Household impacts of interruption to electric power and water services

Alexia Stock, Rachel A. Davidson (), James Kendra, V. Nuno Martins, Bradley Ewing, Linda K. Nozick, Kate Starbird and Maggie Leon-Corwin
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Alexia Stock: University of Delaware
Rachel A. Davidson: University of Delaware
James Kendra: University of Delaware
V. Nuno Martins: University of Delaware
Bradley Ewing: Texas Tech University
Linda K. Nozick: Cornell University
Kate Starbird: University of Washington
Maggie Leon-Corwin: Oklahoma State University

Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, 2023, vol. 115, issue 3, No 20, 2279-2306

Abstract: Abstract Critical infrastructure systems derive their importance from the societal needs they help meet. Yet the relationship between infrastructure system functioning and societal functioning is not well-understood, nor are the impacts of infrastructure system disruptions on consumers. We develop two empirical measures of societal impacts—willingness to pay (WTP) to avoid service interruptions and a constructed scale of unhappiness, compare them to each other and others from the literature, and use them to examine household impacts of service interruptions. Focusing on household-level societal impacts of electric power and water service interruptions, we use survey-based data from Los Angeles County, USA, to fit a random effects within-between model of WTP and an ordinal logit with mixed effects to predict unhappiness, both as a function of infrastructure type, outage duration, and household attributes. Results suggest household impact increases nonlinearly with outage duration, and the impact of electric power disruptions is greater than water supply disruptions. Unhappiness is better able to distinguish the effects of shorter-duration outages than WTP is. Some people experience at least some duration of outage without negative impact. Increased household impact was also associated with using electricity for medical devices or water for work or business, perceived likelihood of an emergency, worry about an emergency, past negative experiences with emergencies, lower level of preparation, less connection to the neighborhood, higher income, being married, being younger, having pets, and having someone with a medical condition in the house. Financial, time/effort, health, and stress concerns all substantially influence the stated level of unhappiness.

Keywords: Infrastructure system; Lifeline; Outage; Electric power; Water; Household (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1007/s11069-022-05638-8

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