Historic Storm
REMARKABLE RESPONSE How Minnesota Power mobilized to get the lights back on
July 2016 windstorm
It was the worst storm to hit Minnesota Power’s transmission and distribution system in half a century. A line of violent thunderstorms barreled across central and northern Minnesota early on July 21, 2016, packing wind gusts of up to 100 mph in parts of Minnesota Power’s service territory. The fierce, fast-moving storm uprooted and snapped thousands of mature trees, damaged cars and homes, and left residents stunned. More than 200 power poles were broken and miles of powerlines were entangled in the fallen trees and storm debris. From the Western Division’s Brainerd Lakes area to the Northern Division’s Iron Range and Central Division’s Duluth, about 57,000 customers — more than a third of the company’s 145,000 customers — were without power at the peak of the outages. Superior, Wisconsin, served by Superior Water, Light & Power, also suffered outages.
Duluth and the surrounding communities of Cloquet, Island Lake, Rice Lake, and Fredenberg and Gnesen townships were among the hardest hit, along with Tower and Ely to the north of Duluth, Sandstone to the south, and Pine River and Nisswa to the west. In the Duluth area alone, about one-third of MP’s 65,000 customers woke up to no electricity. While half of those customers without electricity had power restored within 24 hours, others experienced multiday outages. Damage to the distribution system was deep and widespread and access to make repairs often extraordinarily difficult. For the next week employees worked nearly round the clock to restore power, an enormous effort that Brad Oachs, senior vice president ALLETE and president of regulated operations, later described as being among the company’s finest hours.
National Weather Service radar images show the line of thunderstorms sweeping across Minnesota Power’s service territory early in the morning of July 21, 2016. 1
First look after the storm passes John Muehlbauer knew it was bad when he arrived at the Herbert Service Center in the early morning of Thursday, July 21, and found it dark. With two power lines feeding the HSC and the adjacent Rowe Energy Control Center, the buildings are designed to be the Minnesota Power nerve center when the weather gets bad. But the third major storm of the summer in Minnesota Power territory had knocked out so many transmission and distribution lines that even their lights were out. “We were in the dark for a couple of hours,” said Muehlbauer, superintendent of line operations, before backup generators were running. A battery backup had kept the online outage map and mobile outage app running for those two hours, so the scope, if not the details, of the damage was becoming clear by first light.
In 31 years with the company, he said, he’s never seen damage on such a large scale. “I’ve been in some doozies, but for overall devastation to our system this one was incredible,” he said. ALLETE President, Chairman and CEO Al Hodnik called it “a storm for the ages” when he spoke with lineworkers at the Herbert Service Center on July 26. A week after the storm he described the response in the Duluth News Tribune: “We hold our responsibility to serve customers as our highest priority. … Along with our lineworkers, we worked side by side with tree crews, contractors and public safety officials, all while being supported by amazing teams of employees who focused on safety, the environment and the well-being of the dedicated crews working in extreme and hazardous conditions,” he said.
Muehlbauer awoke to a phone call at 3 a.m. reporting problems across the Western Division, where the storm hit first. As he watched the weather radar on his phone, he said he kept thinking, “If only it doesn’t hit Duluth, we’ll be OK.” Then it hit Duluth, whipping up a tangled mess of fallen trees, broken power poles and downed power lines that made even getting to work difficult. “This was the first time in my 27 years here that the whole system got hit in the same storm,” he said. The Duluth area was in the bulls-eye of the storm. The Duluth News Tribune reported that a weather station on top of the county’s Government Services Center in downtown Duluth clocked winds in excess of 100 mph. The Duluth Aerial Lift Bridge reported winds over 80 mph, and the highest official wind gust was 69 mph at Duluth International Airport. The wind woke Lead Lineworker Mike Stingle and his wife, who shut windows on their home before going to the basement for safety. It wasn’t long, he said, before automated notifications about substations going down began streaming into his cellphone. “I just looked at my wife and said, ‘See you in a week,’ ” he said.
Residents across Minnesota Power’s service territory woke up to downed trees and power lines on July 21 after the storms moved out.
