In October 2012, Superstorm Sandy hit the U.S. East Coast, leaving behind a path of destruction and causing millions of power outages. Some utilities came under fire for their responses to the hurricane, and the event highlighted the need for a tougher grid along the coast. Two years later, regional utilities share what they have been doing to protect their power systems - and their customers - from the next potential superstorm.

Public Service Electric and Gas Co. (PSE&G), for example, says it has made significant improvements since Sandy. The company, which serves nearly three-quarters of New Jersey's population, notes that the hurricane was the most destructive storm in the company’s 111-year history and caused more than 2 million customers to lose power.

Before Sandy, PSE&G began rewiring its system, adding 69-kV lines for more capacity and reliability. The company says that work continues, and the new lines are being installed on stronger poles with better lightning protection and fiber-optic wires that improve communication between substations.

The transmission improvements are only the beginning, PSE&G adds. During the next three years, the utility’s $1.22 billion Energy Strong program will help the utility strengthen its electric and gas systems against severe weather damage.

As part of the program, PSE&G will protect, raise or relocate 29 switching and substations and deploy smart grid technologies.

According to the company, smart grid projects under way include installing advanced technologies in PSE&G substations to facilitate full remote monitoring and control; and contingency restoration work that adds smart switches and fuses, and multiple sections on circuits. The utility says these upgrades ensure that when there is an outage, service will be restored faster and the outage will affect fewer customers.

In addition to improving infrastructure, PSE&G says it has made significant changes to better communicate with customers before, during and after storms.

"We've ramped up our messaging across all channels, including Twitter and Facebook," explains Ralph LaRossa, president and chief operating officer of PSE&G. "Our goal is to help customers understand what to expect from an event, how they can prepare and stay safe, and how they can best communicate with PSE&G."

New communication tools include MyAlerts, which allows customers to opt in for text messages and email notifications, and an enhanced outage map.

Furthermore, PSE&G says it conducts extensive storm-outage planning, training and exercises throughout the year.

Since Sandy, the company says process-improvement teams have studied more efficient ways to undertake restoration activities, and the company has expanded its network of mutual aid from eight to 22 utilities.

"The utility industry is somewhat unique in that we all help each other," notes LaRossa. "During Sandy, we brought in 4,500 contractors from 24 states and Canada to help restore service."

"From 2010 to 2012, we experienced the four most destructive storms in our history. We learned a lot," LaRossa adds. “We hope to never see the likes of Sandy again, but feel confident that our infrastructure investments, comprehensive communications tools and emergency response training will ensure that our customers, employees and systems are better ready to weather severe storms in the future."

Another East Coast utility, Con Edison, notes that it has successfully passed the halfway point in its four-year storm-hardening plan.

In fact, the New York utility says its $1 billion Fortifying the Future plan is already paying off for customers in New York City and Westchester. The company estimates that the installation of specialized remote switches and other storm-hardening equipment has prevented about 25,000 storm-related outages so far this year.

Con Edison’s post-Sandy storm measures include everything from high-tech changes to the some simple solutions.

For example, the company says it has installed more than 3,000 devices that isolate and clear temporary faults on overhead electrical systems, as well as more than 150 “smart switches” - both of which minimize customer outages caused by fallen trees. The utility is also in the process of installing network transformers, overhead transformers and new feeders.

On the non-tech side, Con Edison notes it has constructed more than a mile of concrete flood walls around critical equipment and is installing stronger utility polls that can withstand wind gusts up to 110 mph.

National Grid, an electricity and gas company whose footprint includes New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, says it has been preparing for the possibility of increased storm activity for several years by investing billions of dollars into its system.

“Extreme weather is on the rise, and we have committed to a long-term investment strategy that will improve the reliability and resilience of our system,” explains Tom King, president of National Grid U.S.

National Grid plans to invest nearly $10 billion in infrastructure in the next five years. The company says these investments will help upgrade the company’s network and allow it to continue to provide reliable power and natural gas to its more-than-6-million customers.

“It is hard to believe it has been two years since Superstorm Sandy struck the Northeast,” comments King. “I think we can all agree that this storm was unprecedented, one that affected many of us in ways that we’re still feeling and talking about today.”

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