Muscle Memory

Partnerships and Preparation

It’s often said that many hands make for light work. After Winter Storm Fern and a post-storm deep freeze, it’s many cold hands that make the lights work.

When Fern marched through the region this past week, TVA’s social media team posted a video of a TVA lineworker repairing transmission equipment while perched outside a helicopter as it hovered at the pinnacle of a transmission structure.

That idyllic north Mississippi scene – ice-white trees, rolling hills, blue skies – struck a harsh contrast to the realities of working on frosted equipment in freezing temperatures. On social media, a woman observed: “Proof that the most valuable linemen are not found on the football field.”

A crew member battles the ice at Magnolia Combined Cycle Plant.

Norm Flake, TVA’s program manager of seasonal readiness, can get behind that sort of good football metaphor.

Days ahead of Fern’s arrival, he and others across TVA were huddling daily to triple-check folks had all they needed to ensure TVA’s generation plants would continue operating safely and reliably in the face of the oncoming arctic system.

“I start running the plays 10 days out,” Flake said. “I’ve got a playbook in the seasonal readiness program. It’s a preparation playbook.”

As expected from a well-prepared team, crews from across the enterprise had already run drills for something just like Fern.

That preparedness stemmed from TVA’s seasonal readiness program, and severe-weather and emergency planning that ensures every team member – from snowplow drivers to crews at TVA’s nuclear, coal, gas and hydro plants – knows their precise role in safely providing electricity to more than 10 million people, no matter what Mother Nature has in store.

From Jan. 19 to Feb. 1, with temperatures below freezing throughout much of the region, TVA had five days where demand exceeded 30,000 megawatts.

Fern quickly covered much of the Valley region in ice, which early on caused trees to fall on transmission lines. TVA’s Transmission team, already assembled for the storm, cleared trees and repaired lines to restore power to affected areas.

It was a vast undertaking, marshaling bucket trucks, dozers, track equipment, skid steers, UTVs and chainsaw crews. Helicopters and drones were deployed in particularly hard-to-reach sites.

The Friday that Fern hit, Flake handed off operations to Patrick Wallace, TVA’s senior program manager of emergency preparedness response.

“I hand him the ball and then I become a blocker and tackler on his team,” Flake said. “When it moves from preparedness to response, Patrick leads.”

Wallace, now in his 25th year at TVA, has encountered much of what Southern states can deliver on severe weather. Cold snaps, hot spells, storms, tornadoes.

“Ice, not so much,” he said. “I can’t remember a time that we were impacted by ice the way we were here.”

Wallace managed the Generation team’s response for TVA’s emergency operations team, with employees across TVA coordinating with partners throughout the region. The partnerships and preparedness ensured the continued reliability of the power system.

“We know each other’s strengths, what we’re capable of, who we can lean on in those times to get things done and trust that they’ll work the mission till it's completed,” Wallace said. “Having those people on the team – we can hand the baton to them and say, ‘Go’ – it’s so beneficial to all of us.”

By mid-week, TVA’s Transmission team had restored power to all local power company connection points. While a few communities in Tennessee and Mississippi remain without electricity, local power company crews are working hard to repair their lines and safely restore power as quickly as possible.

On TVA’s Generation side, fleet leaders monitored information in real-time during the storm and worked with the Balancing Authority and TVA’s experts to match power supply to demand.

If a challenge arose, team members greeted it head-on. “We did not get told no a single time from anybody,” Wallace said. “It was always, ‘I’ll do everything I can to help you.’”

Employees at generating plants had to remain on site the weekend of Fern, and crews at Magnolia Combined Cycle Plant needed their supplies replenished. Treacherous roads made a ground delivery impossible, so Flake reached out to a coworker in TVA’s Supply Chain.

“They said, ‘Give me a list of groceries,’” Flake said. “They did a bang-up job. As soon as they got the list, they were at the grocery store.”

The supplies were loaded into crates and placed in a helicopter, and TVA’s Aviation team delivered the cargo just ahead of sundown.

“We were under a time crunch,” Flake said. “Everybody performed seamlessly.”

When a community in north Mississippi needed a generator to keep a water facility running – a facility that provides potable water to residents and to Magnolia Combined Cycle Plant – TVA’s Community Relations team saw it through.

“They were able to get that specific generator to them to get the water treatment plant operational,” Flake said.

Throughout the storm, TVA teams coordinated closely with customers, public officials and other stakeholders to provide updates and share information on storm recovery efforts.

At one point, Southaven Combined Cycle Plant needed an important part from Ackerman. Wallace made some quick phone calls and connected with TVA’s Fleet and Transportation team, which reached out to TVA Police, who then helped them coordinate with local law enforcement for assistance.

“Everyone is coming together in times of need – it’s perfect,” Wallace said. “I feel like I always have those people here in those situations.”

TVA’s Facilities team, ever ready to tackle challenges, proved critical in helping employees access sites safely during the storm.

“Facilities was a big player this week,” Flake said. “They were supporting sites all the time – putting ice melt down, grading what they could grade, clearing trees and roads to get people into sites.”

Of TVA’s 51 coal, gas and hydro sites, just a few needed an assist from the emergency operations team during Fern.

“It’s a testament to our plants and their preparedness,” Wallace said. “It comes from everything we do year-round … the summer, winter exercises.”

It’s much like an athlete building muscle memory to help ensure peak performance when it matters most.

“It’s not like it’s the first time you’ve picked something up,” Flake said. “They drill their site cold-weather plans during every exercise. It’s all muscle memory.”

Photo Gallery

A TVA employee steps into the cold outside Brownsville Combustion Turbine Plant.

The view from a plow truck operated by a TVA Facilities team member.

Inside the control room at Gallatin Fossil Plant.

Plowing snow at Shawnee Fossil Plant.

A member of TVA Supply Chain manages bottled water for distribution during severe weather.

TVA Transmission crew members work in north Mississippi during Winter Storm Fern.

A TVA helicopter delivers supplies to Magnolia Combined Cycle Plant.

Photo at Top of Page: Flying snow and blustery wind greet employees outside Shawnee Fossil Plant.