As Hurricane Harvey approaches Texas, the Department of Energy (DOE) is monitoring energy infrastructure and coordinating responses with its partners.
August 25, 2017
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As Hurricane Harvey impacts Texas, the Department of Energy (DOE) is closely monitoring energy infrastructure impacts and coordinating across the federal community, state and local governments, and with industry partners. DOE emergency responders are now staffing the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) National Response Coordination Center in Washington, DC and the Regional Response Coordination Center in Denton, TX as well as the Texas State Emergency Operations Center in Austin, TX. DOE emergency responders facilitate communication and situational awareness of energy sector requirements and impacts and provide subject matter expertise to expedite restoration.
DOE is issuing publicly-available situation reports based on the storm’s impact, and on restoration activities being undertaken. Those updates are available at the Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability’s website.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicts catastrophic and life-threatening flooding, which could have an impact on power substations and other energy infrastructure resulting in longer restoration times. The energy sector has prepared for Hurricane Harvey by pre-positioning additional crews, supplies, and equipment to support emergency restoration work. Further, electricity, oil, and natural gas industry partners are conducting daily coordination calls with DOE to identify gaps in resources and coordinate response efforts. This event is of extended duration. So in the event of service disruption, residents may need to be patient until conditions are deemed safe for utility work crews to begin their work. As the Edison Electric Institute explains, flooding creates a unique and dangerous environment for restoring power. To learn more about the process that electric companies follow during restoration under flooding conditions, click HERE.
Devon Streit
Deputy Assistant Secretary, Infrastructure Security and Energy Restoration
Devon Streit, a career member of the Senior Executive Service, serves as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Infrastructure Security and Energy Restoration in the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER). The Infrastructure Security and Energy Restoration (ISER) Division works with other U.S. government agencies, state and local partners, and industry to enhance the security and resilience of critical energy infrastructure, and facilitate the reconstruction and recovery of damaged or disrupted energy systems.
Ms. Streit most recently served as a Senior Advisor in the Office of the Secretary of Energy with a portfolio that spanned international science projects including the multi-national ITER fusion energy facility being built in Cadarache, France; DOE National Laboratory issues, technology transfer and commercialization, and project management.
Prior to this, she was the DOE Associate Director of Science for Laboratory Policy and Evaluation. As such, she was responsible for developing uniform Office of Science-specific policies related to the management, operation, and stewardship of its ten National Laboratories. These included the competition or extension of the laboratory management and operating (M&O) contracts; running fair and rigorous annual laboratory planning and performance appraisal processes; and overseeing policies and programs related to Work for Others (WFO), Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) and Technology Transfer (TT).
Within the Office of Science, Ms. Streit also held positions as Acting Deputy Chief Operating Officer and as a Senior Advisor to the Director. Ms. Streit has spent much of her professional career managing, advising on, and supporting the nation’s science and technology enterprise. She came to the Department in 2001 from a career that spanned State government (Ohio), DOE National Laboratories (Sandia), not-for-profit institutions, and for-profit companies, in each case focused on promoting scientific research and addressing the policy issues that affect the use and commercialization of science and technology. Her areas of expertise include technology road-mapping—a form of strategic planning for research and development (R&D) organizations—strategic planning for scientific organizations, focus group and scientific meeting facilitation, performance measurement, and the qualities of research institutions that foster excellent research.
Ms. Streit received her B.A. in Neurobiology from Vassar College in 1985 and her M.A. in Science Policy from George Washington University in 1992.