In January 2024, a massive ice storm toppled trees and power poles throughout SUB’s service area, spawning a natural disaster in parts of Springfield.
It disrupted communications and connectivity, isolated neighbors from each other and from assistance, and put a financial strain on homeowners and businesses.
Schools closed, the City declared an emergency, and SUB saw power outages that affected residents and critical services like hospitals and water systems.
“Mother Nature pulled out all the stops,” said Jeff Nelson, SUB general manager. “Our mutual aid crews equated the damage to hurricanes they’d worked in the south.”
SUB has weathered ice storms before, but the unheard-of accumulations of ice in this storm created unprecedented challenges. In fact, the size of the storm left SUB crews not only restoring power, but rebuilding large parts of the electric backbone that distributes power across the city.
“We saw what went well, and we saw many places where the storm outstripped our systems,” Jeff said. “But one of SUB’s core values is dedication to continuous improvement.”
In that spirit, SUB asked customers to share their storm experiences through an online platform and at a public forum. This, along with employee feedback, resulted in the swift introduction of several measures.
Customers can now:
✓ Report outages online: During major events where SUB declares an emergency, customers can report outages via our website.
✓ Receive emergency alerts via text: SUB has redoubled efforts to populate databases with contact information so emergency information can reach customers directly.
✓ Get service interruption alerts via phone: Customers will be notified by voice message of planned power service interruptions and neighborhood tree-trimming activity. Customers can opt-out, but otherwise will receive this information via a phone call.
✓ Verify boil water status at individual addresses: In the event of a boil water notice, customers can now use our website to enter an address, which will verify whether it is part of a notice.
As part of industry best practices, SUB also went through an After Action process to document what went well and to learn what could be improved. That report and other storm information can be found here.