In Wake of 2012 Power Outages, Geneva Looks at Ways to Improve

SCOTT: Captain. We're losing power in the warp engines. 
KIRK: How bad is it? 
SCOTT: We can barely read it, but I don't like the looks of it. And I cannot find out the cause. 

—The Tholian Web
Stardate: 5693.2
Original Airdate: Nov 15, 1968

Geneva Mayor Kevin Burns isn't James T. Kirk and Geneva Electric Department Superintendent Mike Buffington isn't Montgomery Scott, but you can almost imagine a dialogue like this going on after the weather events of Stardates July 1 and Aug. 4, 2012, in Geneva.

The wake of the power outages on those dates and others, and with the certain knowledge that storms happen and aren't going to stop anytime soon, the city is looking for ways to improve service and restore power as quickly as possible when lines go down.

That was the topic of a presentation made by Buffington and Commonwealth Edison External Affairs spokesperson Sylvia Rogowski to Geneva's City Council members Monday night that provides a ton of information and insight. You can view the meeting on Channel 10 or the city of Geneva website.

The takeaways?

First and foremost, perhaps, is what good citizens can do to help workers get the job done quickly and efficiently, as well as the best ways to find out when power is expected to be restored.

(1) To report a power outage: Call the Geneva Police Department non-emergency line at 630-232-4736 or the city's Public Works Department at 630-232-1501 to report when power is down in your area.

The city has a SCADA system, but it can't pinpoint who has power and who does not simply by looking at a computer screen. That's why the best thing you can do is call those numbers when your power goes down.

The information from those calls is boiled down, delivered to Buffington or other Electric Department decision-makers, who then can determine the quickest way to restore electricity to that area. Geneva has 387 miles of line, some of it above ground and some below, so the information provided by residents is vital.

"If it’s a feeder and it’s an underground system that’s failed, I have no way to know about it," Buffington said.

In the near future, City Administrator Mary McKittrick said, Geneva will provide an information line—a dedicated phone line residents can call during emergencies. She could not say when that line would be up and running.

(2) To find out how long your power is out: Follow @CityofGeneva on Twitter and sign up for the city's email list.

McKittrick asked residents to NOT call the Public Works or Police Department phone numbers to find out when power might be restored.

"Those calls block the other calls from coming in, reporting when we have downed lines or outages," she said.

The Geneva Electric Department is responsible for maintaining electric service here in Geneva, but Commonwealth Edison is the supplier and is responsible for the transmission lines and 34V lines that bring the electricity to major feeder trunk lines and then to smaller, neighborhood lines and individual homes.

So when the power goes out, officials explained, the repair work might be done by the city of Geneva's nine linemen or by ComEd employees, depending on which lines are down and where.

Often, the city can restore power quickly by switching to another feed. During the July 1 storm, for example, Buffington said the city was able to restore power to many East Side customers in 19 minutes.

Other repairs take more time. Power was out for five hours, 18 minutes in some parts of Geneva due to the storm on Aug. 4.

When power goes out for multiple neighborhoods, one of the first priorities is to restore power to Delnor Hospital, Buffington said. While the hospital does have some backup generators, he said, it is only enough to cover the most-critical functions.

More than 1 million customers lost electricity during four storms in July and early August.

• July 1 — 380,000 customers
• July 18 — 174,000 customers
• July 24 — 300,000 customers
• Aug. 4 — 227,000 customers

The city prevents service breaks by investing in regular inspections, including thermography every two years, spending $100,000 a year on tree trimming and more than $2 million on a capital program.

Still, storms happen. And quick repair work necessarily comes from a partnership between the city and ComEd. 

"I will tell you that, although in the past we have always worked very well with the city of Geneva, I think that there’s always lessons to be learned," Rogowski  said. "We're always looking to see where we can improve and work to be better aligned with the city and address some of their needs."