2
“This was the first time in my 27 years here that the whole system got hit in the same storm.� John Muehlbauer, Superintendent of Line Operations
3
More than a third of Minnesota Power’s customers faced power outages on July 21 while also dealing with damage to private property and cleaning up downed trees on their own lots. 4
Next time, bring a chainsaw Tim Laeupple, superintendent of line operations, answered the first call on the storm about 2:30 a.m. when a transmission line went down between Hill City and Brainerd. Then another went down, then a third. “This has never happened in the Minnesota Power area before,” he said. His order in that first call: Drive to Brainerd to get up in a helicopter to scout the transmission lines that were knocked out. Next time, he said, he’ll put a chainsaw in the truck. “The roads by Hill City were almost impassable,” he said. On Highway 200 between Jacobsen and Hill City, he thought he was stopped by a mess of blown-down trees on the road. Then he saw lights coming from the other direction in the dark and still-stormy morning. Luckily for him, it was a county road crew out scouting storm damage. “A front-end loader came through and helped me get through,” he said. He got to Brainerd and was up in the air by 7:10 a.m. after the thunderstorm cleared. On the flight, he realized how hard the storm had hit. Seeing the damage from the air provided the information needed to send crews to the right areas to repair the transmission lines. He then spent the next seven days at HSC, assigning line crews with Muehlbauer, Dan Gunderson and others. That job took 18-22 hours each day—getting up early to prepare work orders for crews, attending emergency response team meetings and then staying late to verify what had been done and using that
5
information to update the outage map, among other duties. “It’s like eating an elephant. You start out with bite-sized chunks,” he said about the response to such a huge number of outages. Company officials knew early on they were facing an elephant and called for mutual aid line crews to come in to help. The problem was that other nearby utilities had been hit by storms at the same time, so the first help would come from as far away as Missouri, Illinois and Iowa. The distance meant the first mutual aid crews wouldn’t arrive until noon on July 22. Until then, Minnesota Power line crews and tree contractors were on their own, but still managed to restore power to more than 16,000 customers within the first 24 hours as most main transmission lines and some distribution lines came back online. In the Duluth area, hit especially hard in a 10-mile-wide swath from Island Lake southeast to Lake Superior, much of the first day was focused on assessing damage. And even that proved difficult because downed trees blocked access to large areas. What was hiding behind those downed trees in some areas wouldn’t be seen until Friday, July 22. Still, by the end of the first day of the storm response, Minnesota Power crews had restored power to the city’s main Lakewood Pumping Station to get the city of Duluth’s water system fully online, then moved to police department and fire department locations and hospitals as public safety was the main priority. TV stations were still without power and off the air, but about 11,000 customers had power restored by that night.
Minnesota Power’s vegetation management specialists and the extra tree crews that were called in to help had their hands full. In many areas, downed trees had to be removed before damage from the storm could be assessed and repairs to power lines and power poles could begin.
Emergency response: There’s a plan for that Dan Gunderson, director of distribution operations, was in on the first storm conference call the morning of July 21 with one of his children on his lap. “My wife was at a cabin with friends, and they had about 50 trees down over the driveway and she couldn’t get out,” he said. “So I had to bring my kids in to work. Here I was in the first briefing on a conference call with Brad (Oachs) and others, and I had a 2-year-old on my lap. That’s kind of when you take a deep breath and know you’re in for a long haul.” He thought that morning it would be eight or nine days before power would be restored to everyone. But it wouldn’t take that long, and a big reason for that came out of a July 2015 storm in the Brainerd Lakes area that tested Minnesota Power’s capabilities and taught a valuable lesson: The company needed a better guidebook for responding to bad storms and widespread outages in an organized way. Company leaders asked for a redeveloped Emergency Response Plan (ERP), a task that fell to Laeupple and Wendy Sersha, budget analyst II. After months of research and looking at other companies’ emergency plans, they had settled on a model for Minnesota Power’s ERP in the spring, and a final plan was adopted in May. A walk-through of the new plan was conducted on June 24, keeping its procedures fresh in the minds of everyone when the storm hit less than a month later.
Safety was a priority for crews restoring power.
A strong safety culture already in place Ian Wenzel checked Minnesota Power’s outage app when he woke up early the morning of July 21. He knew immediately that this likely “was one of the mother of all storms.” Wenzel, manager-safety and industrial hygiene, left a note for his wife on the table. “I think it’s going to be a long day,” he wrote before heading to Herbert Service Center to meet with others on the Emergency Response Team. That long day turned into a long week as Minnesota Power employees and mutual aid responders worked to get the lights back on. It was a safe week as well, despite contractors laboring in difficult, unfamiliar territory and a heat index that soared above 100 degrees at times. The company reported no injuries among the hundreds of contractors who assisted with the restoration and only two incidents that required medical attention among MP employees. Wenzel said the positive report is a result of a strong safety culture already in place. “You can’t build that the day of a crisis,” he said. “Processes need to be robust enough to be able to be sustained during emergencies. Something that might seem like overkill on a day-to-day basis is just right when you toggle into emergency mode.” Some safety procedures and communication protocols were adapted to accommodate the circumstances of this outage. For example, the company had an EMT ambulance at HSC on the hottest day of the restoration so if there were a heat-related illness it could be dispatched immediately. Information about heat stress was added to the orientation for contractors. “The best crews are also the safest crews,” Wenzel said. “The best crews knock out the best results but are also safe. You don’t do one without the other.” 6
Top left: Eric Alafita arranges work orders for mutual aid crews at the HSC. Top right: Dan Gunderson plots outages and restoration progress on a map at HSC. Bottom: Trucks and equipment from mutual aid crews fill the HSC parking lot. MP employees who normally use the lot parked at a nearby church during the restoration.
