Will Utah Power weather storm?

A year after holiday snowstorms slammed the Wasatch Front, knocking out power to 190,000 customers, PacifiCorp says it is better prepared for what Mother Nature may throw its way.

Today, the Portland-based utility — which operates in Utah as Utah Power — is expected to get its first real test as another major storm unfolds.

In the past year, the utility has overhauled its technology management system, stepped up a tree-trimming campaign and updated agreements with neighboring utilities for assistance should major outages strike.

The utility's outage management software, which failed at the height of last year's mega-storm, has been fixed and is capable of handling 18,000 simultaneous phone calls, according to Dave Eskelsen, a PacifiCorp spokesman. And if customers would rather talk to a live person, customer service operators will be standing by.

"Precisely because of last year's experience, we're of course much more sensitive to what trouble a winter storm might cause," Eskelsen said Tuesday. "Procedures and contract information for people has been updated and more rigidly formalized."

In anticipation of today's storm, Eskelsen added, a second level of utility employees already have been placed on call and contingency plans are ready to be implemented, which would call up all full-time employees plus contractors if the storm escalates.

Also, customer service personnel and line crews could be asked to work beyond their regular work hours if outages occur.

Eskelsen said the utility is on track to reach a three-year tree-trimming cycle by fiscal year 2006. PacifiCorp spent $7.4 million in Utah on tree trimming in fiscal 2003, when the company followed a 6.4-year trim cycle. In fiscal 2004, ended in March, the utility increased that budget to $10.4 million.

In spite of the new measures, some believe last year's holiday outages should never have happened.

David Irvine, a Salt Lake attorney, is seeking financial penalties against PacifiCorp through the Utah Public Service Commission. Irvine said last year's outages were caused as a direct result of the utility failing to maintain its infrastructure.

"All these things that the company says that it is doing today are laudable, but that doesn't change the fact that they should have been doing them all along," Irvine said. "Whatever position that storm has on the scale of severity, the company still has not adequately explained why other neighboring systems didn't have the same kinds of problems Utah Power experienced."