Industrial electric power systems operating competency - a looming crisis?

Petrochemical and other industrial and commercial facilities depend on continuous and reliable electric power. Although there is much focus on hardware, there has been little attention given to avoidable errors in operation of the industrial power systems. These errors have personnel and process safety, process uptime and operating/maintenance cost implications. This paper addresses an analysis of electric power disruptions from "inside the fence" causes over a 4-year period in the global operations of a large chemical company. The underlying causes suggest problems in maintaining knowledge, skills and experience in engineering, technical and risk management disciplines essential to power system operations. The authors have surveyed other large industrials to validate these findings and to project trends that could impact the chemical industry.