ALABAMA POWERS BACK UP

Utilities try to learn from past experiences. For Alabama Power, an operating company of Southern Co, the lessons learned from past Gulf hurricanes, including Dennis and Ivan, laid the groundwork for its response to Katrina. While the state did not face the kind of death and devastation of Louisiana and Mississippi, Alabama power needed to restore services to 636,891 customers who lost power. The utility created eight staging areas in fields or department-store parking lots to work with five permanent Alabama Power facilities to restore services. One of the key software applications developed by Alabama Power's IT staff is helping manage the dispatching and logistics of people and trucks.