at 09:00 AM: The Companies requested 120 line FTEs and 20 tree crews, including digger resources as identified by Area Command through assessment results and OMS data, along with acquiring additional resources outside the NAMAG process. The Companies received 91 FTEs and 16 tree crews, and a subsequent call was scheduled at that time for 10 PM as the Companies’ needs were not met through the NAMAG organization. The Companies continued to work to gather their resources through other means, such as through direct contact with affiliated companies contractor contacts.  03/09/17 at 10:00 PM: The Companies requested 260 line FTEs and were provided 100 FTEs. Area Command had determined a need for additional digger resources, which were part of the NAMAG request. The NAMAG organization offered to take offline the ability to provide assistance to the Companies as opposed to scheduled conference calls.  Calls between the March 9 and March 11 included continued NAMAG activity; the member organizations agreed to continue to work together to match the Companies’ needs to available resources. These requests were managed via email. When the Companies were faced with reducing resources, they reconvened the NAMAG calls.  03/11/17 at 02:00 PM: The Companies scheduled this call in response to losing committed FTEs on March 10 due to preparations undertaken by member utilities due to Winter Storm Stella; the Companies requested 350 line FTEs. As a result of this call, the Companies received 334 FTEs. NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 37 of 102  03/12/17 at 01:00 PM: The Companies did not receive any additional resources, and a NAMAG request was expanded to the SEE. 100 Line FTEs were requested on 03/12/17 at 01:00 PM The remaining NAMAG calls were scheduled due to preparations for Winter Storm Stella, which the Companies participated in and requested resources for areas outside of NYSEG Lancaster and Lockport, and RG&E to support Winter Storm Stella preparations.  03/12/17 at 07:00 PM – 100 Line FTEs were requested.  03/13/17 at 10:00 AM – 35 Line FTEs were requested.  03/13/17 at 04:00 PM – 50 Line FTEs were requested. The Companies received wire guard and damage assessment resources through an internal request to United Illuminating, who provides company/contractor resources (Osmose). 3.3.5. PUBLIC/PRIVATE MUTUAL ASSISTANCE PROTOCOL MUTUAL ASSISTANCE GROUP Calls were held with the New York Public/Private Mutual Assistance Protocol members in response to activation of the Public/Private mutual assistance agreement. The New York Public/Private Mutual Assistance Protocol process varies from the NAMAG process; in particular, the Companies did not enter a specific request into a system. Instead they reviewed the resource needs with the municipal member organizations and learned what resources were available, regrouping in a second call to share the results of their inquiries with their member organizations. A summary of the calls is as follows:  Friday, March 10 at 11:00 AM – a pre-call with NYPA occurred at 8:25 AM to determine activation of the protocol. During this call, the Companies reviewed their resource needs, focused on known damage and affected areas.  Friday, March 10 at 12:30 PM – discussed results of polling for resources based on the 11:00 AM call; additional resources followed the call as the organizations polled their areas.  Friday, March 10 at 6 PM – discussed available resources, expanding beyond the organizations located near the affected areas; this request included an offer of contract resources and transmission resources to offset company personnel from transmission to distribution restoration efforts.  Saturday, March 11 at 9:30 AM – the Companies requested additional line resources including rear lot and digger resources, as a result of the Companies’ request 45 resources were provided to RG&E, and 11 resources to NYSEG’s Lancaster division.  Saturday, March 11 at 3:30 PM – the Companies reviewed resource requests and resource demobilization (relocation) as a result of Winter Storm Stella preparations, which also affected this mutual assistance organization. NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 38 of 102  Sunday, March 12 at 1:00 PM – the mutual assistance organization regrouped to review the Companies’ request for additional resources.  Monday, March 13 at 11:30 AM – the Companies provided a situational awareness update, and had no additional resource requests that were unmet. 3.3.6. WINTER STORM STELLA While the Companies were responding to this wind event, over 600 of the acquired FTEs resources were recalled by their Companies due to Winter Storm Stella preparatory activities. Each mutual assistance group agreement stipulates that the member’s ultimate responsibility is to its customer base, so this recall was appropriate, albeit inconvenient to NYSEG and RG&E’s event response planning and operation. The Companies effectively utilized the mutual assistance process and complied with their filed and approved Plan in regards to mutual assistance and acquiring additional resources. For a more detailed list of crew requests refer to Appendix B. PHOTO 6: PHOTO OF STORM DAMAGE TAKEN MARCH 10 IN WEBSTER, NY NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 39 of 102 3.4. INTERNAL CALLS As per the Company’s approved Emergency Operating Procedures, specifically EOP-006 (Appendix C), activation of team members and requesting calls prior to or during an event is the responsibility of the Area Commander. The full activation of the Area Command (command staff) occurred by 3:20 PM on March 8with the initial full team call scheduled for 8 PM on March 8. All calls for this event were facilitated by the Area Commander and consisted of the following agenda items:      Area Command’s IAP Overview o Roll Call o Opening Remarks from Emergency Preparedness o Safety Message and incident update from the Area Command Safety Officer o Weather Summary from the Area Command Planning Section o Presentation/Review of Incident Objectives Incident Command – Status and Exceptions o Updates from affected Incident Commanders Area Command – Status and Exceptions o Updates, by exception, from all Assistant Area Commanders:  Energy Control Center  Substations  Resources (AC Planning)  Customer Communication/Issues (AC Logistics)  Call Center (CRC Managers)  Liaison and Municipal Communications/Issues (AC Public Liaison)  Public Communications/Issues (AC Public Information)  Documentation (AC Documentation) Comments from Fossil Hydro/Gas Operations, as applicable Senior Management Closing Remarks NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 40 of 102 Calls were conducted to prepare for the impending event, to conduct event restoration, or to demobilize from an event. The following table lists the calls held throughout the term of this event. Date Call Times Divisions covered 3/8/17 3/9/17 8 PM Large Call: Lancaster, Lockport, Rochester, and Sodus 8 AM Large Call: Lancaster, Lockport, Rochester, and Sodus 2 PM Large Call: Lancaster, Lockport, Rochester, and Sodus 8 PM Large Call: Lancaster, Lockport, Rochester, and Sodus 3/10/17 8 AM Large Call: Lancaster, Lockport, Rochester, and Sodus 2 PM Large Call: Lancaster, Lockport, Rochester, and Sodus 8 PM Large Call: Lancaster and Rochester* 3/11/17 8 AM Large Call: Lancaster, Rochester, and Sodus (Final Update) 2 PM Large Call: Lancaster and Rochester 8 PM Large Call: Lancaster and Rochester 3/12/17 8 AM Large Call: Lancaster and Rochester 2 PM Large Call: Lancaster and Rochester 8 PM Large Call: Lancaster and Rochester 3/13/17 8 AM Large Call: Lancaster and Rochester 2 PM Large Call: Rochester 8 PM Large Call: Rochester 3/14/17 8 AM Large Call: Rochester 6 PM Large Call: Rochester 3/15/17 10 AM Small Call: Rochester 2 PM Small Call: Rochester * Note: At 8 PM (3/10) the RG&E Sodus division reporting was included with RG&E Central as the area’s restoration was nearly complete. For the following Area Command call at 8 AM (3/11), a final update for RG&E’s Sodus division was provided. TABLE 24: INTERNAL CALL SCHEDULE PHOTO 7: PHOTO OF STORM DAMAGE TAKEN MARCH 11 IN GREECE, NY NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 41 of 102 3.5. PSC REPORTING EORS reports were submitted on the regular cadence of 7 AM, 11 AM, 3 PM and 7 PM after notification from Staff to commence reporting on March 8 with the 3 PM report. The reports continued until released from the reporting requirements by Staff on March 16 after the 7 AM report. During the course of the event NYSEG and RG&E were asked to provide additional crew movement details. These were added to the regular crewing report and were provided for the remainder of the event. Additionally, the Companies provided outage information to DPS Staff using the automated FTP process. Contents of these reports included:  Outage information  Current overview (including weather summary if applicable)  ETR information  Crewing data  Dry ice information  Critical customer information (LSE and Critical Facilities)  Municipal and public outreach activities 3.5.1. NOTIFICATIONS FROM STAFF Date/Time 3/8/17 @ 1:39 PM Report to commence 3 PM report Storm Windstorm 3/14/17 @ 10:03 AM 11 AM report Winter Storm Stella 3/16/17 @ 7:48 AM n/a Windstorm Winter Storm Stella Comments Notice to commence EORS reporting cycle on standard cadence Notification to begin reporting on Winter Storm Stella Released from reporting requirements for both events TABLE 25: NOTIFICATIONS FROM STAFF NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 42 of 102 3.5.2. EORS SUBMITTALS Date Cycle times 3/8 3 PM 7 PM 7 AM 11 AM 3 PM 7 PM 7 AM 11 AM 3 PM 7 PM 7 AM 11 AM 3 PM 7 PM 7 AM 11 AM 3 PM 7 PM 7 AM 11 AM 3 PM 7 PM 7 AM 11 AM 3 PM 7 PM 7 AM 11 AM 3 PM 7 PM 7 AM 3/9 3/10 3/11 3/12 3/13 3/14 3/15 3/16 Primary Report Sent 3:31 PM 7:07 PM 7:00 AM 11:12 AM 2:57 PM 7:22 PM 7:15 AM 11:09 AM 3:11 PM 7:16 PM 6:58 AM 11:10 AM 3:19 PM 7:02 PM 7:02 AM 10:57 AM 3:00 PM 6:58 PM 7:00 AM 10:54 AM 2:55 PM 6:57 PM 6:53 AM 11:17 PM 2:56 PM 6:51 PM 6:53 AM 10:51 AM 3:00 PM 6:33 PM 7:05 AM Secondary Report Sent Divisions reported Storm(s) reported 10:43 PM1 7:08 AM 11:12 AM 3:05 PM 6:55 PM 6:55 AM 10:52 AM 3:09 PM 6:58 PM 6:40 AM 10:44 AM 3:00 PM 6:55 PM 7:05 AM 10:54 AM 2:55 PM 6:57 PM 6:53 AM 11:12 AM 2:55 PM 6:52 PM 6:53 AM 10:51 AM 3:00 PM -2 - NYSEG and RG&E company totals NYSEG Lancaster, Lockport; RG&E Central, Sodus NYSEG Lancaster, Lockport; RG&E Central, Sodus NYSEG Lancaster, Lockport; RG&E Central, Sodus NYSEG Lancaster, Lockport; RG&E Central, Sodus NYSEG Lancaster, Lockport; RG&E Central, Sodus NYSEG Lancaster, Lockport; RG&E Central, Sodus NYSEG Lancaster, Lockport; RG&E Central, Sodus NYSEG Lancaster, Lockport; RG&E Central, Sodus NYSEG Lancaster, Lockport; RG&E Central, Sodus NYSEG Lancaster, Lockport; RG&E Central, Sodus NYSEG Lancaster, Lockport; RG&E Central, Sodus NYSEG Lancaster, Lockport; RG&E Central, Sodus NYSEG Lancaster; RG&E Central NYSEG Lancaster; RG&E Central NYSEG Lancaster; RG&E Central NYSEG Lancaster; RG&E Central NYSEG Lancaster; RG&E Central NYSEG Lancaster; RG&E Central NYSEG Lancaster; RG&E Central NYSEG Lancaster; RG&E Central NYSEG Lancaster; RG&E Central RG&E Central NYSEG and RG&E all divisions with outages NYSEG and RG&E all divisions with outages NYSEG and RG&E all divisions with outages NYSEG and RG&E all divisions with outages NYSEG and RG&E all divisions with outages NYSEG and RG&E company totals; RG&E Central NYSEG and RG&E company totals; RG&E Central NYSEG and RG&E company totals; RG&E Central Windstorm Windstorm Windstorm Windstorm Windstorm Windstorm Windstorm Windstorm Windstorm Windstorm Windstorm Windstorm Windstorm Windstorm Windstorm Windstorm Windstorm Windstorm Windstorm Windstorm Windstorm Windstorm Windstorm Windstorm; Winter Storm Stella Windstorm; Winter Storm Stella Windstorm; Winter Storm Stella Windstorm; Winter Storm Stella Windstorm; Winter Storm Stella Windstorm; Winter Storm Stella Windstorm; Winter Storm Stella Windstorm; Winter Storm Stella TABLE 26: EORS SUBMITTALS Copies of the primary EORS reports submitted are located in Appendix G: PSC EORS reports 1 2 Initial request for secondary reporting received via phone call The secondary report