Cheering squad

Approximately 30 participants attended representing emergency management, fire departments and local businesses like General Motors, Jackson National Life and Liquid Web. Less than a month away from the Dec. 22 anniversary of the massive ice storm that shut down power in the region and a dearth of communication that kept a community in the dark, BWL is assessing how far it has come and what remains.

The briefings are meant to bring officials together from around the region to create a collaborative plan to “create a disaster resilient community.”

“It’s important that you know that we are not the same BWL that we were about a year ago,” said BWL General Manager Peter Lark.

The briefing summarized what has been put in place since the Community Review Team report.

Retired National Guard Brig. Gen. Mike McDaniel said most of the recommendations from the Community Review Team “have already been accomplished.”

Trent Atkins, BWL emergency operations manager, listed changes that included a toll-free outage line with a real person answering the phone, website-based reporting allowing customers to report outages online and a mobile app with real-time outage information.

“One of the complaints from people is they weren´t getting good reliable information,” Atkins said.

Next week, he said, the BWL is rolling out text alerts.

There have also been operational improvements: tripling the number of line crews, doubling spotter crews and modifying practices to remove tree branches above power lines.

The overall theme moving forward was about collaboration and teamwork.

“It’s absolutely imperative that we have a united and regional approach to problems in front of us," Lark said. "This is the way we address the health and safety of our citizens best.”

McDaniel said the conclusion isn’t sexy.

“We’re not talking about unity of command,” McDaniel said. “We are certainly talking about unity of purpose.”

Atkins shared a video from emergency responders in Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans who espoused private sector partnerships that helped get the damaged system back up and running.

Atkins said large employers like General Motors and Jackson National Life rely on the utility to serve their customers and keep employees working.

“We have to build community resiliency,” Atkins said.

There are plans to invite other utilities and services like Consumers Energy and AT&T in the future.

“We wanted to plant the seed a little bit,” he said of the briefing Tuesday.