Apr

24-25

Emergency Response + Assistance Practices (Apr 24-25)

Emergency preparedness and business continuity planning is crucial to a timely response to business disruptions - whether they are caused by weather impacts, cyber attacks, or equipment malfunction. This forum provides an open discussion on pressing topics surrounding utility emergency planning and operations. Through this and the Western Region Mutual Assistance Agreement, leaders develop relationships that will prove beneficial to members in an emergency. The Emergency Response + Assistance Practices program is open to utilities and service providers.

General Details

  • Program Chair(s)
  • John Padilla, Emergency Management Program Manager, Salt River Project

    • Program Location
    • Pointe Hilton Tapatio Cliffs Resort
    • 11111 North Seventh Street, Phoenix, AZ 85020
    • Who Should Attend
      • Operations managers
      • Emergency management coordinators
      • Disaster recovery planners
      • Directors of business continuity planning
      • Emergency preparedness supervisors
      • Managers of emergency services
      • Emergency planning and response specialists
      • Safety specialists
      • Parties to the Western Region Mutual Assistance Agreement
      • Service company members
  • Registration Options
  • Member: $599 USD
    Non-Member: $999 USD

    Member registration prices increase $100 after April 3, 2023. Registration includes full conference access and digital program materials through the app.

    Attendees of the Emergency Response + Assistance Practices program are eligible to receive a $200 discount to the WEI Operations Conference occurring in Phoenix, Arizona on April 25-28, 2023. A discount code will be included in the Emergency Response + Assistance Practices registration confirmation email, which can be used when registering for the Operations Conference.

  • General Cancellation Policy
  • Due to contractual obligations, cancellations received 15 business days prior to the program will receive a full refund. Cancellations received 6 to 14 business days prior to the event will receive a refund, less a $100 administrative fee. No shows and last minute cancellations, 5 business days prior to the event or less, will be responsible for the full registration fee. Substitutions from your organization for the same event are always welcome.
  • Participation Policy
  • Western Energy Institute programs and events are open to energy companies (including gas production and electric generation, gas and electric transmission and gas and electric distribution utilities). Select programs and events are open to energy industry product and service suppliers. Programs and events are closed to all media representatives and to the general public. Recording is not permitted for any portion of the event.
  • For more information contact Marco Henkel, Program Manager at (971) 393-3250.

Agenda

Monday, April 24, 2023

8:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Registration

9:00 AM - 11:30 AM

Optional: Site Visit to SRP's Heritage Center

Salt River Project and Arizona Public Service will present an overview of their Incident Management processes. The presentation will take place at the Salt River Project Heritage Center and Emergency Operations Center.

Limited availability – all spot have been taken.
Waitlist available.

Transportation will be provided.

11:45 AM - 1:00 PM

Networking Lunch

1:00 PM - 1:15 PM

Opening + Welcome Remarks
Speaker(s): John Padilla, Emergency Management Program Manager, Salt River Project

1:15 PM - 2:45 PM

Recent Events and Emergency Responses
Facilitator(s): John Padilla, Emergency Management Program Manager, Salt River Project
Speaker(s): Shane Hester, Manager, Office of Continuity and Emergency Management, Bonneville Power Administration, Scott Brown, Senior Fire Management Officer, Southern California Edison, Tracey Vardas, Director, Emergency Preparedness & Response, Strategy and Execution, Pacific Gas and Electric Company

Overview and discussion of recent natural and manmade emergencies, responses and lessons learned.

2:45 PM - 3:15 PM

Networking Break

3:15 PM - 3:45 PM

Lessons Learned after Hurricane Ian
Facilitator(s): John Padilla, Emergency Management Program Manager, Salt River Project
Speaker(s): Brandon Allphin, Contracts Manager, Bolton Holdings

Bolton Holdings will discuss the lessons learned between vendors and utility companies and how to implement across all aspects of the environment to include Fire, Flood, Hurricanes.

3:45 PM - 5:00 PM

WRMAG/WRMAA Update
Speaker(s): Lydia Mertyris, Manager, Safety and Emergency Planning and Preparedness, Hawaiian Electric Company, Nancy Sacré, Project Manager, T&D Wildfire Program Management, Southern California Edison, Joe Weathersby, Operations Supervisor, Arizona Public Service Company, Joe Weathersby, Northeast Division Manager, Transmission & Distribution, Arizona Public Service Company

Closed session for WRMAA signatory companies.

5:00 PM - 6:30 PM

Welcome Reception

Sponsored by: Bolton Holdings

Tuesday, April 25, 2023

7:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Registration

7:00 AM - 8:00 AM

Breakfast

8:00 AM - 9:15 AM

Organizational Challenges of Emergency and Mutual Responses
Facilitator(s): Elizabeth Paulsen, Sr. Emergency Management Administrator, NV Energy

Planning and logistical challenges when preparing for, or responding to, emergencies will be discussed.

