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October 2009 Featured Story
Co-ops plan ahead for H1N1 flu pandemic
Here’s a sign we hope we don’t see posted on co-op front doors. But as we move into flu season and the return of the potentially crippling H1N1 flu virus, Indiana’s electric co-ops are prepared with plans that include closing lobbies and limiting face-to-face interaction so that co-ops can maintain reliable electric service.
Photo illustration by Richard G. Biever
How virulent the H1N1 flu virus will be during its second coming this flu season is uncertain. But Indiana’s electric cooperatives are prepared to keep the lights on should the pandemic spiral into a viral hurricane
 When severe weather flares up on regional radar and creeps toward Indiana, electric co-operatives in line with the advancing storm take note. Lineworkers double check their gear and prepare their trucks. Emergency plans are reviewed. Crews stand ready until storm damage spurs them into action or the threat has passed.
Now, a different kind of dark cloud hovers. It’s the highly contagious H1N1 flu virus.
The second wave of the pandemic hit the United States with the return of school and is expected to remain throughout the traditional fall and winter flu season. This flu could blow over … or become a viral Hurricane Katrina.
“It’s like a storm coming at you. You don’t know what you’re going to get till it hits,” said Norman Earls, superintendent of maintenance and line construction at Southeastern Indiana REMC.
Because of the uncertainty and the warnings from state and federal health officials, Earls assisted Bob Mackey, manager at the Osgood-based co-op, in putting a plan in place to ensure that the co-op continues operating smoothly despite the pandemic’s potential maelstrom.
If the flu brings widespread illness, electric cooperatives, like any business and industry, will face large numbers of absent workers. That’s when the plans they’ve prepared will kick in.
What co-op consumer/members might notice most is the lobby of the co-op’s office closed until the staff is back in more normal numbers. Most consumer transactions can take place electronically and over the phone, by mail or through a drive-up window which would remain open. Skeleton line crews would concentrate mostly on outages and maintenance, limiting or slowing new construction and new connections.
At Southeastern, Mackey began receiving Internet updates from the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention soon after this new flu strain was identified in April. The updates, he said, instilled in him how serious this new flu could be.
While the H1N1 flu could bring a period of time this fall and winter when it won’t be “business as usual” for electric co-ops — and entire communities for that matter — planning ahead for any impending challenge is part of the job in keeping electricity reliable. “My title is ‘superintendent of maintenance’ .… Maintenance is being proactive,” said Earls.
New flu turns pandemic
The new virus first appeared in Mexico last spring and soon spread to the United States and 70 other countries worldwide.
Originally and still commonly called “swine flu,” though it definitely was not caused nor can it spread by eating pork, 2009 H1N1 is named for its influenza family. It spreads from human contact like any seasonal flu.
H1N1 is a “novel” flu, meaning this particular virus has never been seen before and no one has immunity. That makes it highly contagious.
Though unpredictable, the flu virus could infect as many as a third to half of all Americans, health officials say. And if that becomes the case, most everyone will be affected in some way by it.
The virus has already been blamed for over 8,000 hospitalizations and 500 deaths in the United States, including four in Indiana. While the virus seemingly has been no worse than the seasonal flu, the situation can change quickly. The virus could become much more virulent.
But even the seasonal flu is still responsible for 36,000 deaths in the United States each year and responsible for 200,000 hospitalizations. One important difference: the H1N1 strain sickens children and young adults into their mid-20s more frequently than the people over 65 who are the main victims of seasonal flu.
“If 36,000 children in this country die from this flu,” U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told the House Energy and Commerce Committee during an H1N1 update last month, “I would suggest it will have a huge impact on communities around the country.”
Impact on co-ops and communities
Southeastern Indiana REMC, serving portions of seven counties near the Ohio state line and Ohio River, was one of the first co-ops in the state to have a pandemic plan in place. It was completed by late spring.
Then came the tragic news in July of the H1N1 deaths of two Dearborn County siblings. A 19-year-old brother and his 26-year-old sister died within three weeks of each other after being infected by H1N1 in late June. The two were consumers of Southeastern Indiana REMC.
“The two deaths we had on our system solidified in everyone’s mind the need to have a pandemic policy,” said Mackey.
“It can spread very rapidly, and it can really affect your workforce,” said Earls. “We have to schedule everyday for vacations and sickness. You know what it is on an everyday basis. You’d have to be prepared in advance [for the pandemic] or you wouldn’t have a chance.”
