Blueprints for Preparedness

Fowler Writes, Solves Theoretical Disasters – Helping Ensure Resilient and Reliable Operations

Tami Fowler always has a contingency plan – a bulwark of defense against the unknown.

As the Emergency Preparedness and Response senior program manager for Transmission Operations and Power Supply, she’s responsible for architecting problems as a way to preemptively solve them.

“We ensure that our standard policies and procedures have the correct details, so we know what to do in any type of emergency,” Fowler said.

She and her team are proactive, meticulously outlining strategies to navigate events that threaten to interrupt service. By supporting training and exercises that include both internal and external groups, Fowler is devising collaborative solutions to real-world problems.

She is also a certified emergency manager, an internationally recognized standard for excellence in this field.

“We stay proficient,” Fowler said. “We identify gaps in our processes and improve them before we are sitting in a real-world, real-time bad day.”

To simulate these bad days, Fowler and her team are constantly throwing new challenges into exercises to change things up and keep participants on their toes. To write these scenarios, Fowler studies events from the past and customizes them into a TVA context.

“We use an all-hazards planning approach because you can’t write a plan for every type of incident,” Fowler said. “This allows us to be prepared for almost anything, thus increasing our ability to pivot when necessary.”

Exercises provide a safe place to validate procedures as the team looks for ways to make their mitigation, response and recovery efforts better.

“We want to learn in a nonconsequential environment," Fowler said. "We want to make mistakes during exercises and challenge things with questions. You cannot become complacent in this job.”

With every new exercise, Fowler is reevaluating her approach – staying on the cutting edge of readiness. And doing that requires a broader sense of community. The power grid itself is made up of utilities across the country, but TVA is also connected in its emergency preparedness efforts.

“The information sharing across utilities is vital,” Fowler said. “We draw from each other’s experiences and learn from them. Our grid is interconnected, so we can share power, share our proficiencies and keep the stability of the larger grid intact.”

Preparedness is the best defense against the unknown, and resiliency is what keeps megawatts flowing.

“The real world is always asking you to pivot,” Fowler said. “We have to be ready to change at a moment’s notice.”

Fowler works in a high-stakes role, where she has to be at her best every day to ensure the safety of folks across the region.

That self-discipline follows her home, too. She takes care of her health, stays active and, for 17 years straight, has run the Peach Tree 10K in Atlanta.

“It’s a fun distance,” Fowler said. “It’s challenging but feels achievable at the same time. My mindset is always, ‘Just get to the next mile.’”

While she doesn’t necessarily follow a strict training regimen, she stays active and primed throughout the year.

Ever-ready is a recurring theme in her life – always prepared to take on the road ahead.

With every new mile and every new medal, Fowler is bettering herself to better the Valley region.