National Preparedness Month – Is Your Utility Power Resilient?

National Preparedness Month is almost over – has your utility used this as an opportunity to prepare for disasters and emergencies by tapping into resources and increasing its resilience? One resource WaterISAC reminds its members about is EPA’s Power Resilience Guide, which was updated earlier this year.

The Power Resilience Guide seeks to help water and wastewater utilities prepare for, respond to, and recover from power outages, which are often one of the most significant ways utilities are impacted when a natural disaster strikes their area. To help utilities prepare for these situations, the guide addresses measures like conducting planning with electric providers and having back-up generators and on-site power generation. Engaging in these and other proactive measures can help a utility experience a shorter power outage, such as by being placed on a priority list for restoration, or not having an outage at all. Additionally, and as WaterISAC reported on in May, EPA published an updated version of the guide, which includes new information in its “Energy Efficiency,” “Renewable Energy and Distributed Entergy Resources,” and “Funding” sections. Additionally, the updated guide includes new case studies that demonstrate creative power resilience strategies and planning considerations for both short and long duration power outages. Access the guide at EPA.