9:15 AM - 9:45 AM

Contractor Spotlight: Fire DAWG
Facilitator(s): Elizabeth Paulsen, Sr. Emergency Management Administrator, NV Energy
Speaker(s): Julie Quigley, CEO, Fire DAWG, Alan Stovall, Fire DAWG

9:45 AM - 10:15 AM

Networking Break

10:15 AM - 11:30 AM

Border Crossing, Anyone?
Facilitator(s): Nick Labadie, Senior Vancouver Island Manager, BC Hydro

International emergency assistance: What you need to consider when sending, and requesting, assistance across the border. Led by BC Hydro, we’ll explore challenges, ideas, and issues, and take a look at how went recently for BC Hydro (and others) from A to Z.

11:30 AM - 12:45 PM

Networking Lunch

12:45 PM - 1:45 PM

Emergency Response and Mutual Aid Playbook/Handbook Examples and Best Practices
Facilitator(s): Joanna Stelzig, Public Relations Manager, Tillamook PUD
Speaker(s): Dennis Darling, Manager- BCEM, Portland General Electric, Nick Labadie, Senior Vancouver Island Manager, BC Hydro

Showcase of response handbooks and playbooks by attending utilities and ensuing roundtable to discuss to effectively put together handbooks that can be used in emergencies and given to responding utilities. Discussion will also include best practices.

1:45 PM - 2:15 PM

Partnership and Performance During Emergency Response Events
Speaker(s): Rachel Lupo, Director of Customer Relations, Tempest Energy

Tempest Energy will highlight lessons learned from recent storm events and underscore the value of partnerships with utilities and contractor resources to restore customers and support utility operations safely, efficiently, and proactively.

2:15 PM - 2:45 PM

Networking Break

2:45 PM - 3:30 PM

Under Fire: Are Infrastructure Attacks the new ‘Major Event’?
Speaker(s): Nicholas Austin, Vice President, Consultancy & Managing Director, North America, UMS Group Inc.

Physical attacks on electric and utility infrastructure have become a growing concern for utilities in recent years. These types of attacks can include vandalism, sabotage, and even terrorism, and they can result in significant damage to equipment and infrastructure, as well as interruptions to power service. We'll discuss industry trends and responses, and anticipated regulations at the state and federal level that may result from these attacks

3:30 PM - 4:30 PM

Open Roundtable + Hot Topics

4:30 PM - 4:30 PM

Closing Remarks and Adjourn

5:00 PM - 7:00 PM

Operations Conference Welcome Reception

All ERAP participants are invited to attend.

Hotel + Travel

  • Reservation Instructions
  • Please contact the hotel directly at (800) 947-9784 to reserve your room. Identify yourself as being with Western Energy Institute (WEI) Operations Conference (ERAP attendees need to mention the Operations Conference) to receive a special rate of $209 USD/night plus tax. Please note that there is a $19 resort fee per night which covers a range of hotel amenities. See resort website for more information. This rate is guaranteed until April 4, 2023 or until the WEI room block is full.

Program Sponsors

Thank you to our program sponsors!

Meet The Speakers

John Padilla

Salt River Project

Emergency Management Program Manager

Nick Labadie

BC Hydro

Senior Vancouver Island Manager

Elizabeth Paulsen

NV Energy

Sr. Emergency Management Administrator
Learn More

Liz is a University of Nevada, Reno graduate and continued on to get her Master’s degree in Emergency Management. She is also a Nevada Certified Emergency Manager (NVEM), Certified Emergency Manager (CEM), and Project Manager Professional (PMP). She started work in the Emergency Management field at Washoe County Emergency Management as a Program Assistant responding to emergencies impacting the community. After spending three years at Washoe County, she then transitioned into the private sector and started working at NV Energy in Emergency Management in 2017. She has coordinated and been involved with numerous all-hazard full-scale exercises and activations on both the private and public side of Emergency Management. Liz has also been the main Mutual Assistance Coordinator at NV Energy and been on a handful of responses.

Joanna Stelzig

Tillamook PUD

Public Relations Manager

Rachel Lupo

Tempest Energy

Director of Customer Relations
Learn More

Rachel Lupo is currently the Director of Customer Relations and Business Development for Tempest Energy. In this role she is responsible for new client generation, strategic customer management, and operational performance for utility services including storm response, emergency planning and business continuity services, and specialty projects. Prior to her role at Tempest, she worked at Southern California Edison for over 15 years. She led the development of the wildfire mitigation program where she was responsible to establish the program management and execution of all wildfire mitigation projects which constituted ~$1b of annual capital spend. Prior to that, she held several roles across emergency planning and distribution operations, including developing and leading several new company wide programs to meet regulatory, operational, and financial goals.
Rachel has served as a committee member for Edison Energy Institute and Western Energy Institute. She holds a BA in Criminal Justice from Sonoma State University, an MA in National Security from University of New Haven, and an MA in Organizational Leadership from Gonzaga University.

