ENERGO-PRO opens a priority hotline for communication with local authorities in crises
This became clear at a working meeting in Pliska of regional governors from North-Eastern Bulgaria, in which part of the management of ENERGO-PRO Varna and ERP North took part. It addressed issues of coordination and joint action in crisis situations. Ways of interaction and effective assistance were discussed in order to shorten the time for the elimination of accidents that have occurred. The regional governors expressed their gratitude to the employees of ERP North for their professional work on several consecutive weekends in November 2023, when a state of emergency was declared due to the severe weather situation in various regions of North-East Bulgaria.
At the organized meeting, the managers of ENERGO-PRO Varna Angel Angelov and Angela Toneva proactively gave their proposals for improving the coordination and joint actions of the responsible institutions in crisis situations. They stressed that it is the concerted actions between the electricity company and the institutions that will help to deal with power outages in distressed areas in a timely manner, and not public speaking out against the electricity distribution companies. As one of the important steps in this direction, ENERGO-PRO will activate a direct telephone line for priority connection and for submission of alerts by district administrations and mayors of settlements. The line will work during crisis situations.
“We did everything possible to deal with the emergency situations in November last year,” Angel Angelov said during the meeting. This was confirmed by the regional governors. “Our employees worked around the clock, we relocated teams from less affected areas, organized equipment in a timely manner. Of course, we sympathize with all the people who stayed longer without power. However, it is not possible to maintain year-round resized teams due to emergency situations. We are strictly fulfilling our investment obligations and even plan a 25% increase in our investment program for the next regulatory period even in the event of an increase in electricity prices that does not correspond to the real inflation in the country,” he added.
It was stressed that it was essential for the rapid intervention of the teams of the electricity distribution company in case of accidents to ensure access to the facilities. In such cases with a massive prolonged power outage, it is mandatory to declare a state of emergency by the local authority in the affected areas, as well as the subsequent accelerated mobilization of equipment and teams of the API in case of heavy snowfall. These measures will help ERP North teams reach remote and hard-to-reach locations in a timely manner and limit the time without electricity in them. The company has no interest in leaving consumers without electricity for a long time and, in the presence of working conditions, mobilizes its teams and strictly fulfills its licensing obligations. The expectation in this regard is that the API will build infrastructure other than dirt road to each settlement, which will help restore power faster in remote small settlements and neighborhoods.
The management of ENERGO-PRO confirmed the need for assistance from mayors and deputy mayors to collect up-to-date information on points without power after emergency situations covering the entire settlement and to provide it to the company's teams when starting the restoration of a low-voltage network after the priority restoration of the medium-voltage power supply scheme. The assistance of the local authority would significantly shorten the time for the teams to locate and eliminate accidents, which would also lead to faster restoration of customers' power supply. Regular maintenance of street lighting in the immediate vicinity of the facilities of the ERP North is another factor that would prevent further damage to the electricity distribution network.
Another area of assistance from the local government was also indicated - regulation of the cottage areas in order to build new networks faster and facilitate their service by the electricity distribution company. In this sense, it is imperative to carry out detailed development plans (SPs) and general development plans (SPs) in these areas. For the smooth further work on the construction of new facilities, it is important to continue the activities of the Municipalities procedurally even after the entry into force of a PUP or PLO.
The requirement of a relaxed regime for the construction of thresholds in forested areas was raised as a topic, since in a number of cases in recent months the utility suffered significant damage to its facilities, which led to a significant extension of the time for troubleshooting and caused inconvenience to customers due to lack of electricity. There is also a need for an adjustment in the legislation on easement zones, concerning high forest vegetation — in such cases, for the safe operation of the network, it is mandatory to expand the easement zones in order to preserve the integrity and ensure the safe operation of the facilities.
At the meeting, proposals for updating the legislation in order to effectively manage the recovery of the network after natural disasters were commented on. The question was raised about the provision of permanent staff at ESO substations during crisis situations.
The meeting with the institutions ended with a mutual commitment to take account of the proposals made and to continue active cooperation to deal with future crises.
