Utility Outage Approval/Notification Process

[E. Scott Martin]

I'm interested in hearing what others are doing with respect to the
subject process. Things such as:

How much advance notification to customers is required when
coordinating outages?
Who coordinates outages?
How are customers notified? What customers are notified?
How much rigor is there in the planning/scheduling of any outage?
Is contingency planning a requirement?

If anyone has any formal documentation surrounding this kind of
process (policies) that they would be willing to share that would be
great!

Thanks!

[Leedahl, Karen]

Attached is a form and instructions for power and fire alarm shutdowns. It worked very well for both contractor requested shutdowns and internally coordinated ones. The biggest job is maintaining a list of building contact personnel. With over 100 buildings on campus it can seem quite onerous but the list is kept relatively small with designated people in a department responsible to tell faculty and staff. It also helps that most of the trades supervisors are long time employees who are familiar with the buildings, its occupants and the critical contacts for some research. The lead times indicated in the attached file is sometimes a bare minimum to get all parties coordinated and informed.

Karen C. Leedahl, P.Eng.
Electrical Engineer
Planning & Development, Facilities Management
University of Saskatchewan
110 Maintenance Road
Saskatoon, SK  S7N 5C5
Phone: (306) 966-4577
Fax: (306) 966-4080

Thanks!

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[Ray DuBose, UNC Chapel Hill]

How much advance notification to customers is required when

coordinating outages? Different customers require different lengths
of time to schedule. We negotiate a planned outage with a rep from
the customer before scheduling. For example, a wet lab building under
the Med School requires at least two weeks notice after the date has
been negotiated.

Who coordinates outages? A designated supervisor or engineer or
project manager working on our staff contacts the customer rep
directly and also notifies the Work Management office who sends an
email to a long list of stakeholders that may have a need to know
about any utility outage on any building.

How are customers notified? First by phone and then be email and
signs are posted on entrances of buildings to make sure occupants are
aware. What customers are notified? First a designated building
contact(s), then a pre-set distribution list of campus stakeholders
who might have a need to know about building outages, then building
occupants with signs posted on entrances.

How much rigor is there in the planning/scheduling of any outage?

Lots and lots of rigor for a Med School lab or hospital building. It
sometimes takes weeks to schedule an outage. Factors that are
considered in addition to activities within a building are critical
need for the outage like whether or not it is a pending emergency and
how big of an emergency would be caused by a failure.

Is contingency planning a requirement? Absolutely. Utility outages
are held to a minimum of time. All work that can possibly be done
ahead of time is completed. All materials needed for the outage are
confirmed in advance to be on site and inspected to be of proper
quality. And contingencies are considered based on the critical needs
for the building.

Ray DuBose
UNC Chapel Hill
919-966-4100