was no longer sent as all customers on the report had been restored. NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 43 of 102 3.6. ESTIMATED TIME OF RESTORATION (ETR) MANAGEMENT NYSEG and RG&E established their global ETR on March 10 by using the ETR calculator which utilized the following information:     SAP/OMS incident counts; Damage assessment information; resources, taking into account rest time; and Field pole counts An initial ETR calculation using 154 broken poles was also done to assist with estimating resource needs. Throughout the restoration effort, the Companies followed standard practices, meeting its global ETR despite changing line FTE counts (including loss of resources due to Winter Storm Stella), fluctuating incident counts, and increasing damage and broken poles as assessments were conducted. Resource availability is essential to development of ETRs. Area and Incident Commanders must consider net crewing numbers as make safe, task forces and pole setting resources are not used to determine ETRs as these resources are already allocated to these other essential functions. As a result, the net crewing number was used to compare to the number of outage incidents in the system to assess restoration progress and determine a global ETR. Local ETRs were established by circuit after circuit restoration was assigned and were updated with field conditions from Field Circuit Coordinators, such as damage, equipment or resource needs and estimated repair time. In the case of this event, per Standard Operating Procedure 2015-003, Activation of Local ICS (Decentralizing Trouble and Outage Management) protocol, a Management Event Notification (MEN) was issued stating that affected areas had activated local ICS and were in “storm mode” as follows:     Lancaster: March 8, 12:07 PM Lockport: March 8, 12:24 PM NYSEG: March 8, 12:31 PM RG&E (all areas): March 8, 6:28 PM The MENs notifications inform Operations and employees with lead ICS roles that the event is being managed in “storm mode” – an Incident Commander is now leading activities and is activating or has activated their staff. Once a MENs is issued, the Companies also suspend the auto population feature of the system that would automatically assign ETRs to incoming outages based on regional parameters that are pre-set and reviewed by Operations for accuracy. Once the auto populate feature is turned off, all interruptions display as “assessing” to indicate that local ICS teams will establish ETRs based on damage assessment results and restoration plans. NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 44 of 102 During the initial stages of a significant weather event, ongoing interruptions are set as “assessing” to allow the Company to begin initial field damage assessment once the weather has subsided and it is safe to do so, while informing the public that the outages are noted in the Companies’ system. As preliminary damage assessment is conducted, the Company is also beginning the restoration process. Throughout the entire restoration process, ETRs are continually developed, monitored, and updated as conditions change. The ETRs are developed first at the global (operating division level), which indicates the time and date by which 90% of customers experiencing outages during the incident will be restored. The second level is at the regional (county level). These regional ETRs are developed using the preliminary damage assessment, the number of incidents (outages) and the number of trouble notifications. The third level of ETRs is at a local (city, town or village) level. One of the key tools used in local ETR development is the Companies’ ETR calculator. This ETR calculator analyzes the known and reported system damage (outage notifications, broken poles, wires down, and other known trouble) which is collected from municipal partners, customers, and damage assessors. ETRs at the global and regional level were communicated to the public information officer and published in press releases and public facing website. Details on the timing of the ETR publication are detailed in this section. 3.6.1. GLOBAL ETR The Companies have two ETR calculators that are used, in conjunction with expertise, to establish ETRs – one is primarily used for Global ETRs, while the other is used for local ETRs. On March 8 and 9, Area Command and Area Command Planning ordered resources based on damage reported in the field and recorded in OMS – including refining the estimated times of arrival (ETA) for out of area resources. The morning of March 10, as these ETAs were finalized, Area Command developed and announced the global ETR for three of the four affected areas; leaving RG&E Central, the most impacted area, until the afternoon of March 10 to establish a Global ETR. The Global ETR for NYSEG Lancaster and Lockport and RG&E Sodus was based on the ETR calculator results, combined with a review and adjustment by the Area Commander. Some factors that the Area Commander adjusted included resource arrivals and resource numbers. Following the initial calculation and adjustment, the global ETRs for Lancaster, Lockport, and Sodus were shared internally with the executive team and Incident Commanders in the Companies’ Area Command center. The final approved Global ETR was communicated to the Area Command team during the 8 AM Area Command Call. Due to the extent of the damage in RG&E Central, coupled with the significant resources arriving throughout the day on March 10, Area Command, in consultation with the executive and advisory teams, determined the RG&E Central Global ETR using its expertise in addition to the ETR calculator. Understanding municipal officials’ and customers’ need to be able to make decisions based on a Global ETR, the Area Commander provided the Global ETR to Area Command, Incident Command, NYSEG and RG&E President, and the Avangrid Networks CEO at 3 PM on March 10. NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 45 of 102 3.6.2. REGIONAL AND LOCAL ETRS Incident Commanders and Planning Section Chiefs, using local ETR calculators and their knowledge and expertise, established regional and Local ETRs. The regional ETRs, including calculations, are approved by the Area Commander prior to being issued to the teams, entered into the Companies’ OMS, and placed in public-facing communications. Local ETRs are established by local ICS teams with knowledge of the specific crew assignments and updated information from the crews working restoration. PHOTO 8: PHOTO OF STORM DAMAGE TAKEN MARCH 10 IN PENFIELD, NY NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 46 of 102 3.7. WIRES DOWN MANAGEMENT The Wires Down (WD) process is managed by the Wires Down Branch Director (WDBD) and administrative staff. Wires Down reports (tickets) are reviewed, prioritized and assigned. Wire guards are dispatched by WDBD and staff to investigate low, hazardous or down conductors. The responder assesses the conditions upon arrival and immediately reports back to WDBD regarding crews needed for permanent repair and guards the down conductor to ensure public safety. Depending on the location of the downed wire, the wire guard will set up a perimeter using cones, tape or possibly block the roadway with a vehicle. For situations where traffic or pedestrian may be able to approach from more than one direction several types of barricades may be implemented. The Companies track the wire guard’s start time to maintain the appropriate work rotation; when needing relief either the wire guards would be replaced with another wire guard or the location would be cleared by a line crew or service restoration crew. As crews were assigned to circuits for repair and those same circuits were locked out, wire guards were re-assigned to circuits that did not have working line crews. Wire guards were instructed to call when they arrived, call when relieved and call two hours prior to the end of their shift. Wires down reports from Police/Fire/Public officials (P/F/P) are flagged in the system and given a high priority. P/F/P tickets are targeted for response within 18 or 36 hours, depending on the length of the event. The call takers are instructed to place a check mark in the special instruction field which indicates the higher priority. The WDBD and staff will sort on the special instruction field to prioritize the tickets. Also, there is a note field that may contain additional confirming information that the call was reported by police, fire or public official or other relevant information. The NYSEG Lockport and RG&E Sodus divisions experienced storm events that lasted less than five days; in the Lockport division, the Companies responded to 100% of wires down that were reported by emergency management and municipal officials within 18 hours. In the Sodus division, the Companies responded to 100% of reports of wires down that were reported by emergency management and municipal officials within 18 hours. Division # of Wires Down Responded < 18 Hours Responded >18 Hours Reports by Municipal Emergency Officials NYSEG Lockport 24 24 0 RG&E Sodus 23 23 0 TABLE 27: RESPONSE TO P/F/P TICKETS FOR NYSEG LOCKPORT AND RG&E SODUS NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 47 of 102 The NYSEG Lancaster and RG&E Central divisions experienced storm events that lasted more than five days. In the NYSEG Lancaster division 67 wires down incidents were reported by emergency management and municipal officials; and 58% were responded to within 36 hours. At RG&E Central 243 incidents of wires down were reported by emergency management and municipal officials and 72% of these were responded to within 36 hours. Division # of Wires Down Responded < 36 Hours Responded >36 Reports by Municipal Hours Emergency Officials NYSEG Lancaster 67 39 28 RG&E Central 243 174 69 TABLE 28: RESPONSE TO P/F/P TICKETS FOR NYSEG LANCASTER AND RG&E CENTRAL An on-going review and assessment of WD tickets by the WDBD and staff assists in determining if additional field resources are needed or if resources can be relocated. Quite commonly, WD tickets may contain duplicate reports for the same location as well as non-electric wires down reports. Duplicate tickets can be closed and properly documented as such, with the notification number of the original noted on the closed ticket. Non-electric conductors are confirmed with a field visit. As the number of down conductors increased, additional staffing and/or Make Safe crews were requested. The WDBD also made adjustments when information was received on circuits locked out at the substation; wire guards were re-assigned to other circuit locations. The number of wire guards requested also supported the current work/shift rotation. The increasing number of wires down tickets warranted both Companies to employ non-utility assistance (contractor personnel) as wire guards. While NYSEG and RG&E maintain an ample number of trained wire guards, these same individuals were also available for other storm roles. The Companies maintain a master employee storm role list where employees can have up to four storm roles. Trained wire guards would become unavailable if called upon for another storm role prior to the wire guard request. The Companies also implemented ‘Just in time’ training to increase the pool of trained, available wire guards. A communication was sent to area employees, requesting assistance if they were not already engaged in the event response. A Safety employee used the standard wire guard training material and conducted training lasting from 60 to 90 minutes. All employees were provided PPE (personal protective equipment) if they did not already possess those items and were given the call in phone numbers prior to receiving their first assignment. NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 48 of 102 Company Wire Guards Trained NYSEG RG&E Auburn 14 Canandaigua 20 Geneva 59 Central 269 Binghamton 148 Fillmore 2 Plattsburgh 26 Lake Shore 5 Mechanicville 16 Total 296 Brewster 20 Elmira 56 Hornell 27 Lancaster 49 Lockport 27 Oneonta 62 Ithaca 39 Liberty 20 Total 563 TABLE 29: COMPANY WIRE GUARDS TRAINED Wire Guards Deployed Date NYSEG Lancaster NYSEG Lockport RG&E Central & Sodus 8-Mar 47 26 82 9-Mar 61 23 221 