Black Skies and Blue Weather

In 2003, the United States experienced one of the most widespread and lengthy interruptions in electric service ever recorded in North America. On a muggy summer day in August, warm temperatures caused a high voltage transmission line in Ohio to sag, making contact with untrimmed trees. For multiple reasons, including a glitch in software used by grid operators, the result was a cascade of outages across 8 states. The impact of such a wide scale regional outage was severe: around 50,000 customers experienced power outages, 11 people died as a direct or indirect result of the event, and the estimated economic losses resulting from the outage amounted to $6.4 billion.

The 2003 mass power outage event provided a wake up call for the owners and operators of our nation’s grid, prompting electric utilities to invest in building up the resilience of U.S. electric infrastructure. Now, almost 15 years later, our nation’s grid is moving in the direction of automation and interconnectivity, with electric infrastructure now able to “self heal” by identifying faulty lines and sectioning them off. However, we still have quite a ways to go before such technology is adopted at mass scale. Additionally, while more than $9 billion in government funding has been invested in the smart grid aspect of grid resiliency alone, much of our electric infrastructure remains outdated and prone to wear and tear. Just recently, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) administered a +D rating to U.S. electric grid infrastructure, citing aging equipment and increased demand as areas of concern.

ASCE’s infrastructure report also highlighted the role of climate change related impacts in weakening the grid’s capability to deliver electricity to customers. Climate change is poised to increase instances of severe weather events in the future, such as hurricanes and heatwaves, straining the grid’s capability to produce and deliver electricity. Such strain on our nation’s crumbling electric infrastructure has the potential to increase instances of blackouts in cities across the U.S. with sizeable populations, such as New York and Miami. Furthermore, the economic impacts of blackouts should not be underestimated. In general, power outages cost $150 billion in losses annually, with upwards of $70 billion a year in losses attributed to weather related outages. With severe weather events projected to increase, losses such as these could become the norm.

Outages at the local level are just the tip of the iceberg as the United States is set to experience more “Black Sky” events – power outages on a regional scale for an extended period of time. What is particularly frightening about these types of outages is that they cross state lines and are sustained over a period of days, weeks, or more. Meanwhile, critical infrastructure that provide vital services to citizens typically plan and prepare for outages extending up to 72 hours. The projected rise in severe weather is set to increase the likelihood of black sky events, and we must ensure that our nation is equipped to handle hazards associated with these types of situations. But are we prepared?

Electricity is a crucial element of response efforts during natural disasters. When a disaster strikes, emergency management officials – those in charge of safeguarding citizens from harm during hazardous situations – rely on data pertaining to the status of infrastructure supported by electric utilities to make well informed decisions about where their resources can be best put to use. Unfortunately, the current data sharing landscape between electric utilities and emergency managers is limited, as data shared by electric utilities do not align with the operational requirements of first responders.

Through testimonials with former emergency management officials and experts specializing in data sharing practices of electric utilities, as well as an analysis of current platforms in which data is shared to first responders, I have been able to identify three barriers impeding disaster response capabilities: a lack of automation and real time transmission of data, a lack of provision of data in the context of what is required for disaster response efforts, and a lack of standardization of data shared by utilities.

But, what policies are required in order to strengthen the data sharing practices of electric utilities?

Though my research and analysis are ongoing, it is my hope to soon recommend policies that facilitate conversations amongst policymakers that lead to tangible and innovative changes in the manner in which electric utilities support emergency managers during times of disaster.