Extreme weather is wreaking havoc on power generation and transmission, making it difficult for utilities to supply energy reliably, efficiently, and cost-effectively. Amidst this escalating risk, leading utilities have discovered that digitized mobile workforce management can help them plan and respond to weather events by improving efficiency, optimizing resource allocation, speeding response times, and increasing resilience.
Turbulent Weather Takes a Toll
More frequent severe weather events have become the norm in the US, with the effects of climate change growing more apparent.
Hurricanes and tropical storms are becoming more intense: Witness the billions of dollars in damage caused by Hurricanes Helene and Milton, or the fact that Hurricane Beryl knocked out power to three million people in Texas, leaving some without power for weeks. Excessive rainfall regularly causes devastating flooding, record-breaking heat waves stress the grid while endangering lives, and wildfires are happening in many more areas, fueled by drought or near-drought conditions. Meanwhile deep freezes are touching regions known for moderate climates, leaving downed power lines and disrupted natural gas supplies in their wake. In a Utility Dive article, the North American Electric Reliability Corp. expressed concerns about maintaining the natural gas supplies needed to address extreme winter weather.
These realities present significant financial and operational challenges for utilities, making infrastructure more vulnerable to damage and outages that are costly to respond to and recover from. As a McKinsey & Companyreport noted, the utility infrastructure that dates back decades was designed to withstand historical weather conditions, which bear little resemblance to today’s weather patterns. Making matters worse, utilities that require access to water for their operations may strategically place facilities near the coast, where they are now more susceptible to frequent coastal storms.
As a result, many utilities are grappling with higher costs on two fronts: the increased expense of repairing field assets destroyed by storms, and the need to upgrade the grid to make it more resilient to such events. Coupled with the potential for significant lost revenue due to unplanned downtime, these rising expenses can lead to utility bankruptcies; at a minimum, they threaten energy delivery and service reliability. Extreme weather also presents greater operational obstacles, as it’s difficult to maintain reliable power during demand spikes caused by extended periods of excessive heat or cold.
Exacerbating the problem is a labor shortage that makes it tough to find skilled field workers, especially as the aging workforce retires. Field employees account for about half of utility workers, according to the Boston Consulting Group, and they’re central to a utility’s ability to prepare for and respond to severe weather.
In the face of these challenges, utilities must ensure the reliability and resilience of their services while managing the rising costs associated with infrastructure damage and operational disruptions. Many are turning to mobile workforce management solutions to address this dilemma.
The Value of a Mobile Workforce Management Solution
A digitized approach to mobile workforce management can greatly improve a utility’s ability to prepare and respond to today’s frequent, severe weather events and the related outages and damage. By choosing a best-in-class mobile workforce management solution, utilities can enhance weather resilience in several important ways:
- Better efficiency. A digitized workforce management solution makes it easier to optimize field worker scheduling, dispatching, and routing during weather-related emergencies, reduces the associated travel time, and increases the number of tasks completed per person, per day. It also facilitates the optimal allocation of finite field resources in response to storms. Boston Consulting Group estimates that standardized, optimized workforce management can increase worker availability by 50% and reduce time needed to completed routine jobs by 25%.
- Improved safety. A modern workforce management solution allows utilities to share vital information with field workers in real time, ensuring they have good situational awareness during emergencies to stay safer on the job. By providing a more accurate picture of the digital as-built environment, these solutions also support better tracking and traceability for utilities, improving safety during emergencies.
- Enhanced communication. A workforce management platform facilities effective communication by providing real-time data for utility field workers during extreme weather, helping them complete tasks efficiently and restore power faster. When a catastrophic storm requires bringing in mutual assistance crews, the right solution makes it easier to onboard and manage these temporary field workers.
- Streamlined data collection and dissemination. A workforce management solution that incorporates a robust mobile app is especially valuable, enabling workers to access and upload critical data right from the field.
- More informed decision-making. Through real-time data and analytics, a modern workforce management solution enables utilities to predict potential weather-related outages with greater certainty, so they can take proactive action. Real-time data also improves the field asset damage assessment process, leading to better decisions about repair prioritization.
- Reduced costs. By mitigating the need for repeat trips and the associated administrative work, a mobile workforce management solution can lower the cost of responding to extreme weather events. And since it alerts the operations staff to the need for proactive maintenance based on predictive analytics, it can improve maintenance work scheduling and avoid costly unplanned downtime.
Other Strategies for Improving Weather Resilience
In addition to the measurable benefits of a digitized workforce management solution, several other strategies can help ensure reliable power in the face of escalating weather-related risks. Adapting your operations to withstand climate change is a must for any utility committed to protecting vulnerable infrastructure from extreme weather and improving grid resilience.
For example, many utilities are developing microgrids that decentralize power generation by creating resources that can function separate from the centralized grid, making any single source less vulnerable to weather-related failure. Leading utilities are also adding advanced battery storage systems that improve the backup power capacity needed during outages caused by weather or other problems, mitigating the effects and improving service.
A variety of other strategies can improve the grid’s ability to endure the risk of frequent severe weather. Replacing wood transmission and distribution poles with those made of storm-resistant materials like steel or concrete, elevating infrastructure components, building flood walls, and moving power lines underground can reduce the grid’s susceptibility to weather-related damage or failure.
The digitization of mobile workforce management has emerged as a critical strategy to help utilities navigate extreme weather challenges. As more utilities focus on climate change adaptation, many are choosing EpochField: the modern workforce management solution that digitally transforms, automates, and streamlines field service operations. By leveraging a data-driven, digitized workforce management solution like EpochField, utilities can enhance operational efficiency, improve response times, achieve optimal resource allocation, and deliver power reliably to customers in the face of climate change-fueled weather events.
Contact an Epoch sales consultant to learn how our mobile workforce management solution can help your utility overcome the challenges of extreme weather. Or visit our Utility Operations Resource Center for valuable insights and resources from the utility experts at Epoch Solutions Group.
