Smart Emergency Management Begins with Power Intelligence

Our world has increasingly become reliant on an “Internet of Things” (IOT). We have smart homes, smartphones, smart traffic control, smart farming, and much more. Our IOT world runs on a network of diverse devices, systems, sensors, software applications, control systems, databases, and communication platforms. Thanks to these networks, our ability to “know” things continues to increase exponentially. So, how, as emergency managers, can we use this knowledge? What could smart emergency management look like?

A few months ago, I explored what the future of emergency management might look like in a short article titled “Future FEMA: Reimagining Crisis Response.” The ideas I shared ranged from likely to aspirational to fanciful: everything from a mobile battery power system to the establishment of a “central nervous system” that could “proactively analyze the information from multiple sources to better coordinate activities across the whole response organism.”

As a young emergency manager, one of the first things I learned was the importance of power. Not the amorphous type—electrical power. A community without electricity is a community that is struggling. The lack of power, even in the short term, quickly creates a cascade of impacts. There are the obvious issues: degraded hospital systems and the impact that has on patients, and there are more benign issues: the inability to fill your vehicle with gas because the credit card reader is unable to connect to the banking system. Most emergency managers believe that once the power is restored (no matter how you lose it), 80% of these interconnected and interdependent problems that require or rely on electrical power, can be solved.

Because we rely on—or more accurately, demand—an uninterrupted flow of power to drive our economy and our personal lives, how do we become more predictive and less reactive when it comes to our power network? How do we enhance our situational awareness and understanding? How do we create a better decision support tool that can give us micro-insights into our energy grid? How do we create smart emergency management?

For many of us, the term “situational awareness” means a stack of somewhat ordered and connected data points that might shed light on a developing incident or disaster. The goal of these somewhat ordered and connected data points is for them to allow us to make timely and precise decisions. Decision-making in a disaster or crisis is about action, and that action needs to be based on reliable information. In a crisis, we want action that produces results in the face of uncertainty. Information that cannot be acted upon is unnecessary clutter and a drain on your time and focus—two things that are crucial when managing a fast-moving disaster.

So, the question is: what will give you an operational advantage in sensing and managing a power outage? What can give you the information you need about the thousands of interconnected and interdependent systems that rely on an uninterrupted flow of power?

In my last article, I imagined what a system like this could look like. Since then, I’ve learned that a sensing, data-driven emergency management decision support tool already exists. Even better, I was given the opportunity to review and explore this tool: the Gridmetrics? Power Event Notification System, also known as PENS.

PENS is a prime example of leveraging the assets of one industry to the benefit of another. This system is a real-time power intelligence application that uses an existing network of “sensors” spread across the nation. PENS aggregates power intelligence from the equipment used to supply power for the last mile of the cable broadband networks.

It turns out that cable broadband operators typically know when and where power is out before the utility companies! Why? Because broadband networks are designed to be resilient in commercial power outages. The broadband operators use commercial grade, networked enabled, uninterruptable power supplies (UPS) to ensure resiliency for their communications equipment (community Wi-Fi hotspots, 5G small cells, or cable fiber nodes). And interestingly, about 90% of U.S. households are within 1 km of an existing broadband-monitored UPS.

Through the lens of emergency response, these devices are power sensors, and they are already located throughout neighborhoods in the US.

Today, Gridmetrics aggregates the status of 315,000 of these power sensors every five minutes, and currently, approximately 50% of the U.S. population lives or works within 1 km of a Gridmetrics power sensor. Gridmetrics provides a holistic view of the power grid that is standardized, utility independent, hyper-local, and real-time through its database, which can be seen on the Gridmetrics website.

Digging deeper, the actionable intelligence Gridmetrics offers can enhance real-time situational awareness for our public safety community. The unique data set combined with the PENS product suite can change the way we respond to disasters. For instance, consider power-vulnerable communities such as assisted living facilities (ALF). The ALFs are easily identified in the HIFLD data layer. Overlaying PENS outage maps with ALF locations creates an immediate understanding of potentially impacted, vulnerable people. During weather events, such as hurricanes, extreme cold, or heat domes, this real-time power intelligence alters the paradigm of response. Emergency managers would not be waiting to react but would instead have information that allows them to proactively respond. For example, in an identified power outage event that impacts neighborhoods with ALFs present, emergency managers could initiate an outbound call to the facility to ensure their safety and support. They can ask crucial questions before a situation devolves: Do they have a backup generator? What’s the status of their fuel supply? Is the HVAC working? Should a bus be sent to transport vulnerable citizens to a shelter?

The application of the Gridmetrics PENS suite is a manifestation of the vision for a real-time situational awareness capability articulated in my Future FEMA article. As I have learned about the potential of the Gridmetrics platform, I have come to realize that this is only the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

The density (and tight correlation to population distribution) of the existing power sensor host locations means they could easily lend themselves to additional sensors. For example, the Department of Homeland Security has a mission to provide an all-hazards, real-time situational awareness capability. Enhancing the Gridmetrics sensing platform to include additional sensors such as air quality, smoke detection, vibration, temperature, and light, provides a scalable, cost-efficient approach to rapidly make this a reality. Imagine the ability to provide real-time awareness of a train derailment or major roadway accident (like the recent I-95 scenario) by tri-angulating the vibration sensors, then characterizing the plume from the explosion and tracking its progress—all in real-time. This is a very real capability possible through the Gridmetrics platform.

For the past 4.5 billion years, the earth has continued to spin on its axis every 24 hours: predictable and unchanging. What has changed is the world we inhabit. The speed of information, digitization, technology, and innovation, as well as our human adaptations to these changes, continues to accelerate.?

Each day, things seem faster and less predictable than the day before. Our tolerance as a society for anything less than immediate results decreases daily. The public demands flawless precision and clairvoyance from emergency managers and public safety officials —especially during a crisis.

I am not sure we will ever reach supernatural predictive powers, but we can and should strive to get closer to that goal. The good news is that we can start on the journey today. Thankfully, visionaries have already started clearing the path.?FEMA has seven community lifelines (1. Safety and Security; 2. Health and Medical; 3. Communications; 4. Hazardous Materials; 5. Food, Water, Shelter; 6. Energy (Power & Fuel); and 7. Transportation.). Imagine having the ability to “sense” subtle indicators that these lifelines are in danger of disruption when there are breaking threats and hazards.?

Have you ever woken up only to realize that you’ve fallen asleep on your arm? If you have, you probably woke up to find it a bit numb or tingly. You stretch and shake your arm, but it takes a few minutes for it to return to normal. You woke up when your brain sensed that something was wrong: reduced blood flow to your arm. Because your brain sent that signal, you will experience only a few minutes of discomfort. But without that early signal, it’s possible that you could permanently paralyze your arm. The Gridmetrics solution works similarly. The sensors are like the millions of nerve endings in our bodies. Gridmetrics PENS provides a place to receive and review the signals of those nerve endings so that appropriate, early action can be taken.

Let’s take a collective step toward “smart” emergency management. The information available through Gridmetrics can—and should—change the way we respond to emergencies.

If you would like to learn more about Gridmetrics and PENS, you can contact Scott Caruso at [email protected] or visit the Gridmetrics website.

Note: I have no financial interest in Gridmetrics, nor am I being compensated for this article. It is just good stuff every emergency manager needs to know!

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