“It gave us a structure to follow,” Laeupple said, with operations and logistics people knowing what was expected of them as soon as the ERP was put into effect. It also set up a schedule for daily meetings that kept leaders of the response updated on progress in the field and Corporate Communications informed so the company could get important, accurate news out to customers without power. “The plan facilitated information-sharing and consistency of message,” said Gunderson, designated as the incident commander under the plan. “Everybody knew where we were at, and we made sure we were not over-promising on things like ETRs. It gets rid of the chaos. People knew where to be and what to do. We 7
restored about two days earlier than expected, and the plan was a big factor in that.” The HSC on Arrowhead Road became the command center where ERP team members gathered to coordinate the response and crews were dispatched to the field, often working 16-hour days in blistering heat. Maps lining the walls allowed employees to track restoration efforts. In the “trouble room,” large computer monitors displayed outage maps and GPS locations of crews in the field. The ERP, together with the steady hand of Gunderson and other leaders, provided a solid foundation for a safe and successful restoration effort.
Logistics: Details matter Logistics became an increasingly important word on Friday, July 22. Mutual aid crews were to start arriving by noon and would need housing, food, clean clothes and clear directions for the work they were to do. As work orders piled up, so did the need for power poles, transformers, insulators, wire and other parts. Some of those components would have to be ordered, shipped and then delivered to job sites before the work could be done. Just like an army needs a vast array of people behind the front lines getting soldiers the equipment, food and fuel they need to fight, Minnesota Power’s storm response required a herculean effort from hundreds of people not out in the field repairing the grid.
employees from the parking lot to the HSC—so the HSC lot could be devoted to the trucks and equipment of mutual aid crews. Imagine trying to find lodging for hundreds of mutual aid responders in a tourist community in high summer. Stollenwerk’s team managed to book rooms at several hotels and were looking for more when they learned that 120 beds were available in residence halls at the University of Wisconsin in Superior. The catch—the beds needed to be made. But with typical Minnesota Power can-do attitude, a group of volunteers was dispatched and the beds were ready when the workers arrived. “It’s just what you do and you do it,” she said. “Nobody complains; it’s ‘what can I do to help.’ ”
Cody Pernu, materials analyst, arrived at HSC early on July 21. He immediately started contacting vendors so they, too, could quickly mobilize. Stores lined up materials and parts every day on the HSC dock so crews could find what they needed. They also had parts runners, Minnesota Power people who volunteered to deliver parts or food or whatever was needed.
No detail—even making sure coolers of food and beverages were properly labeled so workers could easily find what they needed—was too small to consider.
“Logistics had the biggest impact on success,” Gunderson said.
“We got feedback (from mutual aid crews, contractors and others) that this was the best food they’d seen in a storm response,” Gunderson said.
“Everything you do is important,” Stollenwerk said. “If you don’t do it, the burden shifts to someone else.” The support and attention to detail didn’t go unnoticed.
Many of those logistical decisions came via the office of Stefanie Stollenwerk, manager of transmission and distribution support services. In an interview with the Duluth News Tribune, Stollenwerk likened the job to planning a wedding reception three times a day for a week. But, she later added, it was more like planning the entire wedding because managing the needs of people working to restore power along with the facilities to support them went far beyond menus and meal delivery. A sign on her door at HSC summed it up: “Logistics HQ, where miracles happen.” Stollenwerk and her team of miracle-workers, along with volunteers from many different departments across the company, arranged for three meals a day, found hotel rooms for out-of-town crews and even set up a laundry service. They had trucks fueled overnight so crews could spend more time working in the neighborhoods. They arranged for employee parking at a nearby church—and a shuttle to take
Several members of the logistics team raise a cup of vitamin C to boost their immune systems after working long hours during the restoration. From left are Becky Moore, Pam Schmitt, Teresa Gilchrist, Stephanie Olson and Stefanie Stollenwerk. 8
In the thick of it: Urban outages Perhaps one of the biggest challenges of the storm response was found in Duluth’s unique topography and geography. It’s an urban area with plenty of green space and trees — lots of trees. And the hills that loom above Lake Superior can funnel wind into small areas. The result was a patchwork of outages, with some areas relatively unscathed and others hit hard. The innumerable downed trees and tree limbs made just getting in to assess the damage exceedingly difficult. Extra tree removal crews were called in to help clear the way for lineworkers to do their jobs. “The hardest part of the storm response for me was the high number of backyard access jobs without truck access,” Lineworker Dave Engesath said. “It was hard to get back in there.” Stingle said the constant discovery of new trouble spots stood out for him “You’d turn a corner and then run into a new problem, and then another and another,” he said. “It was nonstop. We really didn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel until the last couple of days.” In comparing the July 21 storm to the 2015 Nisswa storm that pushed the need for the Emergency Response Plan, Gunderson said there were fewer power poles and transformers downed in Duluth because of the more concentrated population, with more customers tied to each transformer. But the storm caused the need for 12,000-14,000 individual line repairs in Duluth, compared with about 4,000 in Nisswa.
9
“Here we had lots of smaller repairs and lighter work, things like trees wrapped in lines,” he said. But it wasn’t all small work. During the response, 205 poles were replaced and 57 repaired. About 4½ miles of distribution lines were replaced, with many more miles recovered and restrung. More than 108 transformers were replaced in an effort that took 31,000 man-hours of work and cost about $5.7 million. And the numbers don’t fully represent the amount of work required. Every pole that was replaced needed to be engineered for its specific location. Location, topography, vegetation and associated utility lines such as cable television and phone lines strung on the poles make each one unique. In addition, an underground utility locator needs to check the area around each pole before crews can begin drilling a hole for the replacement.
outside, barbecuing and visiting when the Minnesota Power crews arrived. A transformer a few blocks away was the culprit and Strem, fully aware of the timing as the repair was made, announced to the group, “let there be light.” Seconds later, the power was back on and the crowd cheered. “It was pretty sweet,” he said.
