Global Power Outage & Safety Process Management

10th -11th of February 2022

Hybrid Event - Online & Berlin, Germany
Global Power Outage & Safety Process Management Conference will bring together industry experts for two days of
diversified content, business networking opportunities and a shared knowledge in the areas of management in planned
& unplanned outages, emergency response management, effective processes of safety, digital strategies for predicting
outages, implementation of AI and ML tools, etc.

Our aattendees next year will have a great opportunity to network in our Hybrid event; all participants will get a choice
of participating in this event either virtually via our know-how digital platform or join us in Berlin, Germany with all
COVID-19 health measures applied. Further logistical information will be made available soon.

COVID-19 has rapidly changed the way current world does business, and the communications and customer service
departments in the utility industry have certainly felt the impact. Communicating with customers and internal
communications has never been more important than it is right now!

Industry Structure
This conference is focusing on the energy sector. More specifically, those companies within the energy sector
that are distributing electricity (power supply network operators). DSOs distribute electricity on Mid-voltage
(MV) and Low voltage (LV) network (e.g. Elenia, Enexis). There are usually many DSOs in one country. Please
keep in mind that this conference does not address generation companies and Transmission Operators
(TSO).

Picture above: We are focusing on the Distribution lines (the companies that operate them).
Distribution System Operator (DSO)
DSO or DNO (Distribution Network Operator) are companies licensed to distribute electricity. They are
responsible for operating, ensuring the maintenance of and, if necessary, developing the distribution system of
electricity in each area. They are the connecting point between High Voltage (HV) Transmission Operators and
the end users, supplying the electricity mostly in Mid-voltage range.

It is important to understand that the distribution lines are not always the overhead lines, but they are also very
often placed underground. See below:

