By BJ Austin, KERA News
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-888800.mp3
Dallas, TX – Oncor Electric says it could have done some things better during last month's snowstorm and major power outage. KERA's BJ Austin says company briefed the Dallas City Council on "opportunities" for improvement.
Oncor says its repair crews did a great job getting the power back on in record-setting snowfall that created difficult and dangerous conditions. Council members applauded that work, but told Oncor communication with customers was a problem: especially the company's automated answering system. It took information, but didn't give any.
Council member Angela Hunt wants Oncor to take a cue from American Electric Power in West Texas, and 10 other states.
Hunt: They have a real time listing of outages on their website that shows, by zip code, they show a map of outages that have been reported.
Hunt says the map could also include estimates of when power might be restored. She says it's a way to get information to a lot of people via smart phones or battery-powered laptops.
Oncor Vice President Debbie Dennis says they're looking into such a map. She also says the automated call system is the quickest way to get information on outages. But later, a customer's going to want to talk to a human.
Dennis: Our plans are to, in this type of event, increase access to live agents by 25 to 40%.
Dennis says customers can also help by putting as many as five phone numbers - home and cellphones -- on file with Oncor. That way, officials immediately know the address of the outage, no matter which phone you use. Call 888 313 6862 to add the numbers.
Dennis: We will get better. But the next time we have a major storm event, our communication processes will address these concerns.
Oncor is to give the council a progress report in three months.