Duquesne Light Company (DLC) announced the launch of its new Outage Management System (OMS), including a more interactive and detailed outage map on the company’s website and mobile app.
DLC said the new system will enhance its outage restoration process, as it provides greater transparency and more real-time insight into outages across the company’s service territory along with improved outage-related communications.
“This foundational technology is a huge leap forward in our grid modernization journey and our overall vision of a clean energy future for all,” said Kevin Walker, DLC’s president and CEO. “Having greater visibility into the edge of the grid enables us to better serve our customers and amplifies the efficiency and effectiveness of our field crews who work around the clock to safely keep power online.”
Features of the new system include more real-time and personalized notifications for customers; a new, interactive outage map with information ranging from the start time of an outage to the status of responding crews; and an upgraded automated phone system that provides customers with “enhanced” outage information, including more accurate time ranges for power restoration, crew status and outage cause.
“Following last week’s unprecedented heat wave and unexpected severe weather, we were reminded just how essential it is to have the right technology in place to share accurate and consistent updates with our customers when the power goes out, especially for a prolonged period,” said Kristy Stone, vice president and chief customer officer at DLC. “Now our customers can truly depend on us to deliver that experience. They deserve it.”
The new OMS will send up to four proactive alerts to customers through text message and email, including:
- When an outage is reported.
- When an outage is confirmed.
- When the estimated time of restoration (ETR) is determined.
- When power has been restored.
Customers can also elect to receive updates via voice message. The system can also send alerts when a known outage has been identified in the system, even if they do not report it themselves.
DLC said the most noteworthy feature of the OMS is a more interactive customer-facing outage map, which includes the outage start date and time; crew status; number of active outages; weather updates; and warming and cooling centers when activated. It also features localized ETRs for specific addresses as well as the cause of each outage.
The system is built on geographic information system technology that uses numerous data points to create a connected map. This feature allows DLC to visually display many outages and updates at once. It also allows the company to identify the extent of an outage and efficiently dispatch crews while improving situational awareness for DLC’s Operations Center.