Scouts needed to identify problem areas In this aerial photo, a lineworker uses a Backyard Lineman machine to gain access to downed trees and a power line in Duluth’s Hunter’s Park neighborhood.
“There’s a lot more to do than just replace poles,” Muehlbauer said. All the downed transformers had to be checked for oil leaks, too, with some of the older models still containing oil that includes PCBs. After getting to the GOB that morning, Kurt Anderson, director Environmental and Land Management, said he was expecting transformer damage in Duluth similar to the Nisswa storm of 2015, but it wasn’t as bad. “We didn’t have as many (in Duluth) as in Nisswa, but it was more impactful because of the population density,” Anderson said. Lead Lineworker Cory Strem said the work was both challenging and rewarding. One of the best moments for him came at the close of a 16-hour day near the end of the restoration. A small pocket of customers in Duluth remained without power even as neighbors all around them had been restored. Folks were gathered
Crews of “bird dogs,” Minnesota Power employees who don’t work on line crews but had some knowledge of and experience with the job, were sent out into areas with tough access to find problems. “They were our eyes out there in the field helping us identify problem areas,” Muehlbauer said. “And they were climbing over lots of downed trees to find these problems.” The bird dogs were crucial to efficient operations with all of the out-of-town mutual aid crews trying to get to work sites in Duluth’s maze of dead-end streets and no alleys. They’d line up materials and get the mutual aid crews to their assigned site, then scout the next job site and guide the crew there. “We always want someone from MP out there with the mutual assistance crews,” Muehlbauer said. John Tobin, meter technician, was one of those bird dogs. He spent six days guiding mutual aid crews and scouting outages, much of it in temperatures around 90 degrees. (continued on page 13)
Left: A mutual aid lineworker repairs a power line on upper Glenwood Street. Center: Tim Michaelson (left) and Mike Conradi discuss the day’s work during the storm response. Right: A Minnesota Power line crew replaces a power pole in Duluth’s Lakeside neighborhood.
10
“I’ve been in some doozies, but for overall devastation to our system this one was incredible.” Mike Stingle, Lead Lineworker 11
Minnesota Power and mutual aid line crews worked 16-hour days during the storm restoration. Left: A mutual aid crew from Ameren repairs a power line in the Woodland neighborhood of Duluth. Top: Joe Buckley (left) and Garret Cogswell repair connections on a power pole in Duluth’s Hunters Park neighborhood. Bottom: Two Minnesota Power lineworkers replace a power pole in Duluth’s Hunters Park neighborhood.
12
Scouts needed (continued from page 10)
Out of their comfort zone
“I’d be crawling through the trees and see a wire down and have to go back and find a way around it,” he said. “Just to do a couple of blocks up by the cemetery took 45 minutes. There was so much stuff on the ground, it was just unreal.”
Perhaps one of the largest factors behind the successful restoration effort was the fact that so many employees pitched in outside of their usual job duties.
Tobin said the mutual aid crews from Missouri and other points south took the heat in stride, and commented on how nice people were during a stressful time. “The customers were absolutely great,” he said. “They were patient, willing to help and downright decent.” He said the most intense part of being in the field with that many crews came when multiple crews were energizing lines in an area. “That’s really when your training comes into play,” he said. He attributed the relatively smooth response to top-notch leadership and everyone pitching in to reach a goal. “I think it really speaks well to the organization,” he said.
“We all do our day-to-day jobs, too, so it’s impressive how everybody buckles down, working to their strengths and giving everything they’ve got” Laeupple said. “People are in this zone that’s hard to describe – put a goal in front of them and nothing will stop them. We had a lot of people stepping up outside their normal responsibilities.” One of those was Tim Helmer, a meter technician who was called to the HSC to help organize work orders for line crews in the field. He shuffled work orders by location to give crews an efficient daily schedule, something that Muehlbauer said was like watching “a Vegas card dealer.” Helmer spent many years as a meter reader, and knows the backyards, alleys and out-of-the-way places in Duluth.
Storm delivers silver lining for Hibbard The two storms that hit the area in July 2016 left behind millions of pounds of downed trees and limbs from Duluth to Island Lake. Seeing the potential to put that wood to use, Minnesota Power’s storm response team and the city of Duluth reached a deal for the wood collected in Duluth to be shipped to the Hibbard Renewable Energy Center for use as cost-effective renewable fuel. Some of the chipped wood from Island Lake went to Hibbard, too. The plant produces steam for the adjacent Verso Corp. paper mill, and generates electricity when it’s called for in the regional market. That usually happens during times of high demand or when fuel prices are low enough to make it attractive. Both happened for a number of days after the July 21 storm as high temperatures spurred demand for electricity and the storm debris provided low-cost fuel. A truckload of wood debris from the July 2016 storm is unloaded from the truck lift at Hibbard Renewable Energy Center in November 2016, when the wood was burned to generate electricity for Minnesota Power customers. 13
The last of the wood debris from the storm wouldn’t be burned at Hibbard until late November and early December, for a total of about 9,000 tons, or more than 425 truckloads. “It really puts a silver lining” on the storm, said Frank Frederickson, then general manager of renewable operations.
