Storms: What TNMP Will Be Doing

When severe weather is forecasted, we prepare crews for power outage work in areas that are expected to be affected. Our Operations crews are on call 24/7 and are equipped with warm-weather gear, personal protective equipment, and a reliable, well-maintained fleet to handle any conditions.

We also have plans for quickly calling in additional crews to assist, if needed.

Winter storms can cause power outages due to ice accumulation on power lines. To prevent such outages, we inspect and maintain our infrastructure year-round. 

For hurricanes, we plan for staging additional crews outside the danger zone and bring them into the area once it's safe to do so.

Triage

• Our first focus after storms is to restore any critical services, including hospitals, water / sewer facilities and public safety facilities.
• We then apply a triage approach to power restoration.
• Our crews focus on fixing damage that is disrupting power for the greatest number of customers, then make repairs affecting smaller numbers of customers.
• Finding all of our storm-damaged equipment - particularly after dark - sometimes can be time-consuming, but crews will keep working until all customers have power restored from these storms.
• We always strongly emphasize safety, so we will work carefully and deliberately.
• We will delay restoring power in certain circumstances if that's necessary to ensure public and / or employee safety.
• Post-storm outage restoration often requires trimming of trees by TNMP employees or our contractors.
• Trimmed branches may be left on a customer's property to enable crews to move more quickly to restore power for other customers in other areas.

Vegetation Management Before, During, and After Storms

TNMP manages the trees and plants growing near thousands of miles of power lines each year.

During the six-month period between June and November when hurricanes and other tropical systems are a potential threat in Texas, the role of our Vegetation Management department intensifies.

It’s essential for TNMP to remain vigilant year-round as non-tropical storms and severe weather can strike at any time. When we aren’t responding to a storm, we are preparing for one. Our employees have annual drills preparing for hurricanes and our year-round preparation helps minimize outages.

By trimming trees beforehand, we can reduce power outages. While no system is hurricane-proof, the investments we’ve made over the last year, including increasing our vegetation management efforts, are helping to keep trees from disrupting your service.

This strategy goes hand in hand with helping the community prepare as well. Our Vegetation Management department also works with towns and customers throughout our service territory to help them understand the importance of planting the right tree in the right place, away from power lines. This can help to reduce power outages anytime, but it is even more critical during severe weather.

Ice storms can weigh down tree limbs, causing them to fall and potentially hit power lines, resulting in outages. To prevent this, our Vegetation Management Department oversees the maintenance of tree limbs near power lines to prevent service disruptions.