(Photo Provided with Release Courtesy of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission)
Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News
(Harrisburg, PA) The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) recently released a final post-storm report examining electric utilities” preparation and response following a comprehensive review of a major spring storm that caused widespread power outages across western Pennsylvania. This storm happened on April 29th, 2025 and the PUC’s report on it outlined key recommendations to strengthen future storm planning, coordination and system resilience across Pennsylvania. According to a release in Harrisburg today from the PUC, here are the key findings from this report as well as more information about the preparation for storms in the future:
Key Findings
Among the report’s key conclusions:
- Utilities’ preparatory steps were generally appropriate based on available weather and outage forecasts, but electric distribution companies should continue to work on improving weather forecasting and outage prediction modelling.
- Large-scale events continue to test electric distribution company assumptions about staffing, logistics, and restoration timelines.
- Electric distribution companies continue to face challenges in providing consistent and reliable estimated times of restoration during complex storm events.
- Sufficient access to skilled line workers – both internal and through mutual aid – is critical to restoring service safely and efficiently following major outages.
- Coordination with county emergency management agencies and local officials was generally effective and remains a critical component of storm response.
- Extended outages have a disproportionate impact on medically vulnerable customers and other populations with heightened needs during service disruptions.
Strengthening Planning for Future Storms
A central recommendation of the report is the re-establishment of a statewide Electric Distribution Company Storm Best Practices Group, which would focus on translating lessons learned into measurable improvements across the industry.
The Commission recommended that this group prioritize issues such as:
- Storm response planning and scalability
- Estimated time of restoration processes and communications
- Mutual aid coordination and crew management
- Road closure coordination and safety protocols
- Sharing best practices and lessons learned from major events
Additional recommendations call for utilities to refine restoration forecasting, strengthen call center performance during high-volume events, enhance coordination with emergency management agencies, and continue investing in infrastructure hardening and system resilience.
A Statewide Focus on Resilience
- The PUC emphasized that while this review was prompted by a specific storm, its findings and recommendations are relevant to every electric utility operating in Pennsylvania. Major outage events are not confined to any one region, and future storms could just as easily impact eastern, central, or northern parts of the Commonwealth.
- By strengthening planning, coordination, and restoration practices now, the Commission said, utilities can improve reliability, protect public safety, and reduce the duration and impact of outages when severe weather occurs.
- The full post-storm review is available on the PUC’s website by clicking here.