In the aftermath of back-to-back hurricanes in September and October 2024, the American Public Power Association’s Mutual Aid Committee gathered for a hot wash — also known as an after action review — to discuss the response and recovery efforts for those events. The Public Power Mutual Aid Network was activated to support the response to hurricanes Francine, Helene, and Milton. The response included coordinating with more than 220 utilities in 32 states and with federal and industry partners.
While the robust public power response demonstrated the network’s resilience and ability to support back-to-back hurricanes in the same region of the country, it also uncovered that many smaller utilities lacked a formal emergency action plan. We issued a survey to understand more about what could help utilities with this planning, and we found that even the larger public power utilities with existing plans could use support — some because their plans were out of date or had gaps in information, and others because their teams lacked awareness in key areas of carrying out the plan.
Creating a formal emergency action plan, or EAP, isn’t a procedural hurdle. It’s an investment in quicker restoration and community resilience following a major event. Gathering information on the contacts, roles, and resources needed for emergency response ensures a structured and coordinated approach across the utility. It also helps familiarize mutual aid crews with what they need to know to help with restoration.
To help utilities create their own plans, we worked with members of the Mutual Aid Committee to develop a new Emergency Action Plan Template. Utilities can go through the easy-to-use template (in Microsoft Word) to fill in details about key contacts, equipment inventories, communication protocols, response triggers, and logistics. It helps utilities see what resources they have available to respond to emergencies and creates a central space to detail specific roles, responsibilities, and procedures.
The template also includes a sample damage assessment form, which was adapted from the form Lafayette Utilities System in Louisiana uses. We heard from members about how challenging it can be to conduct proper damage assessments after major events, so the form offers a helpful starting point for gathering the details necessary for effective incident response.
We look forward to hearing how you use the template and whether there are further areas of guidance that would be helpful for your emergency preparedness and response efforts. As one example, we’re developing new scenarios for the Tabletop Exercise in a Box Toolkit that reflect additional potential risks to the grid.
Creating a solid EAP is a first step to facilitating faster decision-making in emergencies. Once you have a plan, you have to test it to make sure it works. You can also go beyond local exercises and understand how your planning and procedures compare to your peers’ practices, such as through the Mutual Aid community group on APPA Engage.
No matter where you are on your emergency preparedness journey, APPA and the Mutual Aid Committee are here to support you. Just let us know how we can help.
