Developing the Resiliency Program Plan – Playbook Review Part 4

In the previous post, we discussed the importance of creating a resiliency program that addresses the most common causes of outage minutes. Here, we will explore how to go about developing the program itself. The focus of this step is to develop a resiliency program and how to effectively measure its impact. “What gets measured, gets done” is very much the focus of this step.

Choose an Appropriate Metric

There are a number of reliability and resiliency measures that are commonly used to track performance. As an example, undergrounding is designed to entirely remove exposure to certain types of extreme weather risk. The frequency and severity of risk exposure will dictate if undergrounding is an appropriate strategy. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has published a guide for electric power distribution reliability. These methods (and their applicability for undergrounding) are available in Chapter 3 of the Playbook.

Cost versus Benefit Assessment

Due to the potential expense associated with some resiliency strategies (and undergrounding in particular) a robust cost versus benefit assessment may be required. As an example, undergrounding is designed to eliminate exposure to certain types of extreme weather risk. The frequency and severity of risk exposure will dictate if undergrounding is an appropriate strategy.

Program Management Office Use & Design

Given that a resiliency program may consist of more than a year of planning, requires separate approval, special reporting, and is taking place on top of routine work, a Program Management Office (PMO) is most likely necessary. In many instances, a PMO is established to serve as the “how” of effectively measuring impact.

The PMO could be parallel and separate from existing engineering and operations functions or could be embedded. There are three tiers that could be established for the PMO: Large Scope, Medium Scope, and Narrow Scope. A description of each, as well as strengths and weaknesses, are detailed in Chapter 3 of the Playbook.

Create a Resource Guide

Developing a resource guide for internal staff is necessary to support the utility in successfully developing the plan. This guide should include a vision that considers macro-level trends and future scenarios, capital allocation plan, program life cycle, resource planning, and knowledge management. A more detailed outline is also offered in Chapter 3 of the Playbook. This resource guide should bring consistency and structure to building and implementing a resiliency plan.

Download the Playbook

Watch for our next post which covers the next step in developing a resiliency program—obtaining approval. Interested readers are encouraged to download a free copy of PDi²‘s Utility Infrastructure Resiliency Playbook. This resource is designed to help utilities address obstacles they might face when developing resiliency programs. It includes more details on each step of developing a program, case studies, and links to additional resources.