Tools, Trees, Training: Lessons Learned

The biggest takeaways from this event were, sadly, similar to takeaways from previous, smaller blackouts. We called the takeaways the three t’s: trees, tools, and training. The good news is that after this blackout, things were done that made a big difference in grid operators’ joint ability to operate reliably. Standards were put into place that required better tree clearance, training, and tools for the operators. These standards were made mandatory, were backed up by huge fines, and most important, were enforced vigorously. The idea, which those of us in operations were only too aware of, was that any major player on the grid could make mistakes that lead to a blackout across a huge area. So the standards and enforcement were established to identify weak practices early on, prior to the next blackout. Nobody wanted to find instances of noncompliance only after the next blackout.

Hopefully, all transmission line rights-of-way today are maintained to have strict tolerances. Also, all the transmission operators, including the RCs, have been extensively trained in emergency operations. In fact, the standards require at least thirty-two hours of specific emergency training every year for all operators. My colleagues and I actually performed some of this training on a simulator, where we could present operators with situations that approached blackout conditions so they could practice preventing the collapse. The simulator was also useful for practicing recovery from a blackout. At Dominion we went a bit further and offered the blackout recovery simulation to nonoperators in the company to give them a better idea of what has to happen to put the system back together after a blackout. We thought that this may help our communications if we ever had to recover from a blackout.

All this improvement may make us think that such a blackout can’t happen again. Unfortunately there have been a few smaller blackouts since the big one. In every case, lessons learned are shared throughout the industry. So why are there still blackouts occurring? Because we are only human and stuff breaks, I guess. Will a big one happen again? I would be a fool to say no. But hopefully the next one will be contained to a smaller area and recovery will be quicker.