John C. Hilderbrand II Explains How People, Processes and Technology Are Key to Modernizing the Grid

Dear valued customer,

Delivering safe, reliable and resilient service to you is the core of our business at Duquesne Light Company (DLC). We respond to customers’ changing needs by continually investing in critical infrastructure. As one of the top-rated utilities in the state for reliable service, we take pride in safely keeping the lights on for our communities and keeping your life powered.

It is essential that we provide exceptional service to our more than 600,000 customers in Allegheny and Beaver counties, while also preparing for the needs of tomorrow. Through the ongoing investments we’ve made in our people, processes and technology, we’re even more prepared to respond to whatever comes our way. I want to share a few examples with you of how we are striving to provide exceptional results today and boldly harnessing opportunities for tomorrow.

People

Our team members are our greatest assets. You may have read how we’re increasing daily efficiencies in the field with iPads. We are also expanding our emergency management protocol to include all team members ​ so when a storm hits the area, we have dedicated teams across the organization available to respond to incidents as quickly as possible. Each storm role demonstrates our dedication to always provide excellent service while empowering our team members and strengthening our operations.

Processes

Vegetation interfering with the grid is the leading cause of power outages and we continue to be nationally recognized for our vegetation management best practices. This year, we will manage approximately 45,000 trees along 1,300 miles of power lines in Allegheny and Beaver counties — targeting overgrown trees, shrubs and brush — to ensure that our service remains safe, reliable and resilient.

Technology

We use the latest advanced technologies to help maintain the reliability of our network and other services. Our new outage management system (OMS) is projected to provide operational efficiencies of approximately $2.6 million in annual savings. OMS’ monitoring and management abilities are vital to enable future advanced applications necessary for a digital utility. The system’s capabilities will grow over time so we can respond to outages faster, improve our restoration process and provide more accurate outage communications directly to you.

Focusing on people, processes and technology is key to modernizing the grid in ways that enable DLC to provide safe and reliable service for you. I encourage you to learn more about how we are investing in the grid to ensure the resiliency of our infrastructure and better serve our customers. I, along with the entire DLC team, are committed to safely powering your life 24-7, while creating a larger-than-light, clean energy future for all.

Sincerely,
​John C. Hilderbrand II
​Vice President, Operations