10-Mar 71 23 309 11-Mar 70 10 420 12-Mar 53 420 13-Mar 23 403 14-Mar 364 15-Mar 266 TABLE 30: WIRE GUARDS DEPLOYED Cumulative Wires Down by Day 8-Mar NYSEG Lancaster 507 NYSEG Lockport 75 RG&E Central & Sodus 2211 9-Mar 816 132 3355 10-Mar 956 133 3764 11-Mar 1009 4061 12-Mar 1034 4321 13-Mar 1055 4683 14-Mar 4813 15-Mar 4892 TABLE 31: CUMULATIVE WIRES DOWN BY DAY NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 49 of 102 3.8. DAMAGE ASSESSMENT Damage assessment is a critical tool for identifying damage caused by severe weather and is an essential step toward effective and efficient restoration. Company personnel are assigned and trained as damage assessors to support this storm role. The Planning Section Chief and Damage Assessment Branch Director use various means such as OMS and SCADA to determine the initial deployment of damage assessors. Damage Assessors are assigned the most affected circuits and given specific instruction on reporting damage and contacting the local office. Damage Assessors are responsible for complete and accurate surveys, identification and categorization of damage and reporting of emergency situations. NYSEG’s Lancaster and Lockport divisions activated a total of 37 damage assessors; 3 mutual aid assessors and no contractor assessors were used. Rochester activated a total of 111 damage assessors; this complement was comprised of 29 RG&E employees, 43 mutual aid assessors from NYSEG and UI along with 40 contractor assessors. NYSEG Lancaster and Lockport assigned the initial damage assessors to the circuits with the highest customer outage count. As each circuit was completed additional circuits were assigned until the process was completed. The resultant data is used by the Planning Section Chief and Incident Commander to establish global ETRs. On the afternoon of March 8 Rochester started assessing the backbone; the initial damage assessment teams (assessors working in pairs) were assigned to seven 34Kv transmission circuits that were locked out. The next priority was field verifying the broken poles location and required material reported on trouble tickets. At RG&E Preliminary Damage Assessment was completed in the field by surveying 100% seven transmission circuits on March 8 as directed by Planning Chief. The remainder of the DA’s were assigned trouble tickets and primarily tasked with confirming broken poles. Trained Damage Assessors by Division RG&E NYSEG 14 Canandaigua 5 Geneva 44 Central 90 Binghamton 41 Fillmore 1 Plattsburgh 15 Lake Shore 1 Mechanicville 3 Auburn Brewster 9 Elmira 10 Hornell 15 Lancaster 22 Lockport 12 Oneonta 11 Ithaca 19 Liberty 6 TABLE 32: TRAINED DAMAGE ASSESSORS BY DIVISION NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 50 of 102 Preliminary damage assessment involves a review of prioritized heavily-impacted circuits, as determined by SCADA, OMS and first responder and field personnel reports. Damage Assessment is managed through the ICS Planning Section in each of the affected areas. The preliminary damage assessment includes an analysis of OMS outage data, including incidents and broken pole reports, and a vehicle assessment of the three phase mainline segments on targeted circuits combined with data received from crews assigned to specific circuits. This information is critical to the initial restoration efforts, establishing a global ETR, and securing additional resources, if required. The objective of the preliminary assessment is to capture the most critical information like broken poles, blocked roads and leaking or damaged transformers. All Company damage assessment teams or individuals are provided an iPad with accessories (car charger, stylus, instruction manual, and laminated assessment instructions) and a printed circuit map of the area to be assessed. Using assessor teams of two allows the driver to maintain safe driving practices while the assessor records damage only visible from the vehicle in the most efficient and expeditious way. Preliminary assessment is performed primarily from the vehicle, with no foot patrol or back lot views that would require exiting the vehicle. Prior to being deployed into the field, all assessors are provided a safety message and proper reporting instructions and call in phone numbers. Preliminary assessment also includes review of reported data in the Companies’ systems. The Companies used data in OMS and SCADA, NYSEG Lancaster and Lockport data on reported damage, and RG&E Central data on the number of incidents, customers, and broken poles, (see sample data from NYSEG Lancaster/Lockport on March 8 at 4:00 PM on the following page). This electronic data was key to the completion of preliminary assessment and enabled, along with the results of the physically assessed damage, the Incident Commanders to set ETRs. NYSEG Lancaster: Deployed 27 teams, including mutual aid assessors. NYSEG Lancaster through the detailed assessment process reported an additional 85 broken poles, 956 downed conductors and zero circuits locked out. NYSEG Lockport: Deployed eight assessors and reported peak damage of 16 broken poles, 132 downed conductors with zero circuits locked out. RG&E Central: RG&E deployed 53 assessment teams which included mutual aid and 40 contract FTE assessors, RG&E reported through the detailed assessment process an additional 396 broken poles and 2,928 downed conductors. This step enabled the development of the Global ETR that afternoon. RG&E Sodus: Due to the restoration progress and level of damage relative to RG&E Central, detailed damage assessment was done by line crews and FCC’s in the Sodus area as they were assigned to circuits. This allowed damage assessors to focus on the more heavily damaged areas in Rochester. NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 51 of 102 Damage Assessors by Day: Date NYSEG Lancaster NYSEG Lockport RG&E Central & Sodus 8-Mar 7 9-Mar 29 3 21 30 10-Mar 25 8 106 11-Mar 22 106 12-Mar 19 107 13-Mar 6 98 14-Mar 90 15-Mar 90 16-Mar 80 TABLE 33: DAMAGE ASSESSORS BY DAY As soon as it was determined safe to proceed, assessors were deployed, and preliminary assessment commenced in the afternoon of March 8 in NYSEG Lancaster, and RG&E Central and RG&E Sodus NYSEG Lancaster: Due to the extent of the damage, Incident Command deployed line and UC&M crews to perform assessments at the onset of the event on March 8 as data provided from SCADA and OMS indicated locked out circuits and affected substations. To further the assessment process, the division deployed seven assessors at approximately 1:00 PM. The goal for the initial physical assessment was to have the seven damage assessors on these circuits patrol by car the seven circuits with the largest outages not already assigned to line and UC&M resources, who worked into the night on preliminary assessment. Assessment results reported 35 broken poles, seven circuits locked out and 507 downed conductors; this data, added to the line crew assessments and other reports in OMS and SCADA, was used by Incident Command to develop plans overnight. RG&E: Due to the extent of the damage, Incident Command deployed line and UC&M crews to perform assessments at the onset of the event on March 8 as data provided from SCADA and OMS indicated locked out circuits and affected substations. To further the assessment, the division deployed 23 assessors at approximately 4:00 PM. Deployment was based on when it was safe to begin assessment, the availability of the resources and review of the damage on system to determine the best area to dispatch assessors. Damage assessment for RG&E was centralized; Sodus was included with RG&E Central. Assessors were initially focused on transmission circuits as Incident Command was able to gather additional assessment data from OMS and SCADA reports. NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 52 of 102 Sample OMS Data pull for NYSEG Lancaster/Lockport damage (March 8) Sum of Total No. of Customers Out Count of Notification Lancaster Service Center 33652 1054 EI 33652 237 No Power - Area Out 33325 140 No Power - Single Out 1 2 No Power - Transformer Out 326 95 ET 0 817 Elect Service Abnormal Voltage High/Low 0 24 Electric Service Disc. - Emergency 0 1 Electric Service Flickering Lights 0 32 Electric Service Partial Power 0 33 Electric Unknown Other 0 12 Electrician's Made Repairs 0 1 Equipment on Fire 0 5 Momentary Interruption 0 3 Other – Emergency 0 28 Pole – Broken 0 61 Pole Problem – Other 0 31 Transformer / Equip. Damaged 0 4 Wire Arcing 0 18 Wire Down 0 305 Wire Low 0 69 Wire Tree / Limb On 0 190 Lockport Service Center 5983 123 EI 5983 28 No Power - Area Out 5915 19 No Power - Transformer Out 68 9 ET 0 95 Electric Service Flickering Lights 0 3 Electric Unknown Other 0 1 Momentary Interruption 0 1 Oil Spill / Leaking Electrical Equipment 0 1 Other – Emergency 0 5 Pole – Broken 0 10 Pole Problem – Other 0 3 Service Cable Down 0 1 Transformer / Equip. Damaged 0 2 Wire Arcing 0 1 Wire Down 0 40 Wire Low 0 8 Wire Tree / Limb On 0 19 Grand Total 39635 1177 TABLE 34: SAMPLE OMS DATA FOR NYSEG LANCASTER/LOCKPORT DAMAGE (MARCH 8) NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 53 of 102 3.8.1. MARCH 8 RG&E CENTRAL The goal for this initial assessment period was to complete an assessment of all seven affected transmission circuits in RG&E Central and to review broken pole tickets. RG&E deployed seven assessor teams to the seven 35KV transmission circuits that were damaged/locked out by the afternoon wind event. Four additional teams assessed affected circuits and confirmed broken pole tickets. RG&E reported 272 broken poles, seven 35KV circuits locked out and 1,941 downed conductors. This was in addition to reports from line and UC&M crews and data in OMS and SCADA. The amount of damage being reported by all sources indicated the need for additional assessment resources. This request was received by Area Command-Planning; and additional resources, including contract resources, were acquired and sent to the affected areas for work the next day. 3.8.2. MARCH 9 NYSEG LOCKPORT Damage assessment began in NYSEG’s Lockport division with the goal to assess the worst performing circuits to supplement data already known in OMS and SCADA. NYSEG Lockport deployed three damage assessors and reported 12 broken poles and 132 downed conductors. NYSEG Lockport’s damage was minimal in comparison to the other areas affected, so they were able to commence detailed assessment in conjunction with preliminary assessment. Preliminary assessment was completed by line crews who were assigned the outages affecting the largest number of customers. By the 8 PM Area Command Call, 45% of the three phase assessment was completed by the field assessors, and 30% of the single phase was completed by the field assessors performing detailed assessment. 3.8.3. MARCH 9 NYSEG LANCASTER The goal for the damage assessment teams was to complete as much of the initial assessment of the three phase system as possible and as a result, by the end of March 9 the division had increased to 15 assessment teams. NYSEG Lancaster reported four circuits locked out, 60 broken poles and 816 downed conductors. At the 8 PM Area Command call, 20% of the single phase detailed assessment was completed; preliminary assessment had been completed that day by the line and UC&M crews. 