How Resilient is Your Physical Infrastructure to Energy Risk?

Now is the Time for an Emergency Response Plan

A key indicator of good corporate governance is ensuring business resilience. In today’s complex energy environment, smart energy management — including understanding your energy risk and the potential for energy failure — is vital for your organization’s success. To ensure business resilience, organizations can benefit from an expert, independent advisor that can deliver a comprehensive, data-driven and integrated Emergency Response Plan.

Many organizations never take the time to plan for energy risk events. Now is a good time to think again: the summer of 2017 has seen its share of disruptive natural events, from the hurricane and flooding in Texas, Florida, and the Caribbean, to the earthquake in Mexico, which have resulted in partial or total energy supply failure.

In light of these events, it is an apt time to ask: ‘Does my company have an Emergency Response Plan (ERP) in place?’

What is an Emergency Response Plan?

In a well-conceived Emergency Response Plan, employees know what procedures to follow in the event of a power disruption. And company leadership understands the extent of the hardship and financial impact to the business if power were lost for several days, a week or even longer.

It is also important to understand energy infrastructure and know if there is an emergency electric back-up generation system, as well as where it is located in the facility. Additionally, it is key to know what critical energy systems are on the generator to keep your business operational.

These are just a few of the many questions building owners and managers are asking given recent events. Edison Energy’s Energy Engineering Services has an integrated program to provide commercial, industrial and institutional facilities an energy risk assessment, documenting their preparedness for energy emergencies.

Be Prepared for Energy Risks

Being prepared for an energy crisis goes beyond occasionally testing your back-up generator. While the generator is an integral part of the solution, most are designed to handle only the facility’s critical electricity needs. To understand the full impact an energy failure could have on the facility’s mechanical operations, heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), lighting and machinery, it is vital to assess the entire building and operations. An ERP can help determine the cost-effectiveness of a comprehensive strategy to remain operational, or at least partially operational, during extended periods of power interruption.

Your Emergency Response Plan

Edison Energy’s expert team can develop an integrated and proactive Emergency Response Plan tailored to your company’s energy needs. Each ERP includes an energy and financial assessment, a detailed procedure on what to do and how to respond to a power disruption, and financial incentives that could be available in the event of an emergency. With multiple levels of preparedness and proper measures in place, the Edison Energy ERP can ensure business resilience in the event of an energy crisis.