Over the past 15 years, AEIC’s Storm Team has provided a forum for power delivery professionals to exchange new ideas, information and lessons learned from restoration events. The committee develops a series of best practices and tools in the areas of storm restoration and system hardening, pre-storm checklists, storm restoration best practices, and practices that impact Emergency Preparedness work groups/Storm Centers.
In 2024, the hurricane season produced 18 named storms including seven tropical storms, six hurricanes (Categories 1 and 2), and five major hurricanes (Categories 3, 4, 5). Hurricane Helene was one of the most destructive weather events to ever hit the Mid- and South Atlantic regions of the United States. High winds and severe flooding resulted in significant loss of life and caused more than an estimated $75 Billion in damage to property and critical infrastructure including the power grid.
In responding to Hurricane Helene, AEIC members utilized many of the best practices originally developed by the Storm Team in the wake of Hurricane Sandy in 2012. These best practices have been continually improved over time based on lessons learned from each new storm event. The scope and scale of the preparation and response needed to address the unprecedented impacts of Hurricane Helene provided new learning opportunities that can benefit all electric utilities as they plan for the next significant weather event.
AEIC’s Storm Team is pleased to share these best practices with the industry with the hopes that they become a valuable resource to help utilities to better prepare for and respond to storms in their service territories.