3.8.4. MARCH 9 RG&E CENTRAL, INCLUDING SODUS Increased staff to 15 damage assessment teams. Due to the nature of this wind event, and the related volume of broken poles, the Companies focused assessment teams on determining the scope and scale of broken poles, with the objective of determining resources necessary to rebuild the system, particularly if there were considerable backlot efforts required, which involved assessment on foot. RG&E reported 511 broken poles, 3,016 downed conductors and 18 circuits locked out. As of the 2 PM Area Command Call, RG&E, including Sodus, reported all preliminary assessment as complete. NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 54 of 102 3.8.5. MARCH 10 Both Companies continued with detailed damage assessment; based on the information previously collected, additional resources were made available to continue the damage assessment process. NYSEG Lancaster/Lockport: Detailed damage assessment including foot patrol as appropriate, included gathering more detail at each location i.e. floating conductors, pulled services, broken cross arms, etc. The assessor teams completed a review of single phase lines and sections that run off road and behind structures. All damage assessment information was sent to the Planning Section Chief and Incident Commander to consider additional material, resources and refine county and local ETRs. NYSEG Lancaster and Lockport assessment data was used to develop the Global ETR. 3.8.6. MARCH 11 – 19 NYSEG and RG&E damage assessment continued during this time frame with the gathering of damage data as well as field checking trouble tickets. The last phase of damage assessment includes circuit sweeps which look for any follow up, temporary or minor repairs that can be directed to a line crew. RG&E completed damage assessment and concluded circuit sweeps on March 17. NYSEG completed damage assessment and concluded circuit sweeps on March 19. PHOTO 9: PHOTO OF STORM DAMAGE TAKEN MARCH 12 IN LANCASTER, NY NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 55 of 102 3.9. MATERIALS AND SUPPLIES The Companies had no interruptions or shortages in material supply during this storm event. In addition to the standard weekly review of stock levels and following the Stores Storm Operating Process (Appendix C), Inventory Management conducted a review of stores inventory on March 8 to determine if supply levels were adequate. Materials were found to be at more than adequate levels based on historical impacts to our system. Inventory Management alerted key vendors to be on standby due to a potential event. Additionally, storm kits with general stock for contractors to utilize during the restoration event were available. The tables on the following pages provide details on the inventory levels for transformers and poles. On March 8, additional Stores staffing was relocated to both Lancaster and Central Divisions. Staffing was added to NYSEG Lancaster and RG&E Central over the next several days as NYSEG moved from the make safe and assessment stages to restoration and activity in the warehouse increased. At peak staffing, RG&E Central Stores had six times its normal level of fully qualified Stores personnel and Lancaster Stores had more than twice normal. In addition, there were several laborers with CDL licenses utilized to deliver materials to the field, which enabled Stores to provide continuous support to Operations and stay ahead of material needs. During the storm, Stores was able to proactively calculate material requirements by keeping in constant communication with the incident management, where information on broken pole counts and information on any specialty material needs was compiled. Stores bases their calculations that when there was a broken pole, all hardware and wire attached to that pole would also need to be replaced. Based on rising broken pole counts, Stores proactively added additional quantities to their requests. On a daily basis, Stores assessed the quantity on hand of other electric hardware, conductor, PPE, etc. and determined replenishment quantities. Stores then placed requisitions for required materials which Materials Planning immediately processed into purchase orders. Vendors made deliveries in less than 24 hours and often in the same day as the request for of hardware, wire and poles orders. If an order exceeded the 24 hours, the Company fulfilled it through internal stock transfers. In addition to the efforts of Stores to stay ahead of material needs, the Material Planning analysts in Rochester, NY also proactively worked with pole vendors and transformer vendors specifically to secure additional supply. NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 56 of 102 Transformer availability KVA Material IDs Total NY Inventory Corporate Reserves3 On Order 65 Impacted Locations Okay? Yes 10 D73370010E 198 10 (CONV) D73380010E 1021 572 Yes 0 10 10 (CONV) 10 10 (CONV) 10 D449113E D448109E D440949E D74380010E D74070010E 348 631 265 152 49 264 210 110 72 0 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 0 0 0 20 0 25 25 (CONV) D73370025E 89 1 Yes 100 D73380025E 828 389 Yes 60 25 25 (CONV) 25 25 (CONV) 25 D449261E D448257E D440256E D73170025E D73430025E 273 606 289 23 73 199 253 241 6 0 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 0 0 1 2 0 25 (CONV) D73440025E 9 0 Yes 0 25 D440973E 97 1 Yes 30 50 D73370050E 54 1 Yes 60 50 (CONV) D73380050E 168 58 Yes 20 0 TABLE 35: TRANSFORMER AVAILABILITY Pole Availability Pole Status (Material Planning): Size Material IDs Total NY Inventory Total Poles Available Impacted Locations Okay? 525 Additional Offsite Pole Yard Inventory 89 35/4 30923170 40/4 30923175 614 Yes 643 680 1323 Yes 45/3 50/2 30923179 893 571 1464 Yes 30923125 6 6 12 Yes 50/3 30923126 294 238 532 Yes 55/2 30923130 121 40 161 Yes 60/2 30923135 57 20 77 Yes 65/2 30923141 19 12 31 Yes TABLE 36: POLE AVAILABILITY 3 Transformers in Corporate Reserves are located at warehouses in Binghamton and Rochester. NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 57 of 102 Storm Kit Availability Locations of Potential Impact (check all that apply; Enter Storm Kit counts for all locations) (Stores): √ 1 Brewster Storm Kits 19 √ 9 Auburn Storm Kits 2 √ 2 Mechanicville 31 √ 10 Geneva 2 √ 3 Plattsburgh 14 √ 11 Ithaca 10 √ 4 Liberty 33 √ 12 Elmira 6 √ 5 Oneonta 25 √ 13 Hornell 9 √ 6 Walton 0 √ 14 Lancaster 20 √ 7 Norwich 0 √ 15 Lockport 10 √ 8 Binghamton 40 √ 16 RG&E 200 AB / 360 SR TABLE 37: STORM KIT AVAILABILITY PHOTO 10: PHOTO OF STORM DAMAGE TAKEN MARCH 10 IN ROCHSTER, NY NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 58 of 102 4.0 COMMUNICATIONS AND CUSTOMER SUPPORT Establishing and maintaining communication with customers and municipal officials is an important part of the Companies’ Plan. Consistent with the Incident Command System, the Public Information Officer is responsible for developing and releasing information to the media, incident personnel, customers, and the general public. The PIO serves as member of Incident Command staff to ensure effective and efficient communications regarding the response effort. This includes providing critical information to Area Command on public information concerns; developing communication strategy, key messages, and communications documents; working closely with the Public Liaison Officers; and disseminating consistent communications through all channels: internal communications, customer communications, public liaisons, conventional and social media, and website. The Public Information Section staff also work closely with customer communications as needed to coordinate communications through recorded call messaging for the call center and critical facility/life support outreach. The Public Information Section ensures that stakeholders have access to information on the Companies’ storm preparations, advice on customer safety before, during, and after a storm, and storm-related damage and outage updates, including affected areas, assessment, and restoration status. Additional information may include locations for dry ice and bottled water distribution and warming centers. The Companies use multiple communications including news releases to the media, the Company websites, Twitter, and Facebook. Information is provided to customers who call the Customer Relations Centers through upfront messaging and provided on an account basis by call center staff. In addition to the general communications to customers, when an event is expected to last longer than 24 hours the Companies activate an outbound call campaign for life sustaining equipment (LSE) customers and critical facilities (when expected to last longer than 48 hours) in advance of an event, and outbound calls to customers affected by an event until the customers are restored. The Companies also stay in close communication with state and local governments. These communications included daily municipal calls, staffing of Emergency Operations Centers as requested and providing liaisons to help identify and escalate items of concerns between officials and Incident Command staff. NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 59 of 102 4.1. CUSTOMER RELATIONS CENTER (CRC) A summary of the Companies’ Customer Relations Centers (“CRCs”), special needs contacts, dry ice and bottled water distribution, shelter assistance, and media releases is provided in this section. RG&E and NYSEG provided customer support through their call centers 24 x 7 during the event. Customers may reach RG&E to report an electric emergency by phone in two ways: 1) They may call the electric emergency phone number 24x7 (1.800.743.1701) or Monday through Friday, 7 am to 7 pm they may choose to call the Customer Service line (1.800.743.2110) and choose Option 5. Similar to RG&E, during the day customers may reach NYSEG via one of the two phone lines (Electric Emergency 1.800.572.1131 or Customer Service 1.800.572.1111 phone numbers). At both centers, electric emergency calls are routinely prioritized as the highest priority (answered most quickly) with the exception of gas emergency calls, which are queued higher. In addition, electric emergency calls are shared between the centers to assure a strong answer rate. The RG&E and NYSEG IVRs (Interactive Voice Response) are linked directly to the OMS system. This interface allows customers calling in to be identified automatically by the system via an existing phone number on their account or to enter an account number to enter no power information directly into the OMS system, as well as receive real time updates on available ETRs. In addition to this account specific information, RG&E and NYSEG can utilize a text to speech application to load upfront messages in the IVR that may include helpful information regarding methods by which customers can obtain information , global ETRs and other information (such as dry ice). Messages need to be concise and provide information most helpful to the customer, as the application has a limit for message length. 4.1.1. RG&E On Wednesday, March 8, as the storm began to impact areas, customers began to contact the centers to report their no power or electric emergency condition via one of the two lines available for the Company. At approximately 2 PM, upon noting a significant increase in call load in the IVR due to outages, RG&E determined that the call load was high enough to warrant implementation of the high volume IVR solution offered by West Corporation (formerly 21st Century). This deflected calls received via the Electric Emergency line to West for trouble ticket entry and helped reduce the call load on the call center, while allowing customers to report their no power condition without receiving a busy signal. Nearly 43,000 calls were handled by the West and RG&E IVRs on March 8 (Call loading by hour found in Appendix E). Customers choosing the life-threatening option in the menu were routed to the RG&E CRC to be answered by representatives. While the Electric Emergency line was routed to West, the Customer Service line continued to deliver calls to the call center. Due to technology constraints, it is not possible to direct calls received via the Customer Service line, Option 5 (Electric Emergency) to the West application. NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 60 of 102 Via the Customer Service line, RG&E continued to take a mix of electric emergency and other customer service calls. As with any major event, some customers choose any option in the IVR to reach a representative and may not always choose the electric emergency option in the main menu. For purposes of measurement, only the calls in the electric emergency skillset are included in the metric, as it is difficult to identify the reason for other callers if they are not using either the electric emergency phone number or the electric emergency main menu option via the customer service phone number. In total, RG&E handled 9,079 calls on March 8. A vendor was not used to answer any live calls. A total of 6,157 customers choose another option in the IVR and 2,922 customers chose the electric emergency skillset. On an average Wednesday, the RG&E call center would have expected to answer approximately 2,100 calls. 