What is an Outage?
A power outage (also called a power cut, power supply interruption, power failure or a blackout) is a short or
long-term loss of the electric power supply to an area. Please note that an outage might be called differently
across Europe. Therefore, be aware of the synonyms. There are many causes of power failures in an electricity
network such as weather, faulty equipment, or human error. You may think you have never had an outage, but
operators can often manage interruption in power so that the customer is not directly affected.
Two Basic Types of Outages:
Unplanned
Power supply interruption that occurs without warning or previous awareness of the network operator. Most
caused by extreme weather events (heavy snow load, storm, falling trees, flooding etc.) or third-party damage
- party other than the network operator himself (excavation works on the road, various reparations performed
by workers in the city etc.). Unplanned outage can by also caused for example by cyber-attack, there has been
first such confirmed case in Ukraine at the beginning of the year 2016.
Planned
Network operators must schedule outages when they need to perform maintenance or any kind of
reconstruction. In Europe most of networks are around 50 years old and their replacement also requires cutting
the power supply for a period. Network operators can plan and prepare for these power interruptions in
advance, inform the customers and make sure everything runs smoothly. However, such planning can be very
challenging because of the large number of aspects that have to be managed such as the workforce, cooperation
between the stakeholders, informing the customers etc.
We are focusing on both unplanned and planned outages, and we will provide the best practices on how to
deal with them.
Why this conference now?
- In November 2019, a violent windstorm swept through the Province of Québec, leaving nearly a million
homes across the province without power for days. This was the biggest service interruption for Hydro Quebec
since a major ice storm in 1998. In this session, learn how the company moved quickly to restore power to
customers while providing them with timely updates. As a result of Hydro-Quebec’s handling of this massive
outage, they were awarded third place for Chartwell’s Outage Communications Awards in 2020. Hydro
Quebec’s efforts to improve the outage communications process with enhanced communications
demonstrated the value of investing in process improvement initiatives.
- COVID-19 has changed the way the world does business, and the communications and customer service
departments in the utility industry have certainly felt the impact. Communicating with customers and internal
communications has never been more important than it is right now. During this event participants will have
the opportunity to talk with your peers about successes and challenges with communications during these
difficult times.
- AEP is among the first electric companies in the United States to give customers the opportunity to get
outage status information, view their account balance, pay their bill, and check their energy usage through
Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant voice enabled devices. Implementing current technology and AI tools for
the improvement of customer experience is very important for companies’ reputation and market
competition
- Preparations for outage communications are very important before the threat of storms or any unplanned
outages. In an era of rapid communications and readily available content, the utility continuously refines its
strategy to provide customers with relevant and timely information. Companies’ goals should be directed
towards importance of having a good crisis communication team in place to maintain a positive image of your
brand. The outage communication imperatives- protect, preserve, and promote
- Evolving climate conditions throughout the world have made wildfires a year-round concern to many
communities. Wildfires raged throughout the world in 2021 making it the worst fire season on record by far.
- At the heart of customer communication is identity — if you do not get it right, everything else will be wrong
especially when dealing with outages. How are organizations able to communicate with their customers when
consumer data are constantly changing? Changing customer data can negatively impact a utility’s bottom line,
the customer experience and create challenging risks. In this event, participants can learn how customer
phone number management can positively impact the entire customer communication experience.
- A strong Outage Experience Strategy goes well beyond keeping the lights on for your customer. It starts with
investment in good planning that balances both short- and long-term improvements which are prioritized
based on your customer’s needs and reliable, trustworthy data. Its supported by a strong communications
plan that is relevant across all of your customer segments and can offer a consistent experience across
multiple channels – social, web or mobile.
- The right communications strategy ensures that customers stay informed before, during and after severe
weather and emergencies.
- Establishing more strategic customer outage communications and enhancing explicit alerts requires a
deliberate and tactical approach especially in today’s world. With many people working virtually from home
because of the pandemic, technology has never been more important to keep people informed about outages
and more. From field ops to customer satisfaction, from IT to customer service, from regulatory to
communications, all departments need to be involved and on the same page. This presentation will serve as a
platform to educate and share how the use of technology assists with a comprehensive outage
communications strategy to improve customer satisfaction during unusual times.
 Power outages in the United States by state in February 2021
Published by N. Sönnichsen, Feb 19, 2021
Winter storm Uri has brought unusually cold weather and power outages to many parts of the United States in
February 2021, with Texas particularly affected. Low temperatures have fueled greater electricity demand for
heating, while also being of trouble to multiple kinds of generating capacity. Thermal power stations not fitted
with cold-withstanding equipment had to be shut-off as the water needed to run natural gas, coal, and nuclear
power plants froze. Additionally, wind turbines in the state had not been provided with anti-freeze coatings,
leading to some turbines having to be turned off. Limited natural gas supply and resulting lower pressure were
counted among the main reasons for why electricity had not come back in full even two days after the storm
hit. On February 16, over four million Texan customers suffered a blackout. Two days later, this figure stood at
687,100.

Brownouts and Blackouts

Outages cost an average of about $18 billion to $33 billion per year in the United States.
Power outage estimates also may not include brownout numbers.
In some areas, intentional brownouts help utilities avoid rolling blackouts — mandated reductions in energy
consumption to help meet the needs of the entire energy grid for that area.
Target Audience
SVPs, VPs, CEOs, Directors, Global Heads, Heads, Team Leaders, Specialists, Managers, Analysts, and other
professionals from:
• Network (Operations, Support, Analysis, Control, Planning)
• Network Operations
• Outage Management
• Network Security Operations
• Asset Management
• Emergency response management/ EMS
• Recovery
• Safety processes
• Operations and Maintenance / O&M
• Asset recovery
• Supply Quality
• Smart Metering
• Supply
• Reliability
• Smart Grids
• SAIDI
• SAIFI
• Supply Quality
• Supply Reliability
• Smart Grids
• Crisis Management
Companies: DSO’s
TARGET REGIONS:
1. Europe & 85 %
2. CIS countries – 5%
3. USA, Turkey, Middle East – 10%

Sponsorship/ Solution Providers’ Angles:

Utilities recognize that the bar has been raised when it comes to managing power cuts. Customers,
regulators, media, and public officials have significantly higher expectations from their utility as to the
reliability of their service and the efficiency and effectiveness of its restoration when they are out of
service. In other words, network operators need solutions to prevent outages and solutions to manage
outages when they happen:
§ tools to quickly find (in the best case - predict) where is the
affected area

