What you may not know – and I’d like to explain in my latest blog post – is how important it is for Pepco to ensure that these smart meters provide you with accurate information. A smart meter is a digital meter that records your usage in hourly increments. This new meter also allows for two-way communication in that the meter sends signals to Pepco and we can communicate directly with the meter.

When we announced the news of our smart meter implementation program in 2009, we also told you about some of the meter’s future benefits such as quicker and less expensive meter readings, faster identification of outage locations and remote activation of power without a premise visit.

I’m sure as a customer one of the most important aspects of having these smart meters is being able to accurately record your monthly usage. Let me convey to you that the meters we are installing in homes and businesses throughout our service territory meet high standards set forth by the American National Standards Institute.

For more information about smart meters and their accuracy, you may read a 29-page study entitled, Smart Meters and Smart Meter Systems: A Metering Industry Perspective that was released in March by the Edison Electric Institute, the Association of Edison Illuminating Companies and the Utilities Telecom Council. In the report, all three organizations confirm that before any utilities can accept and deploy smart meters, the devices must meet a number of national standards and comply with state and local codes designed to ensure their proper operation, functionality and safety.

Nothing is more important to Pepco than the trust of our customers. We want our customers to be confident that their meters provide accurate information. The benefits of smart meters will be available to customers once their meters have been fully activated. In the future, we hope that you will partner with us to help manage your energy use and help protect our environment throughout the Washington Metropolitan area.”

To learn more about Pepco’s smart meter program, go to takecontroldc.com and takecontrolmd.com. You will find lots of information including a section on how to view the new data from your smart meter.

Thomas H. Graham
President, Pepco Region

1. Inspect electrical decorations before using them and replace any that are damaged.
2. When decorating outside, make certain you, and any objects you may be carrying, such as a ladder, do not come into contact with power lines. Carry ladders and other equipment parallel to the ground.
3. Use only non-combustible or flame-resistant tree decorations.
4. If using a live or cut tree, water the tree daily and remember to keep it away from fireplaces and other heat sources. Heated rooms dry trees out quickly, creating fire hazards.
5. Look for and eliminate potential danger spots near candles, fireplaces, trees and/or electrical connections.
6. Never use more than three standard-size sets of lights per single extension cord.
7. Indoors or outside, use only lights that have been tested for safety by nationally recognized laboratories such as Underwriters Laboratory (UL).
8. Never use electric lights on a metallic tree.
9. To avoid injuries, be sure to follow directions carefully when using artificial snow sprays.
10. Turn off all electrical decorations before going to bed or when leaving your house or business.
11. Consider replacing traditional holiday lighting with light-emitting diode (LED) lights. LEDs generate little or no heat, can last up to 10 times longer and use less energy.

For more information about staying safe around electricity, visit www.pepco.com.

‘Til the next post,

Andre

With support from our government partners in the District of Columbia and Maryland, we received approval from state and local regulatory agencies to launch a series of electricity efficiency and load management programs for commercial and residential customers. The centerpiece of the Blueprint plan is AMI. You often hear AMI used interchangeably with the words “smart grid” and “smart meters,” which are aspects of AMI. We believe that AMI has the potential to become a game-changer to reduce the demand for electricity during peak times, when it costs the most for us to buy, and to reduce electricity consumption overall.

In 2009, our vision became a reality after Pepco was awarded a $150 million federal grant to fund 50 percent of project costs to fully deploy AMI throughout our entire service territory! During my career, this will be the greatest transformation of our electric distribution system.  We have already installed advanced control systems that automatically isolate failed equipment and restore power in minutes to most of the affected customers.

Smart meters are just one component of AMI. It also includes smart relays and communication devices throughout the system that will serve as the ultimate enabler for renewable energy and electric vehicles. Through the smart meter, customers will be empowered to control their own energy consumption in real-time. This new meter also will provide Pepco with enhanced outage detection capabilities that will make the power restoration process more efficient.

We have made a lot of progress in 2011 with the smart meter installations. In the District of Columbia, we have already installed more than 200,000 meters and should finish installing the rest by the end of the year.  Installations have begun in Maryland, and more than 500,000 meters will be installed by the end of 2012.