“It’s like eating an elephant. You start out with bite-sized chunks.” Tim Laeupple, Superintendent of Line Operations
Top: Downed power lines were an all-too-common sight around Duluth on the morning of July 21. Here, neighborhood residents get an update from a line crew. Bottom left: John Muehlbauer leads a morning meeting at HSC with lineworkers. Bottom right: Tim Laeupple gives the media, including KBJR Channel 6, a tour of hardest-hit Duluth neighborhoods. 14
“We got to know the area really well, all the little dirt roads that most people don’t even know exist,” he said of being a meter reader. “There are lots of nuances about the area that, if you’re not familiar with them, can really trip you up. What I did was chunk up the orders into workable pieces so linemen didn’t have to drive around trying to find places.”
They also secured the HSC so people working there didn’t have any interruptions, coordinated with law enforcement and fire departments so they would know where line crews were working and had police do traffic control at HSC in the mornings so crews could make timely departures on busy Arrowhead Road.
“He’s amazing and saved us a lot of time,” Laeupple said of Helmer. Another team that worked outside its normal range was security. With all the mutual aid crews in town and parking at the HSC, there suddenly was a lot of equipment to protect at night. “Our biggest role was supporting operations, ensuring they have the tools available to do what they need to do, and vehicles are supported and ready to go in the morning,” said Warren LaPlante, ALLETE security manager.
Left top: Nick Johnson, Warren LaPlante and Brad Oachs at the HSC. Right top: Lisa Kappenman (from left), Andy Smith, Sue Schwarz and Marianne Kauma organize sports drinks for line crews at the HSC. Bottom left: Mike Stingle and Amanda Middleton take a break from the heat. Bottom right: Leanne Baker serves meals at HSC. 15
Island Lake hit twice in one month Twenty miles north of Duluth at Island Lake, residents and Minnesota Power employees had not one but two storms to respond to in July. The first storm hit on July 5, blowing down thousands of trees around the lake, particularly on the hard-hit northern shore. Before that mess of blowdown and damage could be cleaned up, the second severe storm hit on July 21, blowing down thousands more trees over a wider area, and affecting more Minnesota Power customers on the south side of the lake. Dealing with all the downed trees across thousands of acres of company land in the area could take years. “There was a lot of devastation to personal and Minnesota Power property,� said Dave Marciniak, land management specialist I in the Land and Real Estate Department. Most of the lots on the lake are leased from Minnesota Power, and Marciniak said the storms financially and emotionally stressed many home and cabin owners on leased lots. To help them, the company set up a water station at the recreation area and opened a gravel pit at the East Parking Lot north of the Island Lake Inn as a wood-collection point for trees and branches from leaseholders’ land. It also hired a contractor to grind that wood for transport. That effort continued long into August.
Downed trees (top) cover half the roof on a home at Island Lake, which was hit by two major storms in 2016 on July 5 and July 21. A Minnesota Power crew uses an auger to drill a hole for a replacement power pole near Island Lake. 16
July 2016 windstorm by the numbers Thursday, July 21
Friday, July 22
Saturday, July 23
Sunday, July 24
M Ju
Thunderstorms move across Minnesota, hitting Duluth about 3:30 a.m.
24 hours
48 hours
72 hours
96
“Bird dogs” sent out to scout Woodland area
M o th ac
• Damage assessment and response underway • Aid station set up at Island Lake • Call Center handles 5,914 customer calls
First mutual aid Predicted crews arrive severe storms fail to materialize
51%
57,511
customers without power across service territory
of customers restored
HIGH WINDS
40% of customers across Minnesota Power service territory lost power
53%
of customers restored
100 mph
weather station atop St. Louis County Government Services Center, downtown Duluth
Restoration week 69Thunderstorms mph move across Minnesota, Duluth hitting Duluth 80 about mph 3:30 a.m. International Airport Duluth Aerial Lift Bridge • Damage assessment and response underway
• Aid station set up at Island Lake • Call Center handles 5,914 customer calls
12,181%
increase in page views
1,587
5,914
70%
of customers restored
Facebook July 18-24
new followers of the Minnesota Power page
customer service calls logged July 21
> 15,000
customer service calls logged over 8 days of restoration
17
Twitter July 22
80,000
impressions delivered from Minnesota Power account to individuals
o
s
Monday, July 25
Tuesday, July 26
Wednesday, July 27
Thursday, July 28
Friday, July 29
96 hours
120 hours
144 hours
168 hours
180 hours
Mostly single outages left that require access to yards
Duluth Mayor Emily Larson attends breakfast at HSC to personally thank workers
Ameren and Intren crews released; 400-500 single outages estimated to remain
All customers predicted to have power by midnight
HSC returns to normal
84%
of customers restored
94%
of customers restored
97%
of customers restored
99%
100%
of customers restored
of customers restored
Total restoration cost: $5.7 million
17,860
hours worked by line crews from Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin
9,160
hours from Minnesota Power lineworkers
22
Meals served to line crews and support personnel
+ 13,584
hours from contractors and assisting compaines
reportable 2 OSHA personnel accidents
131 4.6 miles distribution line replaced
108 distribution transformers replaced
distribution feeders affected
205 distribution poles replaced
5 transmission circuits locked out 18
Corporate Communications Manager Amy Rutledge briefs the media during a tour of restoration efforts in Duluth’s Hunters Park neighborhood.
