Outage Center

All news

Emergency Communications Plan

November 14, 2011

HENDERSON, Ky. -- Kenergy Corp. created an Emergency Communication Plan in October 2009.

Here is the way in which the co-op will communicate with its member-owners, media and county officials during a large-scale event:

Level 1 Outage: For outages that affect at least 500 customers with restoration estimates longer than four hours, Kenergy's Member Services team will:

Actions:

• Post information and updates on the co-op’s home page via Twitter and Facebook.
• Contact media in affected areas via e-mail.

Level II Outage: For outages that affect up to 2,000 customers with estimated restoration times of  8 to 24 hours, the Member Services team will:

Actions:

• Use social media, such as Twitter and Facebook to communicate outage status.
• Contact radio stations, TV stations and daily newspapers in Kenergy’s service area via an e-mail alert, which will include information about the outage and estimated restoration times.
• Contact weekly newspapers via e-mail if the outage occurs on a day that is conducive for information to be printed in a timely manner. 

Level III Outage: For outages that affect at least 10,000 Kenergy customers with restoration times estimated at more than 24 hours, the Member Services team will:

Actions:

• Videotape messages from Kenergy’s president and CEO or communications manager and post them online.
• Host press conferences in the Owensboro Board Room at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. daily.
• Take media representatives on a photo shoot immediately following the 10 a.m. press conference. 
• Contact all media outlets via e-mail at least twice daily. 
• Provide outage information via the co-op's automated phone system.
• Consider providing updates via telephone with an Internet-based calling system.

Level IV Outage: For outages that would be considered catastrophic events or in which the governor activates a state of emergency, such as the January 2009 ice storm, the Member Services team will:

Actions:

• Call in three outside communications managers – one for each district.
• Videotape messages from Kenergy’s president and CEO or communications manager and post them online. 
• Host press conferences in the Owensboro Board Room at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. daily. 
• Take media representatives on a photo shoot immediately following 10 a.m. press conference or post pictures online for media to retrieve. 
• Contact all media outlets via e-mail at least twice daily.  Each message will contain reminders about outage information on the co-op’s Web site and daily press conferences.
• Periodically use Kenergy's Internet-based calling system to communicate outage updates via telephone.
• Provide outage information via the co-op's automated telephone system.
• Activate the overflow call center, which can handle a larger volume of calls during an emergency.