Report: Storms, vegetation and aging power grid challenge state’s electric reliability

Due primarily to severe spring and summer thunderstorms, Pennsylvania experienced 49 “reportable outage events,” disrupting electric service for residents and businesses across the state in 2023, according to the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission’s (PUC) latest Electric Service Reliability Report.

That number was 42 in 2022.

In its report, the PUC noted that while these figures are still lower than years with extreme events like hurricanes and severe winter storms, they “underscore the ongoing challenges posed by weather and the vegetation-related disruptions often generated by storms.”

Electric reliability

The PUC’s reliability report says that most of Pennsylvania’s 11 electric distribution companies (EDCs) faced declines in key reliability metrics in 2023, especially for the average duration of service outages, driven by severe weather and “the complexity of maintaining an aging power grid.”

The report did note a decline in the number of customers interrupted by outages since 2019, and attributed that trend to the deployment by EDCs of “smart devices” on their systems, which can reportedly isolate damaged sections of the grid and restore power to unaffected areas more quickly. “While these technologies help reduce the number of customers impacted by outages, they can also lead to longer repair times in the hardest-hit areas due to the complexity of the damage,” the report added.

Vegetation vs infrastructure

Severe weather that results in the loss of trees along roadways and overhanging limbs from canopy trees continues to be the primary threat to Pennsylvania’s electric reliability, the report stated, adding that many of these trees have been weakened or killed by invasive infestations like the emerald ash borer.

The PUC’s Bureau of Technical Utility Services (TUS) recommends EDCs strengthen their vegetation management programs.

In fact, PUC noted that, since 2015, vegetation has consistently been the leading cause of outages and lost customer minutes throughout Pennsylvania.

Pike County findings

Pike County Light & Power Company (PCLP) has an operating service area of approximately 44 square miles with about 5,333 customers, according to the report.

Last year, PCLP experienced 4,584 customer interruptions and 437,709 customer minutes of interruption (CMI), as compared to 2,646 customer interruptions and 420,975 CMI in 2022, 6,890 customer interruptions and 1,058,853 CMI in 2021, 2,356 customer interruptions and 432,428 CMI in 2020, and 1,870 customer interruptions and 331,335 CMI in 2019.

Most outages, customers affected, and customer minutes of interruption are primarily the result of vegetation making contact with grid infrastructure. PCLP also included the devastation caused by the emerald ash borer among the “external environmental factors” that have increased the risk of tree-related outages to the company’s distribution system.

Last year, 60 poles failed inspection and were replaced, out of approximately 300 poles that were inspected. But since the leading cause of outages was tree contact, the focus of its 2023 vegetation management program was on an overgrown right of way exiting the rear of the Matamoras substation and heading west to I-84. Additional trimming continued on an as-needed basis and PCLP worked with local municipalities to remove danger trees (specifically, ash trees).

Overall, PUC said it recommends continued and increased efforts in vegetation management and use of funding to improve system hardening and resiliency, but that, overall, PCLP “appears to have somewhat stabilized its reliability performance.”

Visit puc.pa.gov for the full report.