Utilities
Honeywell Revises Emergency Response Plans, Eyes Restart
April 26, 2013 12:22 pm | News | CommentsThe plant has been closed since May of last year after the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission ordered Honeywell to make the site able to withstand an earthquake or tornado. The regulators also wanted the company to revise its emergency response plans to natural disasters.
Venezuelan Leader Says Foes Sabotaging Power Grid
April 8, 2013 10:40 am | by CHRISTOPHER TOOTHAKER,Associated Press | News | CommentsInterim President Nicolas Maduro charged that allies of Venezuela's opposition are sabotaging the country's power grid ahead of this month's presidential election. Maduro ordered the military to safeguard power stations across the country to prevent sabotage.
Sandy Criticism Prompts Change In Storm Warnings
April 8, 2013 10:11 am | by JENNIFER KAY,Associated Press | News | CommentsResponding to criticism after Superstorm Sandy, the National Hurricane Center said it would change the way it warns people about tropical storms that morph into something else. At the height of Sandy, as the hurricane knocked on the Northeast coast, forecasters at the center stopped issuing advisories and warnings.
Utility Seeks $414M For Cleanup Costs From Five Storms
March 29, 2013 9:31 am | News | CommentsConnecticut's biggest utility asked regulators Thursday to allow it to charge customers $414 million for costs related to five destructive storms last year and in 2011, a request that would increase the typical customer's bill $3 a month.
Google Adds Street Views Inside Japan’s Nuclear Disaster Zone
March 28, 2013 10:56 am | by YURI KAGEYAMA, AP Business Writer | News | CommentsConcrete rubble litters streets lined with shuttered shops and dark windows. A collapsed roof juts from the ground. A ship sits stranded on a stretch of dirt flattened when the tsunami roared across the coastline. There isn't a person in sight.
Small Plane Smashes Into Indiana House, Two Killed
March 18, 2013 4:29 pm | by TOM COYNE,Associated Press | News | CommentsA small private aircraft clipped two houses before smashing into a third and snapping in half, killing two people inside the plane and leaking enough jet fuel to force the evacuation of nearby homes in a northern Indiana neighborhood, authorities said.
Researchers: Massive Oregon Quake Is A Matter Of When, Not If
March 18, 2013 1:02 pm | by LAUREN GAMBINO,Associated Press | News | CommentsMore than 10,000 people could die when a monster earthquake and tsunami occur just off the Pacific Northwest coast, researchers told Oregon legislators. When it hits, the report says, many communities will be left without water, power, heat and telephone service.
Storm Brings Deaths, Travel Problems, Power Losses
March 4, 2013 9:02 am | by CARRIE ANTLFINGER and COLLEEN SLEVIN, Associated Press | News | CommentsA Midwest snowstorm packing heavy snow and strong winds left six people dead in Kansas, hundreds of vehicles crashed or stranded in Wisconsin, and tens of thousands of utility customers without power in Michigan.
Resilient Town Moves Ahead Year After Tornado
March 4, 2013 7:00 am | by BRUCE SCHREINER, Associated Press | News | CommentsShaan Singh is back in business running a newly rebuilt convenience store and sandwich shop. A once-wrecked elementary and high school complex is back in session. Burgers and fried chicken are being served again at a popular restaurant that had a school bus tossed into its wall. A year after a deadly twister, signs of renewal are everywhere in Henryville.
NY Utilities To Give Credits For Sandy Disruptions
December 18, 2012 12:52 pm | by GEORGE M. WALSH, Associated Press | News | CommentsThe breaks on the service part of the bill will generally range from several dollars for residential customers to several hundred dollars for larger users like businesses, municipalities and lighting districts. They are based on the average number of days of lost service in a given area and will appear soon on bills.
Infographic: How Sandy Compares To 2011's Disasters
December 3, 2012 3:07 pm | by Luke Simpson, Editor | News | CommentsA visual compilation showing how Superstorm Sandy compares with last year's Japan earthquake and Thailand floods in terms of damage and loss of lives. The Japan earthquake and resulting tsunami still ranks as the most costly disaster in history.
