The Lansing Board of Water and Light’s next three steps following the ice storm
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Andy Balaskovitz
Tuesday, Dec. 31 — The Lansing Board of Water and Light’s outage management system, which handles reports from customers about where electrical outages have taken place, has not been fully operational for the “last several months,” BWL General Manager J. Peter Lark told the Lansing City Council tonight.
That at least partially explains the frustration felt by area residents who, in the past nine days, struggled to communicate with the publicly owned utility in the aftermath of an ice storm that left 40 percent of its customers without power.
Lark gave testimony tonight at a special Council meeting explaining the BWL’s response to the Dec. 21 ice storm. It came after 57 people — from angered residents still without power to elected officials in nearby communities — delivered Lark a steady stream of criticism over the utility’s handling of power restoration and communications. Some called for his resignation.
Lark stood by the utility’s restoration efforts, saying it did all it could with the staff it had under overwhelming circumstances, but promised a full review of those efforts once power is restored. He acknowledged deficiencies in the utility’s communication efforts and said steps are being taken to upgrade them. He apologized to all of those who experienced hardship.
Earlier Monday, BWL announced that power would be fully restored by Jan. 1. After that happens, Lark laid out the next three steps BWL plans to take:
“We will promptly hold community forums in both East Lansing and Lansing to listen to customer concerns,” he said. The first is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 8 at the Grand Trunk rail depot at its REO Town headquarters.
“We are absolutely committed to updating our computer systems as soon as possible to allow better communications between BWL and its customers,” he added. Lark said portions of a new smart-grid system will be rolled out in the next fiscal year that starts July 1.
Finally, “We will critically assess our response to the storm, our operations and where improvements are necessary.”
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