“We know what we’re going to do so we don’t have to try to think that through at the spur of the moment,” said Mackey. “We may not be here, either.”
The first level of response in most plans includes increasing employee awareness and practicing preventative personal hygiene. “It’s just the basic things our moms taught us: cover our mouths … wash our hands …,” noted Mary Keever, office manager at White County REMC who helped develop her co-op’s plan.
In case the workforce is hit hard, say 40 percent absenteeism, the second tier of response goes into effect. In addition to lobby closures, consumers around the state might also see:
• employees who do meet with consumers, like energy advisors and lineworkers, avoiding close contact by staying 6-feet away;
• employees using rubber gloves when opening/handling mail, opening the depository box or working the drive up window;
• office workers working from home;
• contractors meeting off-site and working with co-op crews through radio and cell phones;
• face-to-face meetings and non-crucial business travel suspended;
• employees avoiding restaurants;
• employees within departments cross-trained in job functions related to critical business processes.
“Businesses really need to begin planning now if 50 percent of their workforce is unable to come to work,” Rachel Meyer, public information officer with the Indiana Department of Homeland Security, said early last month.
The department has been working closely with the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, the labor department and other state agencies, which in turn work closely with local communities to prepare for the pandemic and encourage all businesses to prepare.
In mid-September, Indiana Homeland Security led a series of summits around the state with local health officials, law enforcement, fire departments and business leaders to discuss how an outbreak might affect their community.
She added that since the H1N1 flu has been affecting younger people, ages 5 to 24 most frequently, a lot of the absences might be an employee staying home to care for a child or other family member.
She also encouraged families and individuals to figure out in advance how to manage an outbreak. “This isn’t like a tornado where you see the damage, and see it being fixed,” she said. “You see this affecting individual people. We’re encouraging people to have a plan in place.”
Risks to power generation
Overall, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, a non-profit organization charged with monitoring the reliability of America’s power system, noted in August the risk to power reliability is low because of the little impact H1N1 had on communities at the time. But like anything with the flu, NERC noted that evaluation is subject to change.
Hoosier Energy REC, power supplier to 17 electric cooperatives in the southern half of Indiana, takes threats such as the flu pandemic seriously because generating electricity and keeping it flowing are so crucial.
Unlike the 39 distribution cooperatives spread all around the state, the bulk of Hoosier Energy’s workforce is stationed in three locations: its main office in Bloomington and its two baseload power plants in Merom and Petersburg. But its substations, transmission lines and other facilities are all critical in providing power to 700,000 homes, farms, businesses and industries.
This summer, Hoosier Energy updated its 40-page pandemic preparedness plan that was first developed several years ago when an avian influenza pandemic first became a possibility.
“In addition to focusing on protecting the health of our employees during such a pandemic,” said Brad Hyland, training and safety manager, “the plan also puts in place contingency plans that can be used to allow Hoosier Energy to maintain power production, power delivery and business operations with greatly reduced staff members during severe phases of a pandemic.”
In the event of an outbreak, some strategies of the plan include limiting access to facilities to only essential employees and screening of individuals entering facilities for symptoms. The plan also has provisions in case key employees must remain at generating stations or other critical facilities to assure continued operations.
Hoosier Energy’s two coal-fired generating stations are also dependent on a supply of coal. The power plants use more than 10,000 tons of Indiana coal a day. Hoosier Energy’s fuels department constantly monitors inventory levels and maintains a 30- to 60-day supply.
Coal delivery from the area mines is by truck and rail which provides additional flexibility that would allow for adjustments quickly in case of a severe flu pandemic.
State and federal health organizations emphasize that flexibility is key. What may have been true about the flu when this issue of Electric Consumer went to press the third week of September may not be current by the time it reaches mailboxes. The flu situation could change that fast.
“Predicting the flu season is like predicting the hurricane season. It’s very difficult, and you will find conflicting information from the ‘experts’ on what exactly this upcoming flu season will bring,” said Marty Jones, regulatory compliance consultant with Indiana Statewide Association of RECs. He worked closely with the state’s co-ops in preparing their pandemic response plans. But he emphasized everyone, co-ops and consumers, needs to be ready.
“We just hope we don’t get hit with it real badly,” said Mackey at Southeastern, voicing everyone’s thoughts, “but we’ve tried to plan ahead in case we do.” — by Richard G. Biever, senior editor
Here's a link to a sidebar about the flu and you.
Written By: eceditor
Date Posted: 9/30/2009
Number of Views: 263
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