David Andreatta

@david_andreatta

Two recent windstorms toppled 730 of RG&E's utility poles, cutting off power to thousands

In 2011, RG&E said 21,000 of its poles, roughly 10% of the total, were more than 60 years old

Its latest five-year capital plan projects spending only $3.2 million on replacing poles by 2020

About 730 poles owned by Rochester Gas and Electric Corp. toppled in the two windstorms that clobbered the region recently, according to the utility, and the state Public Service Commission wants to know why.

Even before Gov. Andrew Cuomo directed the commission to investigate RG&E's preparation and response to the winds, the commission called the 150 poles damaged in the first storm "higher than usual."

That would put the 581 poles that fell in the second storm off the charts.

► MORE: Was Rochester Gas and Electric prepared?

If the commission is serious about looking into why so many poles succumbed to the wind, it should open the RG&E five-year capital investment plans and annual capital expenditure reports it has on file.

Those documents forecast the company's infrastructure upgrades and how much was spent on improvements, and RG&E is required to file them with the commission every year.

The reading is as dry as some of those downed utility poles, but the documents reveal a lot about the company's priorities.

What those reports suggest is that RG&E has thousands upon thousands of poles at the end of their lifespan, and that the company is nowhere near meeting a goal it set in 2011 to replace the poles with new ones.

► More: Gov. Cuomo critical of RG&E's windstorm response

► More: Storm cleanup to cost millions

An inventory the company took that year found that nearly one in 10 of its poles — 21,000 of 226,000 — were over 60 years old.

In its reports for that year, the company introduced the "Distribution Pole Replacement Program" to swap those aging poles for new ones, citing industry data showing "that after a pole reaches 60 years old, the probability of it being defective rises significantly."

Those reports projected spending $22 million on the program to replace nearly 12,000 old poles by 2015, assuming a replacement cost of $1,855 per pole.

But subsequent reports suggest that never happened.

►Editorial: It is okay to ask if RG&E was prepared for windstorm

RG&E spent millions on the program for a couple of years — including $7.3 million in 2012 and $4.1 million in 2013 — but then the money appeared to dry up, just like the aging poles.

Capital expenditure reports for 2014 and 2015, which are the most recent available, don't mention the pole replacement program.

The company's latest five-year capital plan, filed last year, projected spending a much lower $3.2 million on replacing poles by 2020.

RG&E representatives have blamed the unusually high wind gusts for the pole damage, with one telling a local television news station, "You can see a new pole come down just as much as an old pole."

Perhaps.

But when winds down 581 poles, as the company estimated happened during the second windstorm, and knock out power to 92,000 customers, it is reasonable to ask whether the age of those poles played a role.

Right now, RG&E isn't prepared to answer.

In response to detailed questions posed early in the week about the age of poles in the company's inventory and replacements, spokeswoman Juanita Washington replied Friday: "Unfortunately, at this time we are not able to provide information for your questions. I will keep you updated."

Please do.

There are other curiosities in the RG&E annual reports, too.

For three years running — 2012, 2013 and 2014 — the company appears to have copied and pasted into its capital plans its strategy for discarding its most vulnerable poles.

"The company(y) plan(s) to replace over a five-year period poles greater than 75 years old," each of the plans reads. "Pole inspections show rejection rates increasing rapidly at 50-60 years. RG&E has 3,832 poles greater than 75 years old."

The carbon copies suggest the company either made no progress on replacing those poles during those years or that it wasn't concerned with accuracy.

By the 2015 capital plan, the company altered its goal to replace the poles over a "five-year period" to simply "systematically replace" them at some point. That plan reported RG&E as having 8,937 poles greater than 70 years old in its inventory.

There's no reason to doubt RG&E's commitment to getting the region up and running again after the power outages. Linemen worked through several days and nights in harsh conditions to turn the lights and heat on.

The question is whether the company could have made it easier on their linemen — and their customers.

David Andreatta is a Democrat and Chronicle columnist. He can be reached at dandreatta@gannett.com.