I often think of this project in phases of crawl, walk and run.  Today, we are replacing meters. Next year, various benefits of the smart grid will be available which will enable our customers to better manage their energy use. And in many cases, your service will be restored remotely during a storm before you even get home to report it! Tomorrow the possibilities could include your control of home appliances via the Internet.

Pepco is focused on improving service reliability and long-term environmental sustainability for our customers.  We’ve still got work to do. You can rely on us to get the job done! This is our commitment to you.

To learn more about our smart meter installment project, go to http://www.takecontroldc.com or contact an Energy Advisor at (202) 833-7500.

Thomas H. Graham
Pepco Region President

• Upgrading priority overhead lines that serve the largest number of customers.
• Accelerating tree-trimming efforts to remove limbs that threaten power lines.
• Preparing for system growth by proactively upgrading and installing power lines and equipment.
• Moving select power lines underground where overhead system improvements will not suffice.
• Improving additional power lines that have been negatively impacted by trees, vegetation, weather and animal-related issues.
• Installing advanced technologies to isolate power problems and automatically restore service to the most affected customers within minutes.

To keep this post short and to the point, I’m going to briefly focus on two areas of our work plan that already have delivered significant reliability benefits: tree trimming and installing advanced technology.

Since last September, we have trimmed trees along 302 miles of right-of-way in the District and 2,299 miles in Maryland.  Many storm-related outages are a direct result of trees falling on power lines, and this trimming helps minimize the threat of limbs and branches falling on our overhead electric wires. Additionally, we are working with counties, communities and homeowners to remove potentially hazardous trees that may come down outside of the company’s right-of-ways and damage equipment.

Also since last September, we installed advanced control systems on five power lines in the District and 26 power lines in Maryland.  The advanced control systems make it possible to pinpoint and isolate failed equipment, and automatically reroute power to restore most of the affected customers within minutes of the failure.  We have also installed 161,800 smart meters in the District and 21,347 in Maryland.  When activated, your smart meter will alert us that your home or business is without power helping to speed restoration. This capability is particularly helpful when you are away from home.

These two areas of our work plan are integral parts of Pepco’s five-year reliability plan that will ultimately reduce the frequency and duration of outages.  In the event that an outage does occur, this work will help ensure that service is restored quickly.

I will dive into the progress and benefits of the remaining parts of our work plan in future posts.

‘Til the next post,

Andre

Pepco customers can reserve up to two free trees at www.arborday.org/pepco from today, September 26 until Saturday, November 12, 2011.  The trees will be available on a first-come, first-served basis, with 1,000 trees reserved for each of the territories we serve; Washington D.C., Montgomery County, and Prince George’s County.

In return for the free trees, customers agree to plant them in a recommended location on their property and care for them.  The planting location will be recommended based on its potential to create shade as the tree grows in height to reduce energy consumption.  To ensure that customers are planting the right trees in the most strategic location, the Energy-Saving Trees program uses an online tool where customers can map their houses, select a tree with energy-saving potential, learn the best energy-saving and safe locations to plant, and receive an estimate of the annual savings that may result when the tree grows.

Along with the estimated future energy savings, the online tool also provides estimates of other community benefits that trees provide, including air quality improvements, storm-water reduction, and carbon sequestration.

When a Pepco customer reserves trees, the two- to four-foot trees will be delivered directly to the customer for planting in the location identified online at the best time for planting this fall.  Customers should call 811 before they dig to avoid hitting underground utilities.  For more information on digging safely, log on to our service request webpage.

‘Til the next post,

Andre

If you recall before the storm, we asked customers to report their outages. These reports – and the call-backs from us — remain important throughout the restoration process!

When customers report outages, lines down, and other critical information that impacts our electrical infrastructure, we are able to pinpoint the cause of most – but not all – outages.  That is why we urge customers to call us throughout the duration of an outage and request a call back that power has been restored.

A call back is valuable to us because it helps us identify locations we expected had been repaired, but in fact may have other problems causing disruptions of electrical service.   So, if you get a call to verify if your service was restored, but it actually wasn’t, please be patient.  These calls make us aware of any additional issues affecting a customer’s electrical service.  More than likely, that customer is part of what’s called a nested outage.  The simplest definition for a nested outage is a small pocket of customers without power due to a local equipment issue that was not fixed when the larger area was restored.

We want customers to understand that just because they may not see a crew in their immediate vicinity doesn’t mean they’re not working on their outage.  If you take a look at the overall restoration process, we have a strategy that allows us to get the biggest number of customers back on line as quickly as possible. We repair damage that impacts a larger part of our infrastructure (i.e. main distribution lines serving a city/town) before repairing localized damage (i.e. secondary lines serving neighborhoods).  That way we can continue to restore the maximum amount of customers as quickly as possible.

We understand that customers who have been without electrical service for multiple hours are frustrated.  We appreciate your continued patience as crews work around the clock to get your power restored.

I will continue to share information as it’s provided to me via Twitter & Facebook.

‘Til the next post,

Andre

Below are the questions you may be asking…

1. What is a global ETR?
In short, a global ETR is the time by which we will restore every last customer that lost power during the storm.  It is dependent on the information that we have gathered and the resources we have available.  It does not mean that customers will not be restored before that time.

2. What is the global ETR for effects of Hurricane Irene?
This Thursday, September 1, 2011 at 7:00 p.m.

3. Why did it take so long for the ETR to be available?
Damage assessment is an integral step in the restoration process and is absolutely necessary to providing an accurate ETR.  Crews have to survey our entire service territory (all of Washington, DC and most of Montgomery & Prince George’s counties) and determine how much work needs to be done for each location of damage that has been reported.  As I stated in my blog post yesterday, damage assessment can take days, but 24 hours into it, we’re able to begin providing ETRs.

4. Why is the global ETR set for five days after Hurricane Irene?
The damage that Hurricane Irene left behind was extensive.  A snapshot of that can be found in our Facebook photo gallery.  After closely evaluating all of the damage, our assessors determined that it will take until Thursday to restore the very last customer affected by Hurricane Irene.

Note: The majority of Pepco customers still experiencing an outage will have their power restored well before Thursday evening.  In fact, in the first 24 hours of our response to the storm, we restored power to 140,000 of the 220,000 customers affected at the peak of the storm.  Public health and safety remains the top priority in our restoration process.

5. When I called in, I received Thursday, September 1, 2011 at 7:00 p.m. as my ETR.  Does that mean I’m the last customers?
No, that doesn’t mean you’re the last customer to be restored.  At this point, all customers without crews onsite at their outage location receive the same (global) ETR when they request their outage status (1) from a Customer Care Representative, (2) on our website, or (3) through our mobile app.

Remember a global ETR is the amount of time that it will take to restore the last customer affected with the information that we have gathered and the resources we have available.  Between now and then, crews will continue to work around the clock to restore everyone.  As work is assigned and crews arrive on-site of outage locations, updated (and more precise) ETRs will be available.

Without a doubt, this remains an all-hands-on-deck, around-the-clock effort, with hundreds of Pepco and out-of-town crews strategically mobilized to attack the outages. We’re following the restoration strategy

I will continue to share information as it’s provided to me via Twitter & Facebook.

‘Til the next post,

Andre

Hurricane Irene has passed through our service territory and left us with approximately 180K customers without service (as of 1:30 p.m.).  As expected, the main culprit is a combination of consistent rain and sustained winds causing weakened trees (and limbs) to come in contact with power lines.

Similar to other major storms, we aren’t currently providing Estimated Times of Restoration (ETRs).  To provide proper ETRs, we must survey our electrical infrastructure, assess the damage, and finally determine how long it will take to make repairs to all affected customers.  Because of the time it would take to complete this process for the amount of damage our system endured, we are currently restoring power as we assess damage.

The damage assessment phase of our restoration process can take days.  Twenty-four hours into it, we are able to provide the time it will take to restore all customers affected by the storm.  With the information we currently have, it is safe to say that this will be a multiple day restoration effort.  If you or a family member has special needs, such as relying on special medical equipment, you should consider your emergency plans.  Public health and safety remains our top priority in our restoration process

We are typically unaware when a customer experiences an outage, unless they report it.  They should call 1-877-PEPCO-62 (1-877-737-2662) or use our online tool to report an outage and/or to report downed wires.  Always stay away from downed power lines and assume they are live

I will continue to share information as it’s provided to me via Twitter & Facebook.

