Vectren : customers in Posey County experience fewer electric outages due to customer-focused improvements

October 23, 2014

Media contact: Natalie Hedde (812-491-5105) or nhedde@vectren.com

One Vectren Square

Evansville, IN 47708

Evansville, Ind. - Vectren Energy Delivery of Indiana - South (Vectren) electric customers in Posey County are experiencing less electric outages and outages that occur are significantly shorter in length than in previous years thanks to the utility's continued efforts in electric system upgrades, improved response time and outage prevention measures. Vectren tracks two key metrics, which measure outage frequency, or how often an outage occurs, as well as duration of outage, which is the length of time a customer is without power. In Posey County, on average, Vectren customers experienced a decrease in electric outages of 30 percent since 2011 (excludes significant storm events as classified by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)). The average length of customer outages improved by more than 55 percent and now sits at about 75 minutes as compared to almost 170 minutes in 2011. This improvement in performance according to Power System Engineering (PSE), which evaluates and ranks electric utility's service and reliability targets, places Vectren in the top 25 percent nationwide as compared to other utilities of like size.
"It's exciting to see our customer-focused improvements are paying off and are resulting in fewer outages over the course of a year - and when outages do occur, they are shorter in length," said Vectren's vice president of energy delivery, Jon Luttrell. "While electric outages are not completely avoidable, the effort toward continued progress is apparent."
Customer-focused electric improvements include:

 Tree trimming/line clearance: Ensuring electric wires are easily accessible and not tangled within vegetation minimizes outages caused by nearby tree limbs and allows for quicker repairs. This single program is recognized by the utility industry and its regulatory agencies across the country as having the most impact on reliability. In Posey County, 595 miles of trees have been cleared in the last 5 years, which has led to less damage to power lines in storm conditions.

 Reliability/maintenance programs: Efforts to focus improvement on poor performing circuits, an electric pole inspection program, fuse replacements and infrared light scanning of circuits to identify loose connections result in both fewer customer outages and shorter outage duration. In the last five years, $18.6 million has been devoted to such electric system enhancements in Posey County alone.

 System segmentation (outage isolation): The addition of remote and automatic controls on equipment allows for segmenting outage locations on transmission and distribution systems. Essentially, this allows the utility to isolate an outage whereby it impacts the smallest number of customers possible rather than the entire circuit. As such, only customers closest to the affected area must endure an interruption while repairs are made. Approximately 36 substation projects have been completed in Posey County which helps pinpoint system issues and reroute power in the event of an outage.

 Varmint protection devices: Squirrels, birds and even snakes can cause up to 20 percent of non-storm outages over the course of a year by coming into contact with energized electric equipment simultaneously, such as one of the transformers at the top of a utility pole, and a grounded piece of equipment. Vectren installs varmint guards, more than 10,000 over the past five years, 3,000 in Posey County alone, near transformers on poles and within substations to prevent the animals from triggering outages.

Forward looking improvements include substation enhancements, which will include automated controls and system protection, as well as implementation of smart grid technology, which allows two-way digital communication between the utility and electric system, to better pinpoint outages and re-route power around trouble areas leading to faster restoration.
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Should customers experience an electric outage, they are encouraged to report their outage online at Vectren.com, or by downloading the Vectren app.
Vectren serves 142,000 electric customers in Dubois, Gibson, Pike, Posey, Spencer, Vanderburgh and Warrick counties.

Vectren Corporation (NYSE: VVC) is an energy holding company headquartered in Evansville, Ind. Vectren's energy delivery subsidiaries provide gas and/or electricity to more than 1 million customers in adjoining service territories that cover nearly two-thirds of Indiana and west central Ohio. Vectren's nonutility subsidiaries and affiliates currently offer energy-related products and services to customers throughout the U.S. These include infrastructure and energy services. To learn more about Vectren, visit www.vectren.com.
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