4.1.2. NYSEG As previously discussed, NYSEG used upfront greetings to manage call volume. Call loads were watched and a determination was made that the loading was not significant enough to warrant implementation of the high volume IVR solution offered by West. While the West application works well in large events it does not provide estimated restoration times (ETRs) when available. Normally, the application would be turned off once ETRs are available so customers could receive this information via the company IVR. NYSEG had outages in numerous divisions. Some divisions were entering ETRs and since the call load was at a level that could be managed, the decision was made not to implement the high volume IVR solution. On March 8, NYSEG satisfied a total of 23,605 callers in the IVR and answered 4,399 live calls. A vendor was not used to answer any electric emergency calls. By 6 PM on March 8, an upfront greeting was loaded on the customer service line indicating that as a result of high call volume, callers with customer service issues should consider calling back the next day. A total of 1,171 customer service calls and 3,228 electric emergency calls came through the Customer Service main menu option or the Electric Emergency phone line. On an average Wednesday, the NYSEG call center would have expected to answer approximately 3,200 calls. From March 8 – 15, electric emergency calls were shared on weekdays, except for later in the day on March 8 and for all of March 9 when volumes were such that each center focused on managing their own volumes, working to achieve the required metrics without affecting the other center. Due to the higher volumes received in the RG&E center, NYSEG answered a limited number of calls on other days as NYSEG volume allowed. RG&E did not answer NYSEG calls for this event. 4.1.3. UPFRONT GREETINGS Upfront greetings were used throughout the event at RG&E and NYSEG. NYSEG can customize greetings by division due to the size of the territory. At RG&E, an initial greeting was added as call volume increased and was updated throughout the day. The greeting did not change again until March 10. RG&E recognizes that the greeting should have been updated more frequently and has put procedures in place NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 61 of 102 to ensure this will occur for any future event. NYSEG changed their greetings throughout the event by division. The call centers received press releases from the Assistant Area Commander - PIO and reviewed them for information that could be helpful in a concise upfront message. The Customer Relations Centers also received updates several times a day from March 8-10 regarding shelters, warming stations and dry ice information, as this information became available. In addition, information from OMS on overall customer counts was used to provide customers context regarding outage size. Examples of upfront greeting(s) added during the initial stage of the storm are as follows. Please note: Words are spelled out phonetically, as this is a text to speech application (i.e. nice egg = NYSEG). NYSEG: Thank you for calling nice egg. We are aware of the outages in your area. Crews are working to restore power as quickly as possible. Please consider using our automated services or visiting us at nice egg dot com to hear any available restoration times. RG&E: We are experiencing high call volumes due to high winds across New York State causing multiple Outages. We are working to get power restored as quickly as possible. If you are reporting an outage and have internet access please visit Outage Central at rge dot com. If you are calling with a life threating situation, please call 9 1 1. The upfront greetings were changed throughout the restoration, providing updated information when available. RG&E directed customers to the electric emergency phone number to move call volumes to the high volume call answering IVR service (WEST). An example of the upfront messaging midway through the event: NYSEG: For customers affected by the high wind event, 90 percent of customers will be restored by Saturday March 11 by 11 pm. We will provide specific times as we work our restoration plan. Those times will be updated at nice egg dot com and via our automated phone system. Dry ice and bottled water are available at Town Park, located at 690 South Street East Aurora from 8am to 11 pm and then again from 7 am to 7 pm on Saturday. RG&E We continue to make progress with restoration efforts following Wednesdays wind storm. Our storm response team is working around the clock to restore service. If you are reporting an outage please call 800-743-1701. Updated restoration times can be viewed at w w w dot r g e dot com. If you are calling with a life threatening situation, please call 911 4.1.4. INBOUND CUSTOMER CALLS: IVR AND CUSTOMER REPRESENTATIVES Table 38 and 39 below shows the total electric emergency call volume received by RG&E and NYSEG during the storm and additional information regarding numbers of calls answered by IVR systems and CRC representatives, as well as service level. All live calls were handled by Company representatives, so the vendor columns are excluded from the table. NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 62 of 102 NYSEG electric emergency call answer rate4 NYSEG % of Calls Answered within 90 Seconds 3/8/17 – 3/13/17 Date (a) Total Calls to IVR (b) Outage Callers to IVR (c - j) Total # of Outage Customers satisfied in the IVR % Outage calls satisfied in IVR 3/8/17 3/9/17 3/10/17 3/11/17 3/12/17 3/13/17 36,885 33,372 20,054 7,010 4,142 9,947 27,478 22,755 10,496 3,896 2,087 777 23,605 19,656 9,014 3,216 1,651 538 86% 86% 86% 83% 79% 69% 4 5 Call Center Call Load (customer service + outage) Outage Calls Offered to Reps #Outage calls answered by Reps % outage calls answered by Reps outage calls ASA (seconds) 6,055 3,587 3,228 90% 54 6,441 2,727 2,637 97% 19 4,561 1,329 1,302 98% 12 627 627 625 100% 7 404 404 399 99% 6 4,265 254 250 98% 20 TABLE 38: NYSEG ELECTRIC EMERGENCY CALL ANSWER RATE5 outage calls Service Level in 30 seconds 76.70% 87.66% 92.81% 100.00% 99.30% 84.59% Vendors were not used to answer live calls at NYSEG. Vendors were not used to answer live calls at NYSEG. NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 63 of 102 (l) Percent of Outage Calls Answered within 90 Seconds 87.7% 95.8% 98.0% 100.0% 100.0% 95.2% Total Outage Calls Answered (IVR + Rep) 26,833 22,293 10,316 3,841 2,050 788 RG&E electric emergency call answer rate 6 RG&E % of Calls Answered within 90 Seconds 3/8/17 -3/15/17 Date (a) Total (b) Total # of % Calls to Outage Outage Outage IVR Callers Customers calls to IVR satisfied in satisfied the IVR in IVR 3/8/17 3/9/17 3/10/17 3/11/17 3/12/17 3/13/17 3/14/17 3/15/17 6 7 62,365 39,473 23,286 12,902 9,346 12,170 7,212 4,734 45,081 24,948 12,038 7,004 5,501 4,089 2,170 670 25,965 17,376 8,529 5,157 4,013 2,608 1,480 433 58% 70% 71% 74% 73% 64% 68% 65% Call Outage #Outage % outage Center Calls calls calls Call Load Offered answered answered (customer to Reps by Reps by Reps service + outage) 12,643 3,386 2,922 86% 10,294 2,074 2,063 99% 7,246 1,263 1,260 100% 3,564 925 920 99% 3,587 1,393 1,386 99% 5,503 1,443 1,435 99% 3,064 662 656 99% 1,694 227 223 98% TABLE 39: RG&E ELECTRIC EMERGENCY CALL ANSWER RATE7 outage calls ASA (seconds) 112 10 4 5 5 12 17 8 outage calls Service Level in 30 seconds 37.79 93.30 100.00 98.70 98.56 93.21 91.39 94.27 Vendors were not used to answer live calls at RG&E. Vendors were not used to answer live calls at RG&E. NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 64 of 102 (l) Percent of Outage Calls Answered within 90 Seconds 57.6% 99.7% 100.0% 98.4% 99.8% 99.6% 97.9% 99.1% Total Outage Calls Answered (IVR + Rep) 28,887 19,439 9,789 6,077 5,399 4,043 2,136 656 Items to note:  Provided separately In Appendix E are hourly IVR data and staffing levels for RG&E, IVR data and staffing levels for NYSEG. 4.1.5. OUTAGE REPRESENTATIVE STAFFING Both the RG&E and NYSEG CRCs were staffed during the storm on a 24-hour basis, as shown on the tables below. RG&E utilized phone representatives, back office personnel and walk-in office representatives trained to handle customer calls and NYSEG used phone and back office personnel. In addition, electric emergency calls were shared by the two Companies and a limited number were supported cross company. Staffing for RG&E and NYSEG is provided in the following table. Hour by hour staffing is provided in the IVR call volume and staffing table in Appendix E as mentioned above. RG&E CRC Date NYSEG CRC 7am to 7pm (peak staffing) 7pm to 11pm 11pm to 7am 87 25 9 88 35 5 26 70 17 6 7am to 7pm (peak staffing) 7pm to 11pm 3/8 (Wed) 47 43 3/9 (Thur) 51 77 23 3/10 (Fri) 50 75 11pm to 7am 3/11 (Sat) 55 71 34 12 10 5 3/12 (Sun) 47 28 22 8 8 5 3/13 (Mon) 52 46 19 76 3 3 3/14 (Tues) 46 24 16 3/15 (Wed) 49 25 9 TABLE 40: CRC STAFFING NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 65 of 102 4.2. LIFE SUSTAINING EQUIPMENT (LSE), SPECIAL NEEDS, AND CRITICAL FACILITIES 4.2.1. LIFE SUSTAINING EQUIPMENT CUSTOMERS The Companies’ Plan provides that pre-storm automated outbound calls to LSE customers will be made when the Companies’ predictive model anticipates outages that may last 24 hours or longer. This wind storm was an event with limited warning and, based on weather predictions, DPM results, and resources available at the time, the event was not anticipated to last longer than 24 hours. Under these circumstances it was impractical and would have been inconsistent with the Companies’ Plan to initiate pre-storm calls to LSE customers. NYSEG and RG&E customer outages began in the early afternoon of March 8. At 2:30 PM the Critical Needs Branch Director (CNBD) was activated by the Assistant Area Commander – Logistics and was advised that that there was an outage event impacting Special Needs, LSE and critical facility customers. The LSE Coordinator ran the outage report for LSE customers without power. The LSE Coordinator assembled representatives to start calling the listed LSE customers. The representatives completed the first attempt to contact the LSE customers by 8:00 PM. The LSE Coordinator ran the outage report again and had representatives continue to call all LSE customers without power. The LSE Coordinator suspended LSE calls at 1:30 AM. LSE calls began again at 8:00 AM March 9. Customer representatives continued to attempt to contact LSE customers without power a minimum of two times per day until their power was restored. Once contacted, the LSE customers were advised of the ETR (if known) and to contact their local emergency personnel for assistance if needed. We were informed that some of the LSE customers were no longer on life support equipment or were deceased. This information was noted for follow-up. Due to the large number of LSE customers that the Companies were unable to contact within 24 hours, a list of LSE customers that were not reached was provided to the respective County emergency service agencies (ESAs) to physically perform a safety check on each LSE customer listed in their area. 4.2.2. AUTOMATED CALLS TO LSE AND SPECIAL NEEDS CUSTOMERS Once the global ETRs were set on March 10, the CNBD requested the Outbound Call Coordinator to have outbound automated blaster calls sent to all special needs customers which includes; the elderly, blind, disabled, and medical hardship customers (including LSE customers). The automated message to these customers informed them of restoration times as well as any dry ice or bottle water locations in the respective area for Lancaster, Lockport, and Rochester. The automated blaster calls made two attempts NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 66 of 102 per day to reach each of these customers and ran March 10-12 in Lancaster, March 10 in Lockport, and March 10-12 in Rochester. The results of the blaster calls can be found in Appendix J – LSE and Critical Facilities. As LSE customers were restored, they would automatically be removed from the LSE outage report and receive a callback to confirm their power was restored. Due to the large number of