Power Outage Time After Sandy Not Extraordinary
November 20, 2012 9:17 am | by JONATHAN FAHEY, AP Energy Writer | News | CommentsAn Associated Press analysis of outage times from other big hurricanes and tropical storms suggests that, on the whole, the response to Sandy by utility companies, especially in hardest-hit New York and New Jersey, was typical — or even a little faster than elsewhere after other huge storms.
NJ Utility: Expect Outages Lasting 7 To 10 Days
October 26, 2012 3:50 pm | News | CommentsOne of the New Jersey's largest utility companies says residents should expect power outages of a week or more once the effects of Hurricane Sandy hit the state. The state's office of emergency management echoed those warnings. Spokeswoman Mary Goepfert says the storm likely will be worse than Hurricane Irene last year.
Japan Utility Agrees Nuclear Crisis Was Avoidable
October 12, 2012 11:39 am | by MARI YAMAGUCHI, Associated Press | News | CommentsTokyo Electric Power Co. said in a statement that it had known safety improvements were needed before last year's tsunami triggered three meltdowns, but it had feared the political, economic and legal consequences of implementing them.
Electricity Grids Fail Across Half Of India, Creates World's Biggest Blackout
July 31, 2012 9:42 am | by RAVI NESSMAN, Associated Press | News | CommentsThe massive failure has raised serious concerns about India's outdated infrastructure and the government's inability to meet its huge appetite for energy as the country aspires to become a regional economic superpower.
Northeast Utilities CEO Seeks To Overcome Storms
May 22, 2012 8:44 am | by STEPHEN SINGER, Associated Press | News | CommentsThe new CEO said recently enacted Connecticut legislation requiring performance standards for emergency preparation and service restoration will have costs, but it's too early to know what they are.
Panel: Utilities Need To Improve Storm Plans
January 9, 2012 5:37 pm | by SUSAN HAIGH, Associated Press | News | CommentsConnecticut's utilities need to fix the "toxic relationship" between labor and management, and improve their worst-case planning and staffing for major storms, according to recommendations released Monday by the governor's panel.
Some Postpone Halloween Until Lights Come Back On
November 1, 2011 7:41 am | by BOB SALSBERG, Associated Press | News | CommentsMany towns asked parents to postpone or cancel Halloween revelry because of snow-clogged sidewalks, slippery surfaces and the possibility of more falling tree limbs.
H1N1 Lessons Learned:
April 11, 2010 8:00 pm | by Suzanne Bernier | Articles | CommentsAttendees will hear the many lessons learned as a result of the recent H1N1 outbreaks across the globe. Specifically, the presenter will demonstrate how the Toronto Hydro-Electric System responded throughout the various stages to keep staff info...
Constellation Energy Exemplifies Planning Excellence
August 31, 2006 8:00 pm | by Buffy Rojas Editor-in-Chief | Articles | CommentsConstellation Energy's (CE) enterprise-wide business continuity program (BCP) is a dynamic program that is truly part of the corporate culture. From the chairman's office to the board of directors (who are updated annually), BCP has strong support and sponsorship from all of senior management. That kind of senior level support can be tough to find. But according to Director of Business Continuity Bob Cornelius, CE's CEO actually came looking for him.
First Katrina, then Rita:
May 9, 2006 8:00 pm | by Ms. Michael Redmond | Articles | CommentsEntergy Corporation is the only Fortune 500 headquarted in New Orleans, and its headquarters was downtown and hard hit. Entergy is an electric/gas utility operating in a regulated environment in four states and has an unregulated nuclear busines...
Emergency Response Planning at Constellation Energy (Case Study)
May 8, 2006 8:00 pm | by Dan Sadler | Articles | CommentsAt Constellation Energy, a leading supplier of energy to large commercial and industrial customers nationwide, keeping the power on is priority one. As a result, Constellation has spent years developing and refining an emergency response program...