‘Til the next post,

Andre

I’ll start by saying that we’re not trying to build up anxiety.  If you tune in to just about all of the news media in the Mid-Atlantic region, reports are categorizing Hurricane Irene as possibly a historical storm.  We’ve been preparing all week for this!  You can get a sense of it by reading “Pepco Is Preparing for Irene! Are You?” and “Top 10 Ways to Prepare for Hurricane Irene.”

We want to not only stay in line with the media reports, but to also empower our customers with as much beneficial information as possible to prepare best for the weekend.  Today we activated an outbound call to all residential and small commercial customers.  To summarize it, we just wanted to reiterate to our customers that the storm is nearing our service territory and the impact may result in outages for some customers.

If you’re interested in reading the transcript, it is below in bold:

This is an important message from Pepco

With the approach of Hurricane Irene, Pepco is preparing for potential widespread power outages across its service area this weekend.  The company has mobilized extensive internal and out-of-state resources to be able to repair equipment and restore power as quickly and safely as possible.

Due to the magnitude of the storm, the company expects the restoration effort to extend over multiple days.  Just as Pepco is preparing for Hurricane Irene, we strongly urge you to prepare now for the very real possibility of power outages this weekend.  For steps you can take, go to Pepco dot com or tune in to local newscasts.

‘Til the next post,

Andre

We’re one day closer to Hurricane Irene nearing our service territory.  According to the National Weather Service, the storm track is moving more inland than it was yesterday.  That means the potential that the storm impacts our electrical infrastructure has increased and the possibility of a widespread, multi-day restoration effort is there.

Weather services are predicting possible flooding rain and damaging winds from Saturday through Sunday.  Because of that, assessing damage and estimating when customers will be restored could take time after the heart of the storm has moved from the area.

In yesterday’s post, I covered what the company is doing in preparation.  In short, the major take away is that we are getting in front of the storm and its possible impact on our infrastructure.  We currently have nearly 1,000 personnel dedicated to restoration.  That number reflects internal and external resources.  We’ve also scheduled extended shifts for Pepco crews, Customer Service Reps & additional support staff.

Note: Pepco continues to participate on Mid-Atlantic Mutual Assistance and Southeastern Electric Exchange conference calls with other utilities to request additional field crew assistance.

Since then, we have started to reach out to customers who have registered with the company as needing electricity for critical medical equipment, such as life-support equipment.  We are also urging those customers to review their plans, check supplies and take appropriate action to ensure their safety and well being in case they experience an outage.

Though in yesterday’s post I included a few measures customers can take to help prepare for the storm, it doesn’t hurt to reiterate it.  We’re urging customers to prepare for potential power outages and act to ensure their safety.  Here are the 10 top tips:

1. Have adequate prescription medicines or infant supplies on hand.
2. Identify a location with emergency power capabilities and make plans to go there or to a hospital during a prolonged outage if you or someone you know uses life-support equipment that requires electricity to operate.
3. Assemble an emergency “storm kit.” (i.e. battery-powered radio or television, flashlight, a first-aid kit, battery-powered or windup clock, extra batteries, special needs items, an insulated cooler and a list of important and emergency phone numbers).
4. Keep at least a three-day supply of non-perishable foods and bottled water and have a hand-operated can opener available.
5. Have a telephone with a cord or cell phone to use as a backup. Cordless telephones require electricity to operate, and won’t work if there is an outage.
6. Unplug sensitive electronics or plug computers and other sensitive equipment into surge suppressors, and consider a UPS (uninterruptible power supply) for temporary battery backup power.
7. Tune in to local news broadcasts for the latest weather and emergency information.
8. Follow the advice of your local emergency management officials.
9. Stay away from downed wires. Report them by calling 1-877-PEPCO-62 (1-877-737-2662) and pressing “2”
10. Report any outage by calling 1-877-PEPCO-62 (1-877-737-2662) and pressing “1” for the automated system.

‘Til the next post,

Andre