Hurricane Helene pounded Wayne County with strong winds and torrential rain Sept. 27 that wreaked havoc on the Richmond Power & Light electric grid.
While most sheltered inside — even if in darkness — RP&L crews defied the elements to restore power as quickly as possible. During the Oct. 7 RP&L board meeting, Tony Foster, RP&L’s general manager, thanked his crews for their efforts, saying RP&L is “lucky to have such a great work force.”
Foster also thanked groups and individuals who provided food and drinks to RP&L crews and RP&L’s customers.
“I can’t thank everyone enough for their patience during this storm cleanup,” he said.
Foster then took the opportunity to tell the board, which is comprised of Richmond Common Council members, how customers should report outages, how RP&L learns about outages and how it approaches restoring service. In that regard, RP&L assesses each area of damage, determines what repairs will be required and identifies how many customers’ service that repair will restore.
“It’s simply how can we get the most on in the quickest amount of time,” Foster said.
When an outage occurs, key RP&L personnel receive push alerts on their phones, and they receive emails about which circuits are out and how many customers each outage impacts. Personnel also see an outage map like maps customers see through the SmartHub phone app or on RP&L’s website.
The SmartHub app is the easiest way to report an outage, with a link at the top of the app’s home page. Customers have options to further describe what the problem is or what caused the problem.
Outages can also be reported through the website, RP-L.com, or by phone at 765-973-7200, which is answered by a Bloomington-based call center after business hours. However, Foster warns that the utility can’t immediately answer every call during widespread outages. For example, there were 1,172 calls during the 6 o’clock hour Sept. 27.
To monitor outage updates from RP&L, customers should follow the utility’s Facebook page.
Foster also said Helene damaged flags flying over city bridges and streets, and RP&L crews have now replaced all of those flags.
Transformer purchases
The board approved $985,000 for RP&L to purchase a backup transformer from AEP. The transformer will be transported from Texas and installed, Foster said.
A failure in RP&L’s system requires the purchase.
Foster also received permission to solicit bids for two new transformers that will be placed at the Richmond Substation.
The transformers are in the 2025 capital budget; however, RP&L wants to begin the purchasing process now. Foster said they can take three years for delivery.
Another capital project was delayed until 2025. RP&L had received bids for a pickup truck, then learned Ford had stopped taking orders for such vehicles this year. The board voted to reject the bids, so RP&L can revisit the purchase next year.
A version of this article appeared in the October 16 2024 print edition of the Western Wayne News.