POWERGRAMS

2 When Freda Henderson's power went out on a recent Sunday night, there was not a cloud in the sky. But she said the outage alert text she received from Alabama Power reassured her that she would not be in the dark for long. "When you are in the dark and you know there's not a storm, receiving a text from Alabama Power relieves all the stress," said Henderson, of Mount Vernon. "When nothing is working and you are not aware of what is going on inside and outside, that makes you fearful. But the text gives you the assurance that the lights are not going to be out all night, and that's great." Darnell Wingfield added that a text notification of a recent weekend service interruption at his family's Mobile restaurant, Saucy Q Bar B Que, saved him money and time. "It was Sunday night when I got the text saying that the power had gone out and been restored at our restaurant," said Wingfield. "If it had stayed out and I didn't know that my freezers were down, I could have had a whole lot of spoilage and lost a lot of money, so I really appreciated receiving the outage alert." In May 2021, Alabama Power introduced two customer communication tools – personalized outage alerts and an interactive outage map. These tools are designed to help keep customers like Henderson and Wingfield informed, particularly during storms. When the power blinks, flickers and goes out altogether, customers can receive outage alerts on their cellphone or computer, which will let them know when the power is out in their area and provide an estimated time of repair (ETR). On July 18, all customers who have cellphone numbers registered to their Alabama Power account will be automatically enrolled in the outage alert system, allowing them to receive texts or emails anytime there is a power outage at their house or in the surrounding neighborhood. "We want to give customers what they want without them having to ask for it," said Customer Service Technology Analyst Julie Downs- McCormick. "Customers expect to get alerts and push notifications now. They're getting them from their bank, restaurants and other utilities, and we want to make sure we're delivering them, too." Wayne Boone added that customers can receive regular updates on the progress of the work and, when possible, the cause of the outage. "Now we have the capability to let customers know what caused the outage, the response status, such as whether the crew has been assigned or is en route to the affected area, and the estimated time of repair," said Boone, principal, Power Delivery Technology. "Customers have been asking for this information, and now we can provide it." Along with providing information during storms, Boone said customers receive text alerts notifying them of planned interruptions in their area, a feature offered by few utilities. Alabama Power's online outage map provides customers another way to track power outages. They can simply go to OutageMap.AlabamaPower.com and search by their address, county, ZIP code, city or municipality. They can also access live weather radar via the map. "The map provides what the texts do not – the location of the outages statewide and the number of customers without power in each area," said Downs-McCormick. "A lot of times, customers think they are the only ones without power. The map adds a little bit of comfort by letting them know they are not the only ones in the dark." A TEAM EFFORT Beginning in 2018, a team of employees from across the state joined forces to design and develop the outage alert system, said Boone. As part of their preliminary research, they checked out other electric utilities that had successful outage alert programs and used those findings as they worked to create Alabama Power's system. Then, on Oct. 31, 2019, Alabama Power launched a pilot program to introduce outage alerts to employees. Boone said the rollout turned into a "trial by fire," when an unexpected thunderstorm popped up that day, TECHNOLOGY OVERCOMING OUTAGES NEW ALERT SYSTEM SENDS UPDATES TO KEEP CUSTOMERS INFORMED New online tools help keep customers informed.

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