by Meghan McPherson, MPP, CEM
In the days leading up to Superstorm Sandy making a direct hit on the New York region, emergency management officials made warning after warning that this was a storm not to take be taken lightly. This storm was destined to be an outlier from recent memory in terms of the amount of heavy damage it would cause. Yet, Long Island Power Authority COO Michael Hervey continues to assert that LIPA had no way of knowing that the effects of the storm would be this catastrophic, with over one hundred thousand still without power 14 days after the storm. One could contend the exact opposite. LIPA certainly did know the likelihood of this type of paralysis, even without the dire warnings from emergency management and public officials.
There have been a lot of comparisons between Hurricane Katrina and Superstorm Sandy in the past two weeks. I personally saw the aftermath of both storms, and I can speak to their similarly devastating impacts on the many sectors critical infrastructure. But from an energy perspective, there is no comparison. The population density and critical infrastructure needed to support that population is second to none in the New York area, and especially on Long Island. The interdependencies of energy sector critical infrastructure and the cascading consequences when the energy sector collapses could be seen coming as a menacing wave long before our homes were flooded.
The concept of energy assurance focuses on this specific issue. The US Department of Energy, Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability defines energy assurance as “Improving the ability of energy sector stakeholders to prevent, prepare for, and respond to threats, hazards, natural disasters, and other supply disruptions.” With 85% of the national critical infrastructure privately owned, it is crucial for our energy sector stakeholders to develop redundant systems and protocols that will reduce the impact of a major storm and will speed the recovery of the entire region. Long Island’s residents have suffered long enough from the inexcusable power outages and the resulting impact on health care, gasoline availability, heat for our homes, school closures, and business losses. Let this be a wake up call to our region and to energy officials all over the country. The energy infrastructure is old and is being relied upon much beyond its original determined lifetime. If we continue to ignore this issue in light of increasing severity and frequency of major weather events, we will continue to see our entire way of life screech to a grinding halt while power officials tell the public, “It was beyond the magnitude of what anyone expected.”
Meghan McPherson is the Coordinator of Adelphi University’s Center for Health Innovation and the Program Manager of Adelphi University’s Graduate Emergency Management Programs. Before joining Adelphi University in the fall of 2011, Ms. McPherson spent four years as both a grants manager and the Energy Assurance (energy emergency management) Program Manager in the Governor’s Office of Energy and Planning at the State of New Hampshire. Click to read more about Ms. McPherson’s experience.
