The document announces a conference focused on outage response and restoration management. Representatives from Alabama Power, Progress Energy, and The Empire District Electric Company will discuss their experiences and lessons learned, including from the 2011 Joplin, Missouri tornadoes. The conference will provide an opportunity for utilities to share best practices in outage communication strategies, strengthening mutual assistance programs, and utilizing social media to update customers.

1. Alabama Power, Progress Energy and The Empire District Electric
Company Set to Speak at the marcus evans 12th Annual Outage
Response & Restoration Management Conference
Industry Experts Focus on Outage Communication Strategies and Lessons Learned from the
Joplin, Missouri Tornadoes
Atlanta, GA – August 1, 2012– marcus evans, a conference producing company, will
host the 12th Annual Outage Response & Restoration Management Conference, October 23-
25, 2012 in Atlanta, GA. More than 21 leading experts will provide insights on strengthening
mutual assistance coordination and storm preparation programs.
Utility preparations for outage response and restoration are an ongoing and constant
challenge. Throughout the year, outages cause disruption to the delivery of power and
ultimately cost money through lost revenue and damage.
“Most utilities handle the controlling authority for switching and tagging through their
Control Centers during day to day operations. During major storms some utilities continue to
maintain control in the same manner, while others have seen improved restoration times
without compromising safety by relinquishing control to field operations,” says Franky
Batten, Director, Distribution Control Center at Progress Energy Carolinas. “While utility
switching and tagging rules and procedures should be followed at all times, they should not
become a significant barrier during the restoration process.”
Much of the preparation for an outage is focused on weather damage that may occur from a
variety of natural events and disasters. One natural event that occurred in 2011 was the
catastrophic Joplin, Missouri tornadoes. These tornadoes struck down in May of last year and
were one of the deadliest events in over 60 years, injuring 1,000 and killing over 150 people.
Tina Gaines, Director, Engineering & Line Services at The Empire District Electric Company
was involved with the outage restoration and management for the Joplin, Missouri
tornadoes. At the marcus evans Conference, She will discuss the lessons that were learned
from this particular event, “It is my responsibility to obtain and coordinate mutual assistance
during these events. In this disaster, Kansas City Power & Light (KCPL) were able to assist
us with this process” said Gaines.
Finding the closest neighboring utilities is key to managing customers. Utilizing the
relationships between neighboring utilities to assist with outage response activity is crucial to
restoration efficiency. “Since this tornado was in a very focused area, we were able to get
help from our neighbors. KCPL responded and stayed, despite having significant damage in
Sedalia from the tornadoes that struck down in their area a few days after the Joplin
tornado.”
Ensuring that utilities are receiving accurate data is also essential for providing customers
real-time information through various communication and social media outlets available. Ike

2. Pigott, Communications Strategist & Company Spokesman at Alabama Power has been a
part of the social media strategy that the company created in order to enhance their
restoration communications and efforts.
Due to the growing social media trends, many utilities are taking advantage of these various
platforms to extend the ways that the customer can receive outage information. “We
launched our Facebook page in February to use as a platform for outage communication,
storm preparation and safety. We have also used Twitter to answer our customers as quickly
as possible” said Pigott.
Coordinating between customer service and distribution departments to deliver the most
correct information through customers’ preferred platforms is vital to best business practices.
Alabama Power’s new strategy includes communicating their social media strategy to
relevant internal divisions to understand which channel, message and goals work best and
breaking up social media efforts across the company works well to give each division their
own page.
marcus evans invites Outage Management, Emergency Preparedness and Business
Continuity professionals to join in this cutting-edge, peer-to-peer conference that examines
best practices in the Electric Utilities industry. In addition to two days of conference
sessions, attendees will have extensive networking opportunities with their peers.
For more information on this conference or to get a complete list of speakers, sessions or
past attendees, visit http://www.marcusevansch.com/ORR_PR or email Michele
Westergaard, Michelew@marcusevansch.com
About marcus evans
marcus evans conferences annually produce over 2,000 high quality events designed to
provide key strategic business information, best practice and networking opportunities for
senior industry decision-makers. Our global reach is utilized to attract over 30,000 speakers
annually, ensuring niche focused subject matter presented directly by practitioners and a
diversity of information to assist our clients in adopting best practice in all business
disciplines.
###