A year ago this week, an EF-3 tornado touched down in Nash County. It injured 16 people, ripped the roof off of a Pfizer plant, and damaged more than a hundred other properties.
Like other storms of its magnitude, it also destroyed major transmission lines. Dominion Energy says it recently finished building new and beefed-up infrastructure in Nash County.
WUNC's Will Michaels spoke with Dominion Energy spokeswoman Cherise Newsome about the utility’s new equipment.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and brevity.
Describe the system in place last year and what’s replacing it.
"The transmission structures in that Nash County area were lattice structures that were spaced apart and had powerlines. And when the EF-3 tornado hit, most of the structures were in place and remained in place, but one of them did experience some catastrophic damage. And so, the new structures have these (steel) poles. We're using taller poles, larger poles, wider poles, and they are rooted much more deeply in the ground so they can better withstand the impacts of severe weather."
Galvanized steel can still bend and break. EF-3 tornadoes like the one that hit Nash County can have wind speeds of up to 165 miles per hour. While those storms are rare in North Carolina, there isn’t a utility pole that exists that can withstand a direct hit like that, is there?
"Severe weather like tornadoes always pose challenges to the grid and to equipment because of their wind speeds, and because of all the damage that they can inflict. But what makes the Dominion Energy grid so reliable is the way that the grid is engineered, and our crews do a really good job of positioning equipment as well as spacing it out so that it can withstand the blows from Mother Nature.
"Yes, Mother Nature is strong. And yes, she can do damage to our equipment and homes and communities. But our commitment is to make sure we're using materials and that we are designing a grid that can withstand as much of that severe weather as possible so we can keep the power flowing."
Editor's note: For clarity, Dominion says its transmission equipment is typically designed for sustained winds between 90 and 120 miles per hour.
With the opportunity presenting itself here to rebuild infrastructure, why not bury these lines?
"In some of our areas, we do bury power lines. So, Dominion has a program where we look at the areas that are most outage prone, and then we use that data — it's over 10 years' worth of data — to identify what areas should be put under the ground, because it would reduce the outages and it would also reduce the amount of time it takes to restore power after a storm.
"I also want to point out that transmission lines are different than what we would call distribution lines that you can find in communities and neighborhoods. And so, for transmission lines, they carry high voltage across long distances, which is a little different from those distribution lines, which carry a little bit less voltage so that it can power homes and communities. And so those are often the lines that are buried underground."
One common complaint from utility customers in general is communication during power outages. How are you getting the word out about outages when they happen and estimates on when power will be restored?
"So, there are a couple of ways we do this. First of all, we have an app, and we encourage people to download it. As a matter of fact, before storms come, we typically send out communications to our customers such as email and we also use social media to encourage customers to go ahead and download those apps so that they can both report outages and check the status of an outage, and when their power is going to be restored.
"And then for other customers, we also make phone calls as well as connect with local officials. So, for example, with the EF-3 tornado last year, we had crews and boots on the ground coordinating with local officials in the counties to explain to them what the restoration plan was going to be."
