By Emanuel DaRosa, Vice President Power Systems, Thunder Bay Hydro
April 2007
When I took over as Vice President Power Systems at Thunder Bay Hydro last year, I wanted to develop a risk-based approach to capital expenditure planning for our electrical distribution network. This would help us extend the life of our equipment and provide reliable service to our customers, while reducing risks to people and the environment.
I brought in Phil Green to help us develop risk measurement tools. I wanted to obtain consistent measurements of the risks of equipment failure, as well as risks to people and the environment, across our distribution network. He worked closely with our staff to develop tools that they found practical to use and that had a strong foundation in risk measurement principles. Applying the tools, they were able to measure the risk of our three major types of equipment, across the hundreds of square kilometres of our distribution network.
Field tests on the tools gave us the confidence that the ratings were a reasonable representation of field conditions and risks. The information we gained has helped us to reduce the risk profile of our business by prioritizing capital expenditures according to risk, over a twenty-year time frame.
The electrical distribution network at Thunder Bay contains a mix of older low-voltage overhead wires and transformers in the older parts of town, underground equipment in the suburbs and a variety of substations. One of the more innovative parts of the measurement tools is a colour-coded map that shows risk levels across the distribution network for these equipment types.
The level of cooperation and assistance Phil provided on this project made it a success by all measures. It has been a pleasure to work with him on this project as it was in the past when I worked with Phil on similar projects for private companies in the power sector.