§ fix it as soon as possible

§ communicate with the customer for a. their security and b. to

prevent reputational damage of the company

Network Automation
Network automation is the use of IT controls to supervise and carry out every-day network management
functions. It provides a way to handle everyday network management functions reliably and consistently,
freeing up networking teams to concentrate on big-picture projects and problems that will make a difference
to their businesses.
Network Automation is one of the most important topics for the operators now. Everyone needs to
automate their network as it can radically lower the number and duration of outages. It predicts, detects,
and sometimes even fixes the power cut.
Data Management
The deployment of advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) and intelligent supervisory control and data
acquisition (SCADA) systems is essentially all about improving the amount and quality of data that utilities
have.
The feedback from the participants from the first Outage forum was clear: data management is an extremely,
if not the most, important topic. Data can help with analysis and management of the outage but at the same
time collection and storing them is becoming challenging.
Cyber Security
Cyber-attacks have dominated the headlines and devastated a slew of companies over the past few years.
So, how can utilities boost their confidence and ensure their security measures are meeting the needs of the
next generation smart grid?
Weather Prediction for Outages
When severe weather strikes and the power goes out, utility companies need to act fast to get services back
up and running to keep their customers and regulators happy. Utilities want to mobilize proactively,
efficiently, and only when necessary because mobilizing for weather-related outages can cost a utility
millions of dollars per year. Power outage prediction can save utilities time and money.
Augment Reality for Control Rooms
Using a Google Glass-like virtual-reality headset with a communications network, workers in the field can
access GIS data and remote human expertise. In one possible scenario, workers know that there’s a fault in
a power cable that runs under a street, and they need to access the cable through a manhole.
(Augmented reality can guide field workers remotely so they can safely and quickly tackle outages).
Outage Management Systems
They enable the network operator to improve the restoration processes, minimize their outage response
times, keep customers, management, and regulators well-informed about the scope, status and forecast for
outage restoration efforts, as well as to improve overall system reliability. Implementing of these solutions
could be of a huge benefit for the operator.

• ABB
• General Electric
• Open Systems International
• Schneider Electric
• Siemens

Similix - Technology/ Software Products

• Software products
• Technology strategies and road maps
• Solution and integration architectures
• Data architectures and data models
• Data readiness review programs
• Business processes and data flows
• Cybersecurity patterns for IT/OT architectures

OSI – Outage Management Solutions/ Consultancy/ Advisory

• Predict the outage location and determine the customers impacted

• Prioritize restoration efforts
• Calculate estimated time of restoration (ETR)
• Determine crews required for restoration
• Dispatch and manage crews
• Provide outage information for reporting and notification

Useful Links:
http://www.euractiv.com/section/sustainable-dev/news/europe-threatened-by-power-outages-this-
winter/
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-11-05-europe-blackout_x.htm
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-electricity-europe-idUSKBN0MS4VH20150401

Vocabulary

Microgrids – small, self-contained power systems that could draw from rooftop solar panels, nearby wind
turbines and other sources, as well as larger regional grids – would allow communities to generate and
ration their own electricity.

Brownout – A reduction or restriction in available power to an area, also known as a voltage slump.

Blackout – A complete loss of power to an area, from minutes to hours or even days, depending on the
cause and utility.

SAIDI - The metrics that describe the duration and frequency of interruptions are known as the System
Average Interruption Duration Index (SAIDI) and System Average Interruption Frequency Index (SAIFI).
SAIDI = Total duration of sustained interruptions in a year / total number of consumers

SAIFI is the average number of sustained interruptions per consumer during the year. It is the ratio of the
annual number of interruptions to the number of consumers. SAIFI = (Total number of sustained
interruptions in a year) / (Total number of consumers)
Buzz words
Outage, outage management, blackout, planned outages, unplanned outages, network analysis, network
safety, network operations, asset management, asset recovery, emergency response management/ EMS

Types of DSO Companies: