Since 2000, outages caused by severe weather events have occurred on average over 76 times per year. In 2020, the average U.S. customer went over eight hours without power. Winter Storm Uri devastated the Texas grid, leaving 246 dead, with 161 dying from frostbite or hypothermia, and another 25 deaths resulting from disruption of oxygen treatment, freezing of medical devices, or loss of power while on electricity dependent equipment. The loss of power also resulted in nineteen dying from carbon monoxide poisoning caused by using alternate heat sources. With the increasing occurrence of severe weather events, utilities must be prepared for outages and take efforts to mitigate them when possible.
Some states require mitigation to reduce the threat of outages. California, for example, requires wildfire mitigation, including vegetation maintenance and power shutoffs during times when strong winds, extreme heat, and other related conditions are present. The final 2024 recommendations of the California Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety, Wildfire Safety Advisory Board may be found here. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) has recently approved the North American Electric Reliability Corporation’s (“NERC”