Brandon Allphin

Bolton Holdings

Contracts Manager
Learn More

Brandon Allphin, MBA, CFCM, is an Advanced Contract Management Practitioner with an emphasis on commercial and federal contracts. His undergraduate degree was obtained from Sam Houston State University in Economics, as well as an MBA with a focus in Finance from Texas A&M University. He is the Contracts Manager at Industrial Tent Systems & Lodging Solutions.

Julie Quigley

Fire DAWG

CEO

Shane Hester

Bonneville Power Administration

Manager, Office of Continuity and Emergency Management
Learn More

Shane began his journey in the electrical utility industry in 1991, coming to work at Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) as a lineman in 1999. He is now the Office of Continuity and Emergency Management manager, and is responsible for the plans, processes and procedures required for BPA to respond, mitigate and recover from any event. In addition to this, Shane volunteers as an ESF-12 emergency responder for the Department of Energy. To date, he has deployed multiple times to Saipan, Guam, Puerto Rico and Louisiana helping communities recover following natural disasters. Shane is also an Alternate Regional Coordinator for DOE ESF-12 FEMA Region IX.

Dennis Darling

Portland General Electric

Manager- BCEM

Lydia Mertyris

Hawaiian Electric Company

Manager, Safety and Emergency Planning and Preparedness

William Brown

Southern California Edison

Senior Fire Management Officer
Learn More

My SCE career began as a meter reader in 1990. After a short time, I was awarded a Groundman position on an SCE line crew. Shortly after that, I started my SCE/IBEW Lineman apprenticeship program which consists of three years. After I topped out as a journeyman lineman, I promoted to Troublemen which are utility first responders. Troubleman respond to 911 calls received from police and fire departments for structure fires, car hit poles, wire down, underground vault issues, arcing wires etc. After nearly 14 years as a TM, I was offered the job as one of SCE‘s fire management officers. During my 33 years at SCE, I have responded to many mutual aid assignments. I have been deployed on many occasions to assist PG&E during storm conditions, and even deployed to Puerto Rico after hurricane Maria as the switching coordinator for nearly 1/3 of the island, ensuring safe re-energization to the residence of Puerto Rico.
Prior to my SCE career, I was a Firefighter for San Bernardino Co. Fire Department for 3.5 years.

Joe Weathersby

Arizona Public Service Company

Northeast Division Manager, Transmission & Distribution
Learn More

Joe Weathersby is a Division Manager at Arizona Public Service with 22 years of experience in the utility industry Specializing in delivering safe, reliable, and affordable energy , Joe uses that experience to lead teams and develop others to find new and innovative ways to continue to deliver reliable energy efficiently and build the next generation of leaders.

Nicholas Austin

UMS Group Inc.

Vice President, Consultancy & Managing Director, North America

Nancy Sacré

Southern California Edison

Project Manager, T&D Wildfire Program Management

Tracey Vardas

Pacific Gas and Electric Company

Director, Emergency Preparedness & Response, Strategy and Execution

Tracey Vardas

Pacific Gas and Electric Company

Director, Emergency Preparedness & Response, Strategy and Execution
Learn More

Tracey Vardas is the Director of EP&R, Strategy and Execution for Pacific, Gas, and Electric Company, where she is responsible for working with functional area partners across the enterprise on the preparedness cycle to ensure PG&E is prepared to respond to all hazards safely and effectively across the threat landscape. Tracey took on this role in October of 2022. Tracey joined EP&R in December of 2022 and was the Manager of Emergency Preparedness Exercise and Training where she was responsible for the planning, development, and execution of training and exercises in alignment with PG&E’s Multiyear Training and Exercise Plan (MYTEP). Prior to joining EP&R Tracey was part of the Emergency Preparedness team at Diablo Canyon Power Plant, where she started in 2009.
Tracey has 28 years of experience in emergency management that includes Federal, State, County, City, and PG&E preparedness and response activities. She is recognized within the emergency management community as an expert in emergency preparedness. As a professional Emergency Manager, she has routinely responded to emergencies, including responding to the PG&E EOC and State Operations Center, and has held multiple positions within the Incident Command System.
In her off hours Tracey enjoys spending time with her family, horseback riding, hiking, and walking her dogs on the beach.

Alan Stovall

Fire DAWG