april 000001 - Illuminating Engineering Society

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .M A N A G E M E N T. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M . A . N . A . G E . M . E . N T. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .T H E‘EVERY LIGHT...EVERY NIGHT.’ PHILADELPHIA’S STREET LIGHTINGMAINTENANCE PLAN REALLY IS THAT SIMPLE—AND THAT CHALLENGINGPhilad elphiaStoryBy Joseph M. DoyleThere have been several well-known versions of “ThePhiladelphia Story” over the past 250 years. In1776, the city hosted the signing of the Declarationof Independence. This was followed in 1940 by the legendaryKatharine Hepburn movie about a wealthysocialite living on Philadelphia’s Main Line. The 2004 versionof The Philadelphia Story involves the city’s efforts atproviding a street lighting system that approaches 100percent reliability.The program is known as “Every Light...Every Night.”The goal, quite simply, is to operate every one of the city’s100,000 streetlights properly every night of the year. Todate, the results have been impressive. The city scored a99.4 percent “on” rate in 2003, bringing the three-yearaverage for the program to 99.5 percent (Table 6).Reaching this goal, however, is not so simple. It requiresthe constant efforts of scores of people and the continuousallocation of resources by the city and its contractors.The full participation of the local electric utility is alsoessential, since it must provide dependable electrical serviceto the street lighting system on a daily basis.There is much more to street lighting maintenance thanthe traditional view of simply replacing burned-out lamps.We must move toward developing a more comprehensiveprogram based on customer service. By striving towardthis higher level of service, lighting maintenance willimprove, and the public will ultimately be better served.The long-term ability of the street lighting system tomeet these higher levels of performance is totallydependent on the successful development of a trulycomprehensive maintenance program. Besides thenormal day-to-day repairs, implementation of such anexpanded maintenance program must include thelong-term planning and investment necessary for thePARTNERS RESPONSIBILITIES ANNUAL COSTPhiladelphiaStreet LightingDivisionStreet LightingMaintenanceContractorPECO EnergyTable 1 - The Philadelphia Partnership100,000 streetlight systemRepair knockdown polesReplace defective luminairesContract ManagementEngineering ServicesModernization ProgramDaily system management4-year Contract periodMaintains lamps and photocontrolsNight patrolling and repairsWork order systemComputer databaseCustomer servicesElectrical power distribution20,000 underground tap connections80,000 wooden utility polesEmergency ServicesTotal Maintenance Cost$2 million$1 million$12 million$15 millioncontinuous upgrading of the entire lighting system.Table 2 - Maintenance Contractor Summary2001 2002 2003Monthly 1318 1450 1460RepairsDaily 44 48 49RepairsStreetlights 44 48 49OFFTable 2-Represents the number of streetlight repairs completedby the maintenance contractor. There were an average of1318 repairs per month (44 per day) in 2001, 1450 per month(48 per day) in 2002 and 1460 per month (49 per day) in 2003.Since each one of these repairs reflects a streetlight out of serviceon a daily basis, it is used in the final calculation of thenumber of streetlights out of service citywide each night.Philadelphia PartnershipWhile the City of Philadelphia directly owns the streetlighting system, two other business partners play significantroles in its daily maintenance and operation. Boththe city-paid street lighting maintenance contractor andPECO Energy share responsibility for the nightly performanceof the street lighting system. Routine maintenanceis performed by a combination of city personnel and privatecontractors. While a private contractor performsmost maintenance services on a nightly basis, cityemployees are responsible for all major repairs includingknockdown poles and luminaire replacements. Electricalservice repairs are referred to the local utility.PECO Energy supplies electrical power to the entirestreet lighting system through their combined aerial andunderground distribution systems. Of the total 100,000streetlights, 80,000 are attached to PECO wooden utilitypoles, and the remaining 20,000 city-owned streetlightpoles are fed from PECO underground circuits. Thesebusiness partners have formed an alliance that we call thePhiladelphia Partnership (Table 1).Each partner has a well-defined area of responsibility;shares a common service goal; and tracks their respectiveperformance on a daily basis. By closely monitoring theoperation of the lighting system and then measuring thenumber of lights out of service, the partners are able todetermine overall system performance. This data is thenused to identify areas of improvement where each partnercan upgrade the quality of their maintenance services.The Partnership “ABCs” are as follows:Accountability is achieved through regularly scheduledmonthly management meetings, clearly defined responsibilitiesof each of the partners, and the establishment ofpriorities by each of the partners. Each partner acceptstheir responsibilities toward the public and to each otherwhen questions arise from the media or elected officialson ownership and delivery of maintenance services.Brainstorming is a solutions-based approach to problemsolving that encourages out-of-the box thinking bymembers of the operations team and field-tests the latestavailable lighting technologies. This approach has led tothe installation of longer life non-cycling HPS (high-pressuresodium) lamps as a system-wide standard. The abilityto test new ideas has always been encouraged by thecity as our way of keeping pace with changing businessmethods and advancements in technology.Communication is always essential to any partnershipand is achieved on a daily basis with a continuousexchange of information at the field supervisory level.This kind of discussion can often lead to the solution ofcommon maintenance problems by field personnel. Thesharing of common goals by each partner also allows thecommunication process to reach its full potential. Forexample, severe weather conditions can have an immediateimpact on field operations by the electric utility. Highwinds often require an immediate change of assignmentsfrom routine lighting repairs to emergency storm damagework. We are always cooperative when the prioritieschange to accommodate public safety.The combined efforts of this partnership have challengedeach one of us to continuously improve our levelsof performance. Recent budget cutbacks and personnelreductions have actually strengthened our resolve to worktogether and achieve our shared goals.What follows is a detailed look at the role each entity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . February . . . . 2004 . . . LD+A . . . . 46. . www.iesna.org. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.iesna.org . . . . . . . . 47. . LD+A . . . February . . . . 2004 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .