Public power executives discussed their experience with extreme events and how their storm and emergency operations plans support resilience for utilities and the communities they serve.
A panel focused on lessons in resilience and emergency response at APPA’s 2026 National Conference in June in Boston included Mike Hyland, Executive Director of the Northeast Public Power Association, Barry Tupper, General Manager for Holden Municipal Light Department in Massachusetts and David Hanson, Interim General Manager at the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power.
Tupper noted that NEPPA’s mutual aid program is tied to APPA’s mutual aid program. Tupper, Hyland and Nick Lawler, General Manager of Massachusetts public power utility Littleton Electric Light & Water Department all serve on APPA’s Mutual Aid Committee.
Tupper said that NEPPA crews have assisted with power restorations in the Southeast since the 1980s. NEPPA crews have also assisted with restoration in the Virgin Islands multiple times since the 1980s.
After APPA created its mutual aid playbook, NEPPA created its own mutual aid playbook, with the intent to pair up the two playbooks.
“If we’re all on the same page and we’re all pulling in the same direction, we can get a lot more done to help a lot more people that are in need,” Tupper said.
Hyland noted that NEPPA utilizes Virtual Emergency Operations Center Inc. (VEOCI) software as a tool for coordinating mutual aid assistance.
One of the benefits of the software is it allows coordinators to see details on New England utilities in terms of exactly when help was requested with a timestamp, as well as who requested the help, and a phone number for the person who is seeking the help, Hyland said.
The foundation for successfully responding to events that require mutual aid assistance is laid by “practice, practice, practice,” Hyland said.
In 2022, NEPPA instituted two procedures – a yearly disaster exercise and “hot washes” after all storms that activate the VEOCI system.
This year’s exercise took place in June at the NEPPA Training Center. Hyland facilitated the exercise and Dave Ketchen, Assistant General Manager for Massachusetts public power utility Littleton Electric Light & Water Department, made a presentation and offered insights. The exercise this year was an “Island Exercise” called Ketchen’s Kruise.
With respect to the hotwashes, an effort is made to complete them with a week and participants include the NEPPA Mutual Aid Committee, impacted NEPPA utilities and NEPPA staff “and we come up with mandatory, best and suggested practices that we share,” Hyland noted.
LADWP
LADWP’s Hanson provided an overview of the utility’s response to wind storms and the Palisades wildfire, which occurred in early 2025.
At the time of the event, Janisse Quinones was CEO and Chief Engineer of LADWP, while Hanson was the Chief Operating Officer and Senior Assistant General Manager for LADWP’s Power System.
Hanson took a leading role in terms of the utility’s response, which involved “20 solid days of continuous emergency management for us,” he said, noting that he was the incident commander during this timeframe.
LADWP proactively de-energized in the early stages of the event, he noted.
The response also marked the first time LADWP received mutual aid. With wildfires underway, the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority reached out to LADWP and said it was sending crews to assist with power restoration efforts.
Investor-owned PG&E also sent personnel to aid in the fire aftermath. With both mutual aid partners helping with asset infrastructure protection “…we saved many assets from burning down,” Hanson said.
He emphasized the importance of maintaining a “forward operating base” in the middle of an emergency.
LADWP opened a Unified Utilities Rebuild Operations Center at the Pacific Palisades Recreation Center on March 1, giving customers impacted by the Palisades direct access to LADWP services to help them rebuild, turn on and off water and power services, and receive answers to billing questions.
In terms of lessons learned, Hanson said tabletop exercises are not enough when it comes to emergency command.
“Practice. Practice. Practice,” he advised. “Run a drill. Call a drill. Send the bulletin out, tell everybody you’re going to do it and make everybody drop what they’re doing, drive to the emergency command center, stand the whole unit up, make a report and then secure and step back down,” he said.
