MEMPHIS, TN - Whether it's Ice Storm '94, Hurricane Elvis from 2003 or the deadly tornados in February of 2008, Memphians have learned the hard way that Mother Nature can be brutal.
MLGW has also learned some lessons since those storms and now offers a helpful new service.
The MLGW Outage Map is a quick and easy on-line resource that shows you where all the power outages are located in Memphis and Shelby County.
With the click of a mouse, you can checkout any problems in your neighborhood and find out if a crew is working on the outage. You can get to the Outage Map by clicking here: www.mlgw.com/SubView.php?key=misc_outagemap&x=2.
"The Outage Map is a new product," says MLGW Spokesperson Chris Stanley. "We started offering it about six months ago."
Eyewitness News talked with Stanley inside MLGW's Command Center on Monday, January 5, 2009. The center is the heart and soul of MLGW's operations, a place so critical to the functioning of the nation's largest three-service utility, we're not allowed to give its' location.
"This is the hub," says Stanley. "This is the place where everything happens."
The main room resembles the bridge of the Starship Enterprise: a wide-open space loaded with dozens of computers and three large electronic displays, referred to as "blackboards". They track gas, water and electricity usage and signal if there's a problem.
Raymond Lombardo is a system operator on the electrical blackboard. It's his job to get your power back on and to keep his crews out of harm's way while they're restoring your electricity.
"I worked the lines out in the field for 10 years," says Lombardo. "I want to make sure that everything is off-line in case the trouble shooters get into the lines. I don't want it re-energizing on them."
An alarm will sound, literally, if a glitch occurs anywhere in the grid. Lombardo and his fellow system operator, Rick Williams, must figure out what caused the disruption and fix it.
"It could be anything from ice on a tree branch that fell and took out a power line," says Williams, "or a car that hit a utility pole. You'd be surprised how many people hit poles in this city."
On this night, they are bracing for the worst-case scenario with the weather: ice. Memphis, known for its' lush landscape of trees, is particularly vulnerable to ice storms because so many of the power lines are above ground.
"Putting the lines underground," says Chris Stanley, "would cost billions of dollars. At this point, that's too expensive."
420,000 customers rely on MLGW for their electricity, gas and water. When the service goes out, it's restored based on priorities: hospitals and nursing homes first, followed by water pumping stations and waste treatment plants.
The emergency protocol is well-rehearsed at the command center where employees are ready for any disaster or unexpected development.
"I hope we don't have any power outages tonight," says Williams. "If we do, we're ready."
"We've put so much effort into this ahead of time," says Lombardo, "there's no strain. When it comes down to it, we're prepared."