Connecting with customers On July 21, as the scope of the storm started sinking in, customers began calling Minnesota Power. That first day, the company’s call center representatives fielded 5,914 calls from customers—a little less than half of the 13,000 to 14,000 calls the center typically handles in an average month. “This was on steroids,” said Lori Frisk, directorcustomer service and compliance. Karen Virta, administrative supervisor; Shelley Herman, office supervisor; and Barb Peterson, office supervisor, quickly understood that this would not be a typical restoration and mobilized to get all hands on deck. Call Center representative Nik Bayuk was among the first of those to arrive at work in downtown Duluth. He was there by about 4 a.m. after navigating roads blocked by fallen trees and power lines in one of the hardest-hit Duluth neighborhoods. Others, too, were more than willing to step up, come in early, stay late, and get the work done. Still, Call Center managers knew they needed to look past their regular employees to keep up with the steady stream of calls, but they also needed folks who had experience in working with the company’s customer information system. They found willing reinforcements in their counterparts at Superior Water, Light and Power and former call center representatives Brenda Ruzik and Amy Schnitz. The ranks of those 19
Call Center representatives worked tirelessly to answer customer questions. From left are Shelley Herman, Nik Bayuk, Kristin Zbytovsky, Bonnie Yoder and Corey Hietapelto.
answering customer calls swelled to about 35 from 25 representatives. The question most callers had on their mind was “when will we have power again?” For the first two days of the restoration effort, estimates on restoration times were elusive while utility crews assessed and prioritized the damage. Unable to respond with estimated restoration times, call center representatives offered an empathetic ear. “We just really have to turn on the empathy because we can’t really tell them anything,” Frisk said. But by Saturday the call center was able to give customers a clearer picture of how long those who
still had no power would be without electricity. Communicating with customers, whether individually or through other means, was a priority throughout the restoration effort. The Corporate Communications staff, led by manager Amy Rutledge, sent out news releases almost daily— sometimes twice daily—and responded to media inquiries. Senior corporate communications specialist Kelley Eldien posted frequent updates to the company’s Facebook page and Twitter feed.
Support from customers, community The outpouring of community support for Minnesota Power lineworkers and support staff was evident in many ways, from the messages on Facebook to treating workers in the field to ice cream to Duluth Mayor Emily Larson’s breakfast visit at the HSC. The kindness and appreciation expressed by customers buoyed employees and contractors as they worked throughout the affected areas. Larson and David Montgomery, Duluth chief administrative officer, asked for the opportunity to thank employees in person and visited the storm command post as breakfast was served early on July 26. “You understand the importance of power and just want to get in there and get the job done,” Larson said. “We are so thankful for the work you are doing.” Larson and Montgomery said they appreciated Minnesota Power’s communication and collaboration in prioritizing community needs in the company’s storm response. “Thank you, Minnesota Power, for busting chops to really get things done and getting this community back to normal,” Montgomery said. Later, in the HSC parking lot, two Duluth police officers arrived to deliver their unofficial thanks along with several boxes of doughnuts. Aaron Pry and Russ Bradley, who was without power for four days, said it was their way to show their appreciation for all of the workers and Minnesota Power. Signs of customer appreciation also popped up in the neighborhoods. Some wrote a simple “thank you” on
Top: Stefanie Stollenwerk gets a hug from Al Hodnik at a thank-you lunch for employees one week after the “storm for the ages.” Middle: One of the hand-written notes of thanks received by Minnesota Power. Bottom: David Montgomery, Duluth Mayor Emily Larson, and Al Hodnik thank crews during breakfast at HSC. Breakfast was served in two rooms because of the number of mutual aid workers assisting in the restoration.
20
cardboard, others offered smiles and hugs. Lineworker Strem said a cooler filled with bottled water and a note to help themselves greeted his crew while working on Howard Gnesen Road. Community support for Minnesota Power lineworkers and the hundreds of support staff also was evident on social media. “Power restored on W Austin St tonight (Tuesday) at 8:30. First I cried, then I laughed, and finally I took a hot shower and turned on the AC,” one customer wrote on Minnesota Power’s Facebook page. “Thanks so much to all the crews!! We gave all the guys water and ice cream as it was the only thing we had but we’re really just so appreciative of all the hard work!” On Sunday, a customer who just had power restored took time on Facebook to thank the crews, which
Top left: Chris Fleege speaks to employees at a thank-you lunch at the HSC. Top right: Bobby Kasper holds a young apprentice lineworker as the rest of his Western Division crew looks on in Duluth. Many Minnesota Power crews from outside Duluth came to help during the storm response. Bottom: To show their appreciation, Duluth police officers Aaron Pry and Russ Bradley offered doughnuts and juice in the HSC parking lot.