LSE customers requiring call back in Rochester, the LSE Coordinator requested the Outbound Call Coordinator to have automated outbound calls made to all LSE customers who were restored. The automated message asked the recipient to confirm if their power was restored, if they were not home and unsure, or if their power had not been restored. The automated outbound calls made two attempts to reach each LSE customer on the restored list and ran on March 13 in Rochester. The results of the automated calls to restored LSE customers are below: Blaster Calls sent to confirm power Blaster Call to Confirm Power Restored Count of 1st Attempt Result Count of 2nd Attempt Result 174 5 Busy Signal 10 7 Call Answered 125 5 3 1 Answering Machine Fax Machine Missing/Invalid Contact Number 6 6 No Answer 32 28 Operator Intercept Grand Total 1 0 351 52 TABLE 41: BLASTER CALL DETAILS During the event, the Department of Public Service Staff directed NYSEG and RG&E to provide a secondary report to the Department including name, address, and information on the results of NYSEG’s and RG&E’s attempts to contact LSE customers. Upon receiving this request, NYSEG and RG&E began providing the requested report with the first of these reports sent on March 9 at 10:43 PM and the remaining reports sent in conjunction with the primary EORS reports sent to the DPS Staff at 7 AM, 11 AM, 3 PM and 7 PM (See Section 3.5 PSC Reporting for exact timing). The secondary reports continued until all customers using life support equipment were restored. See Appendix J for additional summary tables and lists of impacted customers by contract account numbers. The Companies are aware of one RG&E LSE customer that was not included in our outbound calling and referral program but who was in daily contact with RG&E until their service was restored. RG&E has sent a letter to this customer as part of PSC Case 715814. NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 67 of 102 4.2.3. CRITICAL FACILITIES The Companies’ Plan provides that when the DPM anticipates outages that may last 48 hours or longer, Area Command will request that “pre-storm” calls be placed to critical facilities deemed to be in the path of the storm. This wind storm was an event with limited warning and based on weather predictions, DPM results, and resources available at the time, the event was not anticipated to last longer than 24 hours. Under these circumstances it was impractical and would have been inconsistent with the Companies’ Plan to initiate pre-storm calls to Critical Facility customers. The CNBD activated the Critical Facility Coordinator at 7:00 AM on March 9 and requested the Critical Facility Outage Report for both Companies be generated and to begin calling the Critical Facility customers without power. The Critical Facility Coordinator ran the Critical Facility Outage Report and activated employees who called the Critical Facility customers who were without power. Critical customers were contacted a minimum of once per day until it was confirmed that all facilities had power restored. Customers were contacted to determine status (e.g., running on a generator), determine alternate contact names and phone numbers (not all customer phone systems were operational), identify specific needs or concerns the critical facility customer had, and to provide ETRs. Critical Facilities called by day CF Customers Without Power NYSEG – Lancaster 3/9 3/10 3/11 3/12 3/13 3/14 3/15 8 11 6 4 0 1 1 NYSEG – Lockport 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 NYSEG – Other 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 RG&E – Central 148 156 86 50 10 9 2 RG&E – Sodus 21 8 2 0 0 0 0 RG&E – Other 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 183 176 94 54 10 10 3 Total TABLE 42: CRITICAL FACILITITES CALLED BY DAY NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 68 of 102 4.3. CUSTOMER APPEALS When outages events occur after the Companies’ Appeals department is closed, PSC complaints are taken by the Customer Relations Centers from 4:30 PM – 7:00 PM (Mon-Fri) and then by the Energy Control Centers (including on the weekends) for NYSEG and RG&E. On March 10 at 1:48 PM the Department of Public Service sent notices to advise all New York utilities that the DPS call center would be opening extended hours in support of the windstorm. The Companies’ staffed the regular Appeals lines to match the expanded hours of the DPS call center and advised PSC staff to continue calling the normal Appeals phone numbers. Initial referrals to NYSEG and RG&E come from the DPS call center’s Quick Resolution System (QRS). Subsequent referrals of the same customer come from the DPS call center’s Standard Resolution System (SRS), and are classified by the DPS call center as either inquiries or complaints. There were two PSC complaints, related to length of time without power, recorded during this event. In both cases, the customers were called by an Appeals Analyst to discuss their individual concerns. Both PSC complaints were downgraded by PSC Staff to inquiries. There were 11 QRS inquiries forwarded to NYSEG and 26 QRS inquiries forwarded to RG&E by PSC Staff. Complaints were due to the length of time without power:   NYSEG Lancaster Case #715405 RG&E Central Case #715384 Inquiry disposition by division: Company - Division Number of PSC QRS inquiries referred to the Companies Number of PSC Complaints referred to Companies Number of referrals downgraded Number of PSC complaints NYSEG – Elmira 1 0 0 0 NYSEG – Hornell 1 0 0 0 NYSEG – Lancaster 8 1 1 0 NYSEG – Lockport 1 0 0 0 RG&E – Central 26 1 1 0 TABLE 43: INQUIRY DISPOSITION BY DIVISION NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 69 of 102 4.4. PUBLIC OUTREACH NYSEG and RG&E used several methods to communicate with the public prior to and during the storm from Tuesday March 7 through Wednesday March 15. The Companies maintained daily communication with television stations, radio stations, and newspapers statewide. In addition to daily news releases, the Companies provided additional information when requested and took calls answering questions from various media throughout the duration of the storm. In total, the Companies responded to 156 additional requests. Summary tables of the direct contact is below (Table 45 and 46). The Companies also used its websites and social media pages to reach customers and the public with information about storm preparations, descriptions of the storm severity and the resulting damage, explanations of the assessing and restoration process, safety tips, resources assisting in the restoration, and progress updates during the restoration phase. NYSEG and RG&E also used the Companies’ email listings and alert text messaging system to provide information directly to customers affected by the storm. NYSEG and RG&E distributed a total of fourteen news releases, participated in three press conferences, and responded to 156 media inquiries regarding storm preparation, conditions, and restoration from Tuesday, March 7, prior to impact of the storm through Wednesday, March 15, after impact of the storm and throughout the restoration process. Press release content is also relied upon by customer service, social media, and public outreach to craft additional messaging. The content is developed to provide the public with information regarding the severity of the event, character of damage, the restoration process and resources, as well as guidance for customers on storm preparations, pre- and post-event safety, how to contact NYSEG and RG&E, how to report an outage, how to check the status of an outage, locations and times of dry ice distribution and emergency shelters, etc. The table below provides the date, time, and subject for each release. The narrative below provides a summary of objectives and content for each release. The press releases are provided in Appendix F. Date 3/7/17 3/8/17 3/9/17 3/9/17 3/9/17 3/10/17 3/10/17 3/10/17 3/10/17 3/11/17 3/11/17 3/12/17 3/12/17 3/13/17 3/13/17 3/13/17 3/14/17 Time 18:12 18:08 12:38 15:10 23:48 11:00 11:31 14:30 18:34 13:40 22:01 12:42 21:54 11:42 16:14 21:13 20:56 Subject RG&E and NYSEG Prepared for Potential Storm High Winds Cause Outages and Severe Damage NYSEG and RG&E Responding to Widespread Outages Press Conference – Organized by Monroe County Emergency Operations Center. NYSEG and RG&E Responding to Widespread Outages – 11 PM Update Press Conference – Organized by Monroe County Emergency Operations Center. NYSEG and RG&E Expect Significant Progress in First Full Day of Restoration Press Conference – Office of the Governor and Monroe County EOC, New York Air National Guard Hangar NYSEG and RG&E Continue Restoration Process Following Widespread Outages NYSEG and RG&E Making Great Progress Following Severe and Widespread Storm Damage NYSEG and RG&E On Target to Restore Power to Majority Of Customers by Midnight Sunday – March 11, 2017 NYSEG and RG&E Restore Power to More than 170,000 Customers Affected by Wind Storm RG&E Restores Power to More than 105,000 Customers RG&E Continues Restoration for Remaining Outages Following Last Week’s Wind Storm NYSEG and RG&E Prepared for Potential Northeast Storm RG&E Continues Restoration Efforts Following Wind Storm RG&E Working to Restore Power to Remaining Customers Impacted by Last Week’s Wind Storm TABLE 44: NEWS RELEASES NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 70 of 102 4.4.1. MEDIA SUMMARY News Release, 3/7/17; 6:12 PM  Objectives – alert customers of pending event; encourage preparation  Content – company preparation; storm response procedures; outage alerts, outage reporting, safety (pre, during, and post-event), and sources for additional information. News Release, 3/8/17; 6:08 PM  Objectives – Define response status and near-term actions to inform customer expectations; provide near-term safety information; direct customers to additional sources of information on outages and safety.  Content – Preliminary scope of damage and locations; storm response focus on public safety; weather conditions limit storm response and damage assessment, additional resources have been called in; customers should prepare for multiple days without power; additional sources for information. News Release, 3/9/17; 12:38 PM  Objectives – Update response status, resources, and near-term actions to inform customer expectations; provide public safety information, direct customers to additional sources of information on outages and safety  Content – Preliminary scope of damage and locations; storm response focus on public safety, assessment, and critical facilities; additional resources have been called in; customers should prepare for multiple days without power; additional sources for information. News Conference, 3/9/17; 3:10 PM, Organized by Monroe County EOC  Objectives – Provide storm response status; provide preliminary estimate of duration for customer and emergency responder planning.  Content – Make-safe and assessment focus; unsafe conditions for crews and the public; resources available; preliminary damage assessment, ETR – “multiple days.” News Release, 3/9/17; 11:48 PM  Objectives – Define response status and near-term actions to inform customer expectations; provide near-term safety information, direct customers to additional sources of information on outages and safety  Content – Preliminary scope of damage and locations; storm response focus on public safety and assessment (what, how, and why); full restoration to start tomorrow; customers should prepare for multiple days without power; customer equipment damage and accessibility can prolong restoration; generator safety; locations for dry ice and water, additional sources for information on safety and ETRs. News Conference, 3/10/17, 11:00 AM, Organized by the Monroe County EOC  Objectives – Update storm response status; outline scale of damage and scope of restoration effort, describe progress and expectations of duration.  Content – Make-safe and assessment focus; unsafe conditions for crews and the public; resources available, preliminary damage assessment, ETR – “multiple days.” NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 71 of 102 News Release, 3/10/17; 11:31 AM  Objectives – Define response status and near-term actions to inform customer expectations; provide ETRs as available; provide safety information and direct customers to additional sources of information on outages, shelters, etc.  