Cost of power interruptions to electricity consumers in the United States (US)

Kristina Hamachi LaCommare and Joseph H. Eto

Energy, 2006, vol. 31, issue 12, 1845-1855

Abstract: The massive electric power blackout in the northeastern US and Canada on August 14–15, 2003 catalyzed discussions about modernizing the US electricity grid. Industry sources suggested that investments of $50–100 billion would be needed. This work seeks to better understand an important piece of information that has been missing from these discussions: what do power interruptions and fluctuations in power quality (power-quality events) cost electricity consumers? We developed a bottom-up approach for assessing the cost to US electricity consumers of power interruptions and power-quality events (referred to collectively as “reliability events”). The approach can be used to help assess the potential benefits of investments in improving the reliability of the grid. We developed a new estimate based on publicly available information, and assessed how uncertainties in these data affect this estimate using sensitivity analysis.

Keywords: Power interruption; Power outage; Bottom-up approach; Power quality; Electric power reliability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2006
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (52)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:energy:v:31:y:2006:i:12:p:1845-1855

DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2006.02.008

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