Hurricane Sandy devastated parts of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern U.S. in late October 2012. Although it was never stronger than a Category 2 storm, Sandy was the largest Atlantic hurricane on record, as measured by diameter. Severe rain, storm surge and wind conditions led to billions of dollars in damage throughout 24 U.S. states. Challenges Although utilities knew well in advance that a strong storm was coming, the exact landfall location and expected rainfall and wind speeds varied among forecasting services. The challenge for many utilities was to prepare responsibly for the impact on their service region, but not over-prepare in such a way that would drive up costs ultimately paid for by their customers. Solution Schneider Electric’s MxVision WeatherSentry Online® provides real-time weather conditions, as well as detailed, location-specific forecasts up to 15 days in advance. Its precipitation and temperature forecasts have been rated top in the industry for the past five years. Unitil relied on this expertise and accuracy to prepare appropriately for severe weather conditions.

1. Unitil: Hurricane Sandy
Preparing for Hurricane Sandy with the best-in-class weather services
Hurricane Sandy devastated parts of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern U.S.
in late October 2012. Although it was never stronger than a Category 2 storm,
Sandy was the largest Atlantic hurricane on record, as measured by diameter.
Severe rain, storm surge and wind conditions led to billions of dollars in damage
throughout 24 U.S. states.
Challenges
Although utilities knew well in advance that a strong storm was coming, the exact
landfall location and expected rainfall and wind speeds varied among forecasting
services. The challenge for many utilities was to prepare responsibly for the impact
on their service region, but not over-prepare in such a way that would drive up
costs ultimately paid for by their customers.
Weather Decision Support Solutions
PROJECT AT A GLANCE
Project Type
Operational weather solutions
Location
Hampton, New Hampshire
Number of Electric Customers
More than 101,000
Number of Natural Gas Customers
Nearly 72,000
Applications
Supports weather-related decisions for an
accurate and responsible resource plan to
prepare for Hurricane Sandy
Equipment Installed
MxVision WeatherSentry Online®
CUSTOMER BENEFITS
• 24-hour access to meteorological
consulting services
• Keeps employees safer
Make the most of your energySM

2. ©2013SchneiderElectric.Allrightsreserved.
January 2013
Unitil is a public utility holding company,
headquartered in Hampton, N.H., that delivers natural
gas and electricity throughout northern New England.
Its affiliates serve more than 103,000 electric
customers and nearly 70,000 natural gas customers.
Unitil had relied on Schneider Electric’s top-rated
weather forecasts for a number of years, and turned
to it again as it prepared for Sandy’s landfall.
Solution
Schneider Electric’s MxVision WeatherSentry Online®
provides real-time weather conditions, as well as
detailed, location-specific forecasts up to 15 days in
advance. Its precipitation and temperature forecasts
have been rated top in the industry for the past five
years. Unitil relied on this expertise and accuracy to
prepare appropriately for severe weather conditions.
Unitil has also worked closely with Schneider Electric
to develop a unique rating system of Estimated
Impact Indices (EII). The indices indicate the level
of severe conditions predicted on a scale of 1-5,
three days in advance of an event. The EII are based
on 10 years of storm impact data related to Unitil’s
service territory. Unitil provided the specific weather
conditions to Schneider Electric that define the EII
with “1” the least impact and “5” the worst impact to
the electrical system. For example, 50 mile-per-hour
wind gusts with leaves on the trees represent an EII of
“3”, but the same winds with no leaves on the trees
equals an EII of “2”. The rating system allows Unitil
to quickly assess the potential severity of forecasted
events several days in advance and procure
the necessary resources to respond effectively.
Additionally, Unitil was able to link regulatory cost
recovery to the different EII (including preparatory
costs) through a negotiated storm reserve fund.
Along with the EII, a confidence level is assigned
to each forecast to further help Unitil prioritize
predictions. Ultimately, MxVision WeatherSentry
Online and the EII helps Unitil reduce the length of
weather-related outages by allowing the utility to
better prepare for damage farther in advance.
Finally, Unitil’s partnership with Schneider Electric
provides the utility with 24-hour access to the
company’s meteorological consulting services.
“We call a forecaster at any time and learn why
they’ve made the forecast they did. And if there’s
a mismatch or discrepancy from what we are
hearing, we can talk that through. It’s great that
Schneider Electric has been so open to that kind
of feedback,” said Richard Francazio, emergency
management and compliance director at Unitil.
Unitil relied on this suite of best-in-class weather
services to prepare for the impact of Hurricane Sandy
and formulate an accurate, responsible resource plan.
The Bottom Line
In addition to Schneider Electric’s predictions, Unitil
monitored other publicly available forecasts, but
none projected the conditions and wind speeds as
accurately as Schneider Electric’s models.
“It is possible to over-prepare for a storm,” explained
Tom Murphy, environmental compliance and
business continuity manager. “Some of the other
models were predicting much worse conditions
than Schneider Electric’s models, but we had higher
confidence in Schneider Electric because of our
experience with them and their level of forecast
detail. By filtering some of the hype appropriately, we
avoided over-preparing, which is ultimately a cost-
benefit to our customers.”
As a result, Unitil was able to procure the resources
it needed to get customers back online as quickly
as possible after the storm, including mobilizing
15 internal line crews, 92 contractor line crews, 37
contractor tree crews and 48 damage assessment
crews, among others.
“We had about 69,000 cumulative customers
without power out of 103,000,” said Murphy.
“Restoration took us about three days, which is
what we expected. It all aligned with what the
Schneider Electric forecast was telling us.”
Weather Decision Support Solutions
Schneider Electric USA, Inc. 9110 West Dodge Road, Omaha NE 68114 Telephone: 1-800-610-0777 Fax: 402-255-8125 www.schneider-electric.com/us
Unitil: Hurricane Sandy