By Staff
February 5th, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
Those who remember the December 2013 Ice Storm, will have a lot of sympathy for those people in New Brunswick who have been without power for 11 days.
Glenn Thibeault listen to Gerry Smallegange as he explains where a new hydro cable had to be put in place in north Burlington during th 2013 ice storm
Burlington Hydro learned a lot from that 2013 experience and determined that they would be handling this differently when the next storm hits – and they are convinced that there will be another storm – sometime.
A new Outage Management System, complete with a real-time outage map for customers, to upgraded phone systems, website enhancements and a new mobile application were brought forward with the intention of improving Burlington Hydro’s power outage communications..
The upgrades to the Operations room at Burlington Hydro make more information available in real time – which gets passed along to the customer base.
Launched in 2014, Burlington Hydro’s Management System (OMS) includes a web-based Outage Map that provides current information about power interruptions so that customers can access information on power outages in real time. In addition to a comprehensive map of the outage area, the web-based tool allows customers to access the cause of the outage if known, and the estimated time that power will be restored.
The OMS allows customer service and call centre representatives to link customer outage reports directly to the utility’s Control Centre. As each incident is updated, service representatives are able to provide the customer with updates and relevant information about the power outage.
These improvements complement the recently announced upgrades to the company’s customer call-in capabilities. The ability to handle a greater number of customer calls at one time – 24/7 – is another way that Burlington Hydro has improved its customer service competencies in 2014.
“We partnered with our mapping vendor to develop the customer Outage Management System which we call LiveOps. The new system aggregates data and produces a comprehensive central information repository of current system outages. Cutting-edge technology integrates smart metering and Geographic Information System (GIS) map platforms, and enhances Burlington Hydro’s Control Room Operators’ ability to manage, quickly deploy crews, and track power outages.
Gerry Smallegange, President and CEO, Burlington Hydro
Gerry Smallegange, President and CEO, Burlington Hydro Inc., remembers how tough things were in December of 2013 – he wasn’t going to go through that experience again. He wants it to be “as convenient as possible for customers to stay informed during power interruptions and extreme weather events.”
Christmas of 2013 for Smallegange was spent in the field trying to get a grip on the scope and scale of the damage.
When exactly did these upgrades take effect? A few weeks ago we had a sizable outage in Brant Hills (lasted several hours) and it was a good 90 minutes before it showed up on the map on their website. And no one ever answered the phone when I tried calling in to report it – I timed it, I was on hold for 30 minutes before I gave up because it was becoming clear no one was actually going to answer.
Last two times we have had outages their map has said we are fine. The system does not detect a problem. It is dependent on people calling to report it.
Agreed – system does not work – Stephen is correct – we were told all was okay and we were not working – funny – with no power how do I get to the site – think my computer and internet are dependent on electricity