Dive Brief:
- Pacific Gas and Electric and Florida Power & Light have signed a mutual aid agreement with each other, committing to sending personnel in the event a natural disaster causes a significant power outage.
- Both PG&E and FPL will commit more than 100 employees, including linemen, equipment operators, supervisors and support personnel to help restore power in the other's service territory.
- The agreement also outlines common work procedures and safety protocols, and makes allowances for deployed employees to fly across the country and use the host utility's trucks and tools to help expedite restoration efforts.
Dive Insight:
They are thousands of miles apart, but PG&E and FPL have agreed to come to one another's aid in the event a natural disaster, such as an earthquake or hurricane, knocks out power in each other's utility territory.
"We are constantly assessing opportunities to improve our readiness to respond ...This cross-continent agreement makes extra resources available from a utility unlikely to be affected by the same natural disaster," said Geisha Williams, PG&E's executive vice president of electric operations.
PG&E noted that it assembled a team of subject matter experts, including support from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, to evaluate the plan and help ensure it works effectively. Unlike an earthquake, utilities typically have a few days to prepare for strong winter storms or powerful hurricanes. For those weather events, the agreement will mobilize company resources ahead of time and have them ready to respond onsite before the storm hits.