M Focus on: Crisis Management
Communicating in
By DENISE FEDOROW | The Municipal
When communities are in crisis, whether it’s a power outage, weather-related disasters or the need for a boil order, getting the information to residents and businesses is critical. With all the communication methods available now, cities and towns have shifted to meet people where they are. Most municipalities and their departments have Facebook pages and Twitter accounts where they post up-to-date information, but not everyone has social media and even those who do aren’t constantly checking it or are not connected to their municipality’s pages. Therefore, many communities are using a variety of methods — emails, text messages and robocalls — as well as social media to keep their folks in the know. One community that has enhanced its notification system is Lakeland, Fla. The electric and water utilities in Lakeland have each updated the way they inform customers when something is amiss. Cathryn Lacy, utilities marketing manager for Lakeland Electric, said the utility has two separate notifications by text message — one for outages and the other for billing and usage. It has been sending outage alerts since 2018 but more recently updated the outage map, which has added more options. “We’re really pleased, and we’ve gotten great customer feedback,” she said. The system Lakeland Electric uses is called Notify through Kubra. It’s a fully integrated smart grid system. When a meter goes out of power, Lacy said, “It sends a last gasp to us and immediately goes into the system and goes directly to the call center and the lineman.” It also generates a text notification. She said the utility notifies customers by email, text and voicemail. 18 THE MUNICIPAL | SEPTEMBER 2021
The system also gives status updates regarding the outage, like crews are en route, the reason for the outage and if it’s taking longer than expected for crews to get there or to fix the problem. Lacy said the utility also sends notices for planned outages, too, like when workers will be trimming trees or doing substation maintenance. Planned outages are sent predominately by email, but customers can choose to be notified by text message. According to Lacy, it was after Hurricane Irma hit the area in 2017 that Lakeland Electric made the decision to go with this system, and it was implemented in 2018. “It’s just been a huge success for our customers,” she said. Lacy shared an anecdote of a speaking engagement she had with a homeowners association community in 2018. She said there had been a power outage in the neighborhood that same day. After her presentation, when she asked if there were any questions, “Every hand went up! I thought, ‘Oh dear.’” But the residents all wanted to share how they received text messages about their power outage, how it had told them what the problem was and they were so happy about it. “I never had so many positive comments — customers were in the know,” she said. Another advantage is for the seasonal residents — aka “snowbirds.” She noted, “We have so many snowbirds here. They own property