21
included line workers from Missouri and the Twin Cities area, for their work. “We got power in Rice Lake around 6 pm.” She wrote. “The truck from Missouri turned around in our driveway and I ran out to give them our thanks. Got a little wave and a thumbs up and away they went. We are so grateful for everyone’s hard work. I think about how exhausted we are from four days of heat and hard work but at least we’re done. Those crews have many days still to work and sweat. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!” The thanks on Twitter, with its character limitations, were shorter and to the point. “Thank u ever so much to @mnpower and all extra crews 4 working unbelievable hours to fix the power,” one customer wrote on Tuesday. “Where would we b w/o you? (In the dark.)”
On Thursday, after power was restored to all customers except those who had problems with equipment such as masts attached to their homes, the thanks kept coming. “You are all incredible... Especially the lineworkers who put their lives in danger to help others!” a customer wrote on Facebook. “Thank you for your quick response and hard work in such dangerous and hot circumstances! I loved seeing all the signs around the affected neighborhoods thanking MN Power. You had us back up in three days and after seeing the extent of the damage, that was no small task! Glad you’re my power company!”
“Dear MN Power employees – I just want to tell all of you how awesome I think you are! How you took care of the wind storm aftermath was amazing. So please stand up and take a bow, because I think EVERY one of you deserves a standing ovation! Thank you!” One tweet on Monday mentioning Minnesota Power succinctly summed up the mostly positive social media activity: “@mnpower 106 hours later and we.have.power!! Thank you SO MUCH for the constant updates and hard work. #sohappy #iloveelectricity”
Some customers preferred a more traditional style of expressing their thanks: they enclosed notes with their bill payments. One customer wrote:
Community support was evident in the cards, Facebook posts and tweets from Duluth-area residents.
22
Praise from visiting crews The community spirit and support from Minnesota Power made a lasting impression on many of the mutual aid workers in Duluth to help with the storm restoration. Comments came from as far away as Missouri, home to the Ameren crews, where the wife of a crew member posted this on Minnesota Power’s Facebook page: “A note from Missouri....my husband and co-workers are there helping restore power. He calls me every night and he tells me how nice everyone in your community is. People are waving, honking and thanking them all day. He likes it so much we are putting MN on our travel bucket list! Thank you for your kindness from the Ameren crew and family!!!” Ray Labrecque, who works for MJ Electric, praised Minnesota Power one morning as he waited to fill a plate with breakfast burritos and fruit at HSC. “We’ve been treated very well by Minnesota Power,” he said. Don Kozlovski, manager IT security and compliance, took to the ALLETE Stream to share his conversation with another, unidentified MJ Electric line worker:
‘Together we are stronger’ A tenet of ALLETE’s Boundless initiative is, “Together we are stronger.” For the people who responded to the storm, that tenet became deeply personal as people from across the company came together to meet the challenges. “I couldn’t believe the patience and collaboration of everyone. I think the human spirit really came through,” Muehlbauer said. “I had a great time! Who would have thought that after seven straight 18-hour days? People even kept their sense of humor.” He said the connections went from executives on down to line crews, with Oachs at HSC throughout the week, and other executive team members stopping by often to thank lineworkers and other employees.
23
“We’ve been treated very well by Minnesota Power.” Ray Labrecque MJ Electric
A mutual aid crew from Intren prepares to head home
“Tuesday night just before dark, I was sitting on my deck in the 82 degree/percent heat and humidity, sipping on a beer I had just pulled out of the cooler that had been functioning as our refrigerator for the past 5 days. Into my yard trudged a VERY big guy in a hardhat and safety vest. He was from MJ Electric. I said ‘Hi!’ as he eyed up the pole in the right-of-way “To have them there is uncommon among utilities,” he said. “It’s good to know they’re backing you 100 percent.” Engesath said the storm response brought the company together. “I think one of the good things about it was that you got to meet people in the company who you’d never know because they weren’t doing their normal jobs,” he said. Stollenwerk said one of the Ameren workers told her that two things stood out for him in the days he spent assisting Minnesota Power: the company’s safety culture and the upbeat, cooperative spirit. She saw it, too. “We lived together for a week and we all bonded. … We laughed every day” while focusing on one thing: getting the power back on, Stollenwerk said.
came down, the pole swaying as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other. Once down, this guy looked completely exhausted. While he was waiting for his buddy, who was working up a pole or two, I held up a bottle of water. ‘Want one? The water, not the beer!’ He said sure, ‘that’d be great.’ And I don’t doubt the sweat was coming out of his reddened face faster than he could drink water in. I mentioned I work for MP, and really was grateful for him for coming to help. ‘Where you from? When did you come?’ ‘Iowa. Thursday. Fifth 16-hour day.’ The notable part of our conversation came next.
after helping Minnesota Power during the storm response.
between me and my neighbor’s backyards— not many alleys in Woodland, which means no room for bucket trucks. I watched as he climbed and checked things out... my house is fed underground from this pole, and everything else must’ve checked out okay. He slowly
‘Your company has really been treating us well. Everyone has been great. It’s been really good. Except that I’ve climbed more in the past few days than in the previous decade! Why are there no alleys?!’ Good question. But I was proud to hear that despite the ridiculously hard work, he had such a good impression of Minnesota Power and our people. It was great to hear what I know to be true. As were his parting words, said with a grin that lightened his weary face, and acknowledged his intentional innuendo: ‘Here we go. I’m about to turn you on.’ Power restored: 8:15pm 7/26/16.”
