In anticipation of  a man-made or natural disaster Casper is one of 43 cities across the nation that's accepted  federal funds for use in  creating an emergency energy plan.   That plan would be in place  should a disaster lead to a disruption of our energy supply.   Assessing our vulnerabilities and building that plan kicked off Friday.

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Called an Energy Assurance Plan, consultants hired by the city of Casper met with stakeholders as part of an advisory group and began putting together an energy profile.  That profile will be used to assess the ability of Casper and surrounding communities to respond to a prolonged energy outage.

"We're trying to gauge the current plans, policies, and procedures in place to help deal with energy emergencies and start to build a stronger partnership between public and private entities that might have to respond to an energy emergency."

Jeff Brislawn, is a hazard and mitigation consultant, with A-Mec Earth and Environmental.

Amongst those gathered Friday were representatives from local hospitals, Casper College, energy providers, and city and county first responders.

Brislawn says the first step is to gather information.

"This would be information that will help us build the energy profile.  So we have a baseline of information of what the energy usage and needs are for the city so that when an emergency occurs we have something to compare against."

Brislawn says they want to complete a vulnerability assessment by May.

A final plan would prioritize critical infrastructure and include who gets fuel in the case of a shortage and who makes that decision. The group next meets in August and wants a plan in place by the end of the year.

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