Utility Resiliency Starts with an Engaging Business Continuity Planning Approach

Background More severe storms hit Florida than any other U.S. state since the Saffir/Simpson scale was put into place in 1851. Over 41 percent of the 292 hurricanes that have hit the U.S. since 1851 (from NOAA's Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory) have also hit Florida. and, thus, central Florida (and Toho) are regularly exposed to the risk of damage, injury and loss of service to our customers and environmental impacts from these storms. Each year prior to the June 1 through November 30 hurricane season, Toho updates and reviews a Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan (CEMP) with managers and staff that include policy and procedural changes, preseason checklists, inventory, contact information updates, employee assignments including assignments to established safe harbor locations, shift volunteer assignments and fuel levels. Toho's CEMP has been invaluable to maintain Toho's resilience to hurricane and tropical storm scenarios. Adding Business Continuity Planning (BCP) While the CEMP is specific to preparing for and responding to severe storms and prioritizing recovery operations, Toho staff decided to take disaster planning to the next level by creating a business continuity plan (BCP). This complimentary plan is designed to identify a broader number of potential failure points that can happen by any plausible cause. Starting in 2013, Toho logged its first Business Continuity Plan (BCP). It built upon documentation and experience from the CEMP and placed an emphasis on Toho only being affected in the community as opposed to a widespread hurricane scenario affecting the entire region. Thus, the BCP was intended to provide more detail of the procedures and timelines associated with the loss of vulnerable functions. Toho purchased an online web-based repository and guide provided by BoldPlanning to assist in the plan development and updating process. The portal guides users through each BCP component, and helps develop a plan that outlines the roles and responsibilities required to ensure the ability to transition and continue operations during times of unexpected disruption. A web-based portal technology on its own was not enough to provide a BCP that addressed specific failure modes. Admittedly, on the human scale, Toho staff had some passive resistance to engaging in the BCP planning and updating process at a sufficient level of detail. Such resistance was understandable given the proven resiliency of the utility in dealing with severe weather, especially during the ill-famed 2004 hurricane season where 3 hurricanes affected central Florida within 6 weeks. Also, Toho was fresh from filing the required report in compliance with the America's Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 (AWIA). As a founding member of the Florida WARN Water/Wastewater Area Response Network (FlaWARN), a mutual aid system of 'utilities helping utilities' during emergency situations, Toho can also count on its neighbors when the chips are down. Given that, the web-based BCP tended to be reflective of CEMP-thinking. A different approach that also identifies and addresses the impact and response to random unpredictable events was needed. Designing and Implementing a Better BCP 'Mouse Trap' A small steering team of four members representing Information Technology, Administration and Safety and Risk was formed and set out to meet the challenge of changing how disaster planning was performed. Design elements were developed that consisted of incorporating a facilitative style coupled with plausible scenarios for each division that challenged the basic function of each division and Toho itself. Part of the change was avoiding the trap of deep discussions around such dramatic topics enveloping how various catastrophic events could happen shifted more productively to the effects of the loss of an asset or access to a system by any means. Armed with these challenges, charrettes were crafted and scheduled. Charrettes are defined for Toho's purpose as meetings in which stakeholders begin identifying solutions based on causes presented and addressing differences of opinions of how to address them while narrowing solution candidates. Charrettes with 6 divisions that included key stakeholders were held and were brief but sometimes intense, lasting no more than an hour. The result of these charrettes where 'trapping' and describing 42 critical observations requiring follow-up and included 3-4 single points of failure, which are defined simply as parts of a system and/or function that failure has no clear remedy and thus can result in damaging an organization's ability to carry out its mission. Each observation was subsequently prioritized and the web portal was updated appropriately. Results The improved engagement process itself has had many benefits so far that include: - Meeting preparation and follow-up were essential to keep the charrettes on track and interesting to a wider audience. - Increased knowledge of the capacity and capabilities of systems otherwise taken for granted (lots of 'I didn't know that' comments were noted). - Improved budget justification by illustrating in more detail the effects of critical unplanned outages and consequences. -Virtual and in-person charrettes improved visibility, awareness and accountability to addressing risk. - Identifying and addressing single points of failure are the 'gold nuggets' of business continuity planning. In summary, Toho's approach to resiliency planning is readily transferrable to other utilities and even outside the water sector. More specific details about the critical observations and formulated solutions will be covered along with the portal and the engagement process itself.