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16 | HUBBELL POWER SYSTEMS
THERE ARE MANY TYPES OF STORMS (TORNADOS,
HURRICANES, ICE, ETC.). IS ONE CATEGORY MORE
CHALLENGING THAN OTHERS IN TERMS OF STORM
RESPONSE?
Each typeof emergencyhas its’ ownnuances toaddress.
However, hurricanes and ice storms present the most
challenges. Hurricanes affect wider areas, are slower
moving and impact a greater number of customers.
During ice storms, the ice may linger well after the initial
storm causing travel and work to remain hazardous
for a long period of time. The experience of the HPS
distribution center load planners and managers allows
us to navigate the chaos of a storm and communicate
issues and concerns to customer service and the
customer in a timely and concise manner.
Many utilities may experience
an emergency outage once every
four to five years, but during
that same timeframe HPS has
responded to 16-20 emergency
events throughout the US.
With that experience and our drive for continuous
improvement, each and every emergency provides an
opportunity to implement improvements.
WHAT IS THE ONE THING THAT YOU THINK HPS
DOES, LOGISTICALLY, THAT SETS US APART?
We understand that everyone wants the “easy” button
and our job is to figure out what that button is for each
customer. We are continuously looking at process,
documentation and communication methods that can
help make working with HPS easier.
MANY OF OUR EMPLOYEES IN THE DISTRIBUTION
CENTER AND IN CUSTOMER SERVICE VOLUNTEER
DURING STORMRESPONSE. WHATWOULD YOU SAY
IS THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND THAT GENEROSITY?
The employees in the distribution center have all
personally experienced power outages for varying
lengths of time, so they understand the hardships
even with a short term loss of power. That experience
helps drive them to provide a quick response to our
customers. We know our work directly helps people.
We are not delivering a toy to a store shelf or a bolt
in a hardware store, but rather getting the lights back
on, making sure food doesn’t go bad, keeping people
warm, clean and dry. We are helping people in our
communities.
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