The Herbert Service Center served as command central for the storm response effort. Left: Supplies for completing the day’s work were easily accessible on the loading dock. Above: A hallway transformed into a food service line several times a day.
24
EEI recognizes storm response with prestigious award
their contributions to the storm response. To that end, the award was taken to 13 safety and training meetings from March through June 2017 and also made stops at the Transmission and Distribution all-staff meeting and the ALLETE Annual Meeting.
Minnesota Power’s response to “a storm for the ages” earned it the “Emergency Recovery Award” from the Edison Electric Award, an industry association.
“All of our employees share in this award and can take pride in this accomplishment. This really brings home our mission of commitment to ensuring security, comfort and quality of life,” said Chris Fleege, senior vice president of Minnesota Power Operations.
“The tireless work by Minnesota Power’s crews and the company’s mutual aid partners to restore service following a major summer storm system exemplifies our industry’s commitment to customer service and safety,” EEI President Tom Kuhn said during an awards ceremony in January 2017. “The courageous and dedicated Minnesota Power crews who faced dangerous conditions in the wake of these storms are greatly deserving of this terrific recognition.”
Al Hodnik, ALLETE chairman, president and CEO, also praised Minnesota Power employees.
The industry association presents the award twice annually to EEI member companies to recognize their extraordinary efforts to restore power to customers after service disruptions caused by severe weather conditions or other natural events. The winners are chosen by a panel of judges following an international nomination process.
“Our terrific employees and other industry partners rose to meet all of the challenges, fully recognizing that our customers’ everyday lives were put on hold as they worked safely to restore power,” Hodnik said. “We saw employees’ unwavering dedication to customer service, and we appreciated the support from the community even as some experienced several days without electricity. Minnesota Power and the communities we serve met the challenge of this storm for the ages through the power of pulling together.”
“In Minnesota Power’s 110-year history, the week spent responding to one of the worst and most widespread storms to hit our system in 50 years has to be among our employees’ finest,” said Brad Oachs, senior vice president-ALLETE and president-regulated operations. “Their dedication to safety and customer service is phenomenal.”
If there was some good that came out of the storm, Oachs said at the 2017 annual meeting of ALLETE shareholders, “it was the renaissance of the candle and backyard conversations as neighbors pulled together to assist one another in the aftermath of the storm. This award isn’t just about Minnesota Power, this is an award we share with the communities we serve.”
Company leaders wanted to ensure that employees from across the company were personally recognized for
EEI award ‘roadshow’
1
2 25
1. Chris Fleege (left) and Dan Gunderson hold the crystal EEI Emergency Response Award; 2. Call Center, Meter Reader/Collectors and CIS Administration; 3. Tech System and Metering; 4. Duluth Line, Fleet, Vegetation Management and Stores; 5. Little Falls and Long Prairie; 6. Al Hodnik (from left) and Brad Oachs accept the Edison Electric Institute Emergency Recovery Award Tom Kuhn, EEI president, in January; 7. Duluth Engineering and Customer Service; 8. Park Rapids, Crosby, Pine River; 9. Communication Infrastructure; 10. System Operations; 11. Call Center, Meter Reader/Collectors and CIS Administration; 12. Cloquet and Sandstone; 13. Northern Area Safety Meeting; 14. Service Dispatch; 15. Power Delivery Engineering
3
4
6
5
7
8
10
9
12
11
13
14
15 26
Thank you! Hundreds of employees from across the company responded to the July 2016 storm. While there are too many names to list here, each individual contributed to the successful restoration. Al Hodnik, ALLETE chairman, president and CEO, told those gathered at a thank-you lunch in late July that challenges such as this storm have never been able to unnerve, unhinge or undo the company and its employees. “Everybody has bucket trucks, everybody has poles and wire. Everybody even has people, culture and leadership, but no one has it better than ALLETE and Minnesota Power,� he said.
The emergency response team Diane Lundgren Amanda Middleton John Muehlbauer Nancy Norr Brad Oachs Lori Rengo Reed Rosandich Amy Rutledge Robert Sandstrom Wendy Sersha Kris Spenningsby Stefanie Stollenwerk Ian Wenzel
16421
Kurt Anderson Kelley Eldien Jill Feriancek Chris Fleege Lori Frisk John Galo Dan Gunderson Jackie Hagadorn Chuck Kimball Mike Klopp Tim Laeupple Warren LaPlante Shanna Lucero