Content – Scope of damage, restoration progress (cumulative and current outages), and resources. ETRs for all counties except Monroe; additional sources for information on safety, shelters, water, dry ice, and ETRs. News Conference, 3/10/17, 2:30 PM, Organized by the Monroe County EOC and the Governor’s Office  Objectives – Update storm response status; outline scale of damage and scope of restoration effort, provide global estimated time of restoration (ETR for 90%).  Content – Make-safe and assessment focus; unsafe conditions for crews and the public; resources available, preliminary damage assessment, provided ETR. News Release, 3/10/17; 6:34 PM  Objectives – Define response status and near-term actions to inform customer expectations; provided global and by-county outage counts and ETRs; provide safety information and direct customers to additional sources of information on outages, shelters, etc.  Content – Scope of damage, restoration progress (cumulative and current outages), and resources. ETRs and outage counts for all counties; additional sources for information on safety, shelters, water, dry ice, and ETRs. News Release, 3/11/17; 1:40 PM  Objectives – Define response status and near-term actions to inform customer expectations; provided global and by-county outage counts and ETRs; provide safety information and direct customers to additional sources of information on outages, shelters, etc.  Content – Scope of damage, restoration progress (cumulative and current outages), and resources. ETRs for NYSEG and RG&E customers; shelter information; additional sources for information on safety, shelters, water, dry ice, and ETRs. News Release, 3/11/17; 11:01 PM  Objectives – Define response status and near-term actions to inform customer expectations; provided global and by-county outage counts and ETRs; provide safety information and direct customers to additional sources of information on outages, shelters, etc.  Content – Scope of damage, restoration progress (cumulative and current outages), and resources; reached 80% restoration mark; ETRs for NYSEG and RG&E customers; locations for dry ice and water; additional sources for information on safety, shelters, water, dry ice, and ETRs. News Release, 3/12/17; 12:42 PM  Objectives – Define response status and near-term actions to inform customer expectations; provided ETRs by company; provide safety information and direct customers to additional sources of information on outages, shelters, etc. NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 72 of 102  Content – Scope of damage, restoration progress (cumulative and current outages), and resources; reached 80% restoration mark; ETRs for NYSEG and RG&E customers; locations for dry ice and water; additional sources for information on safety, shelters, water, dry ice, and ETRs. News Release, 3/12/17; 9:54 PM  Objectives – Define response status and near-term actions to inform customer expectations; highlight restoration benchmark achieved and continued commitment; encourage outage report confirmations; provide safety information and direct customers to additional sources of information on outages, shelters, etc.  Content – Scope of damage, restoration progress (cumulative and current outages), and resources; reached 90% restoration mark; encourage customers to report outages if they don’t appear on the website; locations for dry ice and water; additional sources for information on safety, shelters, water, dry ice, and ETRs. News Release, 3/13/17; 11:42 AM  Objectives – Define response status and near-term actions to inform customer expectations; define ETR for most customers; encourage outage report confirmations; provide safety information and direct customers to additional sources of information on outages, shelters, etc.  Content – Restoration progress (cumulative and current outages); near-term ETR for most customers; encourage customers to report outages if they don’t appear on the website; locations for dry ice and water; additional sources for information on safety, shelters, water, dry ice, and ETRs. News Release, 3/13/17; 4:14 PM  Objectives – alert customers of pending event; encourage preparation  Content – company preparation; storm response procedures; outage alerts, outage reporting, and sources for outage information; customer preparations and safety. News Release, 3/13/17; 9:13 PM  Objectives – Define response status and near-term actions to inform customer expectations; highlight challenges; provide dry ice and water information and direct customers to additional sources of information on outages, shelters, etc.  Content – Restoration progress (cumulative and current outages); challenges of work: single customers; difficult access; imminent threat of heavy snow; locations for dry ice and water; additional sources for information on safety, shelters, water, dry ice, and ETRs. News Release, 3/14/17; 8:56 PM  Objectives – Define response status and near-term actions to inform customer expectations; ETR for all customers; highlight challenges; express appreciation as event concludes; natural gas safety; additional sources of information on outages, shelters, etc.  Content – Restoration progress (cumulative and current outages); extreme weather conditions; appreciation to customers, contractors, and community; keep natural gas vents clear from snow and obstructions. NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 73 of 102 4.4.2. DIRECT MEDIA INTERACTIONS: NYSEG and RG&E responded to more than 150 media inquiries from March 8 to March 15. A summary of the contact is below. Date 3/8/17 3/8/17 3/8/17 3/8/17 3/8/17 3/8/17 3/8/17 3/8/17 3/8/17 3/8/17 3/9/17 3/9/17 3/9/17 3/9/17 3/9/17 3/9/17 3/9/17 3/9/17 3/9/17 3/9/17 3/9/17 3/9/17 3/9/17 3/10/17 3/10/17 3/10/17 3/10/17 3/10/17 3/10/17 3/10/17 3/10/17 3/10/17 3/10/17 3/10/17 3/10/17 3/10/17 Media Outlet Time Warner Cable WROC-TV WHAM- TV 13 Democrat & Chronicle WBEN WKBW WGRZ WIVB WHEC Lockport Union WROC – TV WXXI Livingston Co. News Hamburg Sun WVNY WGRZ WIVB WBEN Time Warner Cable News WKBW The Buffalo News Democrat & Chronicle 1180 WHAM Radio CNN WROC-TV WXXI 1180 WHAM Radio WHEC Livingston Co. News Hamburg Sun WGRZ WIVB Time Warner Cable News WBEN WKBW Associated Press Number of Contacts 4 3 2 2 4 4 4 2 1 1 3 4 1 1 2 6 2 3 4 5 2 3 2 1 3 3 4 2 1 1 3 1 2 1 3 1 Subject Storm Outages Storm Outages Storm Outages Storm Outages Storm Outages Storm Outages Storm Outages Storm Outages Storm Outages Storm Outages Restoration Efforts and Dry Ice distribution Restoration Efforts and Dry Ice distribution Dry Ice Distribution Restoration Efforts and Dry Ice distribution Storm & Restoration Efforts Restoration Efforts and Dry Ice distribution Restoration Efforts and Dry Ice distribution Restoration Efforts and Dry Ice distribution Restoration Efforts and Dry Ice distribution Restoration Efforts and Dry Ice distribution Restoration Efforts and Dry Ice distribution Restoration Efforts and Dry Ice distribution Restoration Efforts and Dry Ice distribution Restoration Efforts Restoration Efforts Restoration Efforts Restoration Efforts Restoration Efforts Restoration Efforts Restoration Efforts Restoration Efforts Restoration Efforts Restoration Efforts Restoration Efforts Restoration Efforts Restoration Efforts TABLE 45: MEDIA INTERACTIONS NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 74 of 102 Direct Media Interactions (continued) Date 3/10/17 3/11/17 3/11/17 3/11/17 3/11/17 3/11/17 3/11/17 3/11/17 3/11/17 3/11/17 3/11/17 3/11/17 3/12/17 3/12/17 3/12/17 3/12/17 3/12/17 3/12/17 3/12/17 3/13/17 3/13/17 3/13/17 3/13/17 3/13/17 3/13/17 3/13/17 3/13/17 3/13/17 3/13/17 3/14/17 3/14/17 3/14/17 3/14/17 3/14/17 3/14/17 3/14/17 3/14/17 3/15/17 3/15/17 3/15/17 3/15/17 3/15/17 3/15/17 3/15/17 3/8 – 3/15 Media Outlet Democrat & Chronicle WROC – TV WXXI 1180 WHAM Radio WHEC WHAM Democrat & Chronicle WGRZ WKBW WIVB Time Warner Cable WGRZ WROC – TV WXXI 1180 WHAM Radio WHEC WIVB WGRZ Time Warner Cable WROC WXXI 1180 WHAM Radio WHEC WBEN WGRZ WIVB WKBW Democrat & Chronicle WHAM WROC WXXI 1180 WHAM Radio WHEC Time Warner Cable News WHAM-TV 13 The Buffalo News Democrat & Chronicle WROC-TV WHEC WHAM-TV 13 Time Warner Cable News Democrat & Chronicle WXXI 1180 WHAM Radio Total Direct Media Contacts Number of Contacts 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 3 2 3 1 2 1 1 1 5 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 156 Subject Restoration Efforts Response to Gov. statements Response to Gov. Statements Response to Gov. Statements Response to Gov. Statements Response to Gov. Statements Response to Gov. Statements Response to Gov. Statements Restoration Efforts Restoration Efforts Restoration Efforts Response to Erie Co. Exec. Statements Restoration Efforts Restoration Efforts Restoration Efforts Restoration Efforts Restoration Efforts Restoration Efforts Restoration Efforts Restoration Efforts Restoration Efforts Restoration Efforts Restoration Efforts Restoration Efforts Restoration Efforts Restoration Efforts Restoration Efforts Restoration Efforts Restoration Efforts Restoration Efforts Restoration Efforts Restoration Efforts Restoration Efforts Restoration Efforts Restoration Efforts Restoration Efforts Restoration Efforts Statement on Restoration Efforts Statement on Restoration Efforts Statement on Restoration Efforts Statement on Restoration Efforts Statement on Restoration Efforts Statement on Restoration Efforts Statement on Restoration Efforts Wind Storm Efforts TABLE 46: MEDIA INTERACTIONS CONTINUED NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 75 of 102 4.4.3. SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS AND CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT: The Companies post information to social media in accordance with Section 9.2 of their Plan (excerpt below). Section 9.2 (excerpt) The Companies monitor social media and have increased the use of Twitter and Facebook to build a network of “followers” to extend the reach of messaging. Twitter and Facebook will be used, as necessary, during major events to provide:          Links to all event news releases 800# to report outages Safety information Dry ice/water distribution information Shelter locations Restoration progress Estimated restoration times Contact information Re-tweets from elected officials, emergency operations centers and the media Before the impact of the storm and during the restoration efforts, RG&E and NYSEG used Facebook and Twitter to distribute outage information, news releases, descriptions of the assessing process, updates on restoration efforts and times, safety information, and images of the damage and repair work. A significant increase in activity on the Companies’ pages showed that customers looked to social media as a source of information during this event. 3/8/17: Storm preparation plans and a link for more information were posted on the Companies’ social media at 10:59 AM, and were updated later that day at 1:12 PM with information on how to report an outage to encourage prompt and complete outage reporting. The posts also alerted customers on how they could learn more about restoration times. At about 7:00 PM, the Companies posted a message informing customers about how many outages were reported. A link was also posted which included safety tips about what to do in the event of an outage. Due to slow and nonexistent activity nightly from 10 PM until 7 AM, the Companies posted a message alerting customers that social media monitoring will continue in the morning. The post also included information about the restoration efforts being done overnight. 3/9/17: Posted a notice about widespread damage and outages at 9:00 AM. A series of posts followed throughout the morning including how many personnel were working on repairs. The Companies also posted pictures of storm damage to show the severity of the event. The Companies posted an explanation of the assessing process at 5:22 PM to build understanding of the severity and extent of the damage and set expectations that this would be a multi-day event. NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 76 of 102 3/10/17: At 10:06 AM, posted a message about the dry ice and bottled water locations with a link to help customers in different areas find the closest locations. During the day, NYSEG and RG&E posted global ETRs for all counties these posts explained the global ETR was the estimated restoration times for 90% of customers. Throughout the day, the Companies also updated its social media postings with the increased amount of workers who were helping with restoration efforts. 3/11/17: Activity on the Companies’ social media pages included responses to customers’ questions and comments. A message was posted at 1:54 PM updating customers affected by the storm in the NYSEG service area that the majority of the remaining customers would be restored by 10 PM, There were also a series of posts alerting customers to updates to the dry ice and bottled water locations as well as emergency shelters and warming centers. 3/12/17: At 8:53 AM, posted a message to alert customers that the Companies were on target to have power restored to 90% of customers affected by the storm by that evening. A link was provided on safety tips, storm restoration efforts, and information on how to contact NYSEG and RG&E. There were also posts thanking customers for their patience and the overwhelming community support shown to crews and contractors. At 10:06 PM, RG&E posted a message to the Companies’ social media pages alerting customers that power had been restored to 90% of customers affected by the storm. 3/13/17: Activity on social media shifted to RG&E as power for many of the remaining customers in the NYSEG service area had been restored. RG&E continued to inform those customers on their estimated restoration times and how to use the website to find ETRs. Messages were posted throughout the day on updates to dry ice and bottled water locations as well as emergency shelters. Messages were also posted to both Companies about the preparations underway for the potential significant snow fall and what customers could expect in the event of additional outages. 3/14/17: Posted winter storm tips for both Companies in advance of winter storm Stella. This message included safety tips to provide customers with information on what do in case of an outage. There was also continued activity addressing customers’ comments and questions. 3/15/17: At 10:03 AM, Posted update for the remaining customers about the final restoration plans. A message was also posted to update the public that all dry ice and bottled water locations were closed. Two additional messages were posted thanking customers and the community for the support of the course of the storm. NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 77 of 102 Customers used the Companies’ social media pages to asks questions which the Companies answered. Some customers were also asked to direct message the Companies’ social media pages with questions the Companies answered and in some cases provided information to the call center representatives to double check outage information entries and to check on specific concerns and addresses. The Companies had a total of 294 direct messages. This total includes both inquiries and responses the Companies provided. The summary table is below; screenshots of the messages and responses are included in Appendix F. Wind Storm Social Media NYSEG (Twitter) Direct Messages and Responses RG&E (Twitter) Direct Messages and Responses NYSEG (Facebook) Direct Messages and Responses RG&E (Facebook) Direct Messages and Responses Total # DM 3/7 -3/15 3 26 67 198 294 TABLE 47: SOCIAL MEDIA ENGAGEMENT The significant increase in activity on the Companies’ pages showed that customers looked to social media as a source of information during this event. The Facebook posts and Tweets are provided in Appendix F. The tables below show activity levels from Twitter and Facebook between March 7 and March 15. Twitter Tweets (including replies) Clicks on posted links Followers (March 7) Followers (March 15) % Increase in followers NYSEG 108 1,920 3,214 3,411 6.1% RG&E 272 10,799 2,049 2,921 42.5% Facebook Posts Comments Shares Clicks on links Fans (March 7) Fans (March 15) % Increase in fans NYSEG 30 604 282 1,178 2,893 3,099 7.1% RG&E 55 838 290 5,101 910 1,342 47.4% TABLE 48: TWITTER AND FACEBOOK ENGAGEMENT BY DATE NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 78 of 102 4.4.4. EMAILS TO CUSTOMERS: Customers in the NYSEG Lancaster, NYSEG Lockport, RG&E Central and RG&E Sodus divisions were sent emails throughout the wind storm event. The total number of emails sent is dependent upon emails addresses provided by the customer and stored in billing system for accounts in impacted areas. Customers in the RG&E Central division received emails March 9 through March 15, while RG&E Sodus division customers received emails on March 9, 10 and 11 only. On average, emails were delivered to more than 130,000 customers in these divisions daily. Customers in the NYSEG Lancaster division received emails March 9 through March 12, while NYSEG Lockport customers received emails on March 9 and 10 only. On average, emails were delivered to more than 60,000 customers in these divisions daily. A summary on delivered emails are on the following pages. NYSEG Customer emails Email Type Storm daily Date Sent Time Sent Company Divisions / Offices Lancaster, Lockport Subject Line Message Summary 3/9/17 12:17 PM NYSEG NYSEG Working to Restore Power NYSEG Lancaster, Lockport NYSEG Restoration Efforts Continue 5:10 PM NYSEG Lancaster NYSEG Continues to Make Progress 3:24 PM NYSEG Lancaster NYSEG Wind Storm Restorations Explains wind storm resulting in 25k out, process for restoring service and emphasis on safety. Points to web, phone and alerts for information on restoration times. Explains restoration efforts from wind storm, including addition of new crews and support staff. Provides # out, global ETRs, dry ice and safety info for each division. Provides info on progress including restoration of 70% of those affected by storm. Efforts and global ETR for remaining 4k out. Dry ice, safety and outage information. Restoration efforts including crews from all over the Northeast, global ETR for remaining 2k out and info on dry ice, safety and outage information. Storm daily 3/10/17 3:50 PM Storm daily 3/11/17 Storm daily 3/12/17 Number sent 63,403 62,489 55,004 54,804 TABLE 49: NYSEG CUSTOMER EMAILS NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 79 of 102 RG&E Customer emails Email Type Date Sent Time Sent Company Divisions / Offices Subject Line Message Summary Number sent Storm daily 3/9/17 11:04 AM RG&E Central, Sodus RG&E Working to Restore Power 135,806 Storm daily 3/10/17 8:41 PM RG&E Central, Sodus RG&E Restoration Efforts Continue Explains wind storm resulting in 100k out, process for restoring service and emphasis on safety. Points to web, phone and alerts for information on restoration times. Explains restoration efforts from wind storm, including addition of new crews and support staff. Provides # out, global ETRs, dry ice, shelters/warming centers and safety info. Storm daily 3/11/17 5:00 PM RG&E Central, Sodus RG&E Continues to Make Progress 134,458 Storm daily 3/12/17 3:41 PM RG&E Central RG&E Wind Storm Restorations Storm daily 3/13/17 4:59 PM RG&E Central RG&E Continues Restorations Storm daily 3/14/17 9:35 PM RG&E Central Storm daily 3/15/17 10:51 AM RG&E Central RG&E Wind Storm Restorations Nearly Complete RG&E Restoration Efforts Provides information on progress including restoration of 70% of those affected by storm. Efforts and global ETR for remaining 45k out. Dry ice, shelters, safety and outage information. Restoration efforts including crews from all over the Northeast, global ETR for remaining 28k out and info on dry ice, shelters safety and outage information. Focus on restoring remaining 7k out and encouraging those out to check ERTs or report if they do not see they're ETR. Dry ice, shelters, safety and outage info. Commitment to restoring remaining customers. ETRs, dry ice, shelter and safety info provided. Crews on site at all remaining outages making repairs. Info on how to view or call for ETRs. 125,513 135,006 125,696 125,729 125,535 TABLE 50: RG&E CUSTOMER EMAILS NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 80 of 102 4.4.5. WEBSITES NYSEG and RG&E websites were converted to storm pages. Both Companies posted storm banners on the Companies’ main pages to allow customers easy access to information and outage reporting. The websites also included updated outage information, news releases, locations for dry ice and bottled water, along with shelter and warming locations as shown in Appendix F. 4.4.6. OUTAGE ALERTS – C OMMUNICATION BY PHONE, EMAIL AND/OR TEXT NYSEG and RG&E offer an outage alerts service to customers to receive notifications with the latest information about their power outage. Customers may choose how they wish to receive the alerts - by text message, email, and/ or voice message. Customers will receive alerts when the Companies detect a power outage in their area, when there is an estimated restoration time assigned to the account and when power has been restored. This service has been promoted by bill insert, website, social media, call center on-hold messaging and by representatives when on the phone with customers. Customers may sign-up via website or by customer representative. The Companies continued to promote this service throughout the duration of the event and additional customers signed up to receive the alerts. Due to a server issue with the text alerts vendor, data was not collected for March 12 and 13, however alerts continued to be issued. NYSEG 3/8/17 3/9/17 3/10/17 3/13/17 Total Outage Detected 2109 929 130 3/11/17 3/12/17 220 3388 EMAIL 448 156 39 48 691 Text 1416 701 76 148 2341 VOICE 245 72 15 24 356 Power Restored 1115 1076 237 48 2476 EMAIL 257 194 41 17 509 Text 731 776 181 28 1716 VOICE 127 106 15 3 251 Restoration Status 1018 822 782 10 2632 EMAIL 225 157 149 Text 677 589 584 VOICE 116 76 49 Reply Power On 74 51 9 4 138 Text 74 51 9 4 138 Enrollments 210 440 164 1109 2072 531 10 1860 241 72 77 TABLE 51: NYSEG ALERTS NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 81 of 102 RG&E 03/08/17 03/09/17 03/10/17 03/11/17 Outage Detected 5062 6657 866 1 EMAIL 1213 873 89 Text 3336 5479 751 VOICE 513 305 26 Power Restored 618 4746 457 EMAIL 159 720 54 Text 446 3715 376 VOICE 13 311 Restoration Status 3840 316 EMAIL 994 Text VOICE 03/12/17 03/13/17 03/14/17 03/15/17 Total 1647 346 74 14653 206 67 9 2457 1341 242 62 11212 100 37 3 984 361 485 104 6772 68 79 17 1097 274 358 82 5252 27 19 48 5 423 43 554 280 50 5083 62 8 83 46 4 1197 2372 214 32 441 217 44 3320 474 40 3 30 17 2 566 Reply Power On 116 156 29 0 0 114 54 11 480 Text 116 156 29 0 0 114 54 11 480 Enrollments 679 2771 1294 390 230 271 175 65 5875 1 1 1 TABLE 52: RG&E ALERTS PHOTO 11: PHOTO OF STORM DAMAGE ON MARCH 9 NYSEG and RG&E Part 105 Report: Windstorm (3/8-15/17) 82 of 102 The scripts for phone calls are provided below: Outage Detected – Live Hello, this is a message from at <1-800-572-1131 / 1-800743-1701> to let you know that we’ve detected a power outage at or near . There are currently customers without power. Our crews are working as quickly as possible to safely restore power. We estimate power will be restored by . The outage cause is , and for this outage. If you would like to receive updates and alerts via text messages to your mobile device, visit . To repeat this message, please press pound. Outage Detected – Voicemail Hello, this is a message from at <1-800-572-1131 / 1-800743-1701> to let you know that we’ve detected a power outage at or near . There are currently customers without power. Our crews are working as quickly as possible to safely restore power. We estimate power will be restored by . The outage cause is , and for this outage. If you would like to receive updates and alerts via text messages to your mobile device, visit . Thank you for your patience. Goodbye. Status Update – Live Hello, this is a message from at <1-800-572-1131 / 1-800743-1701> with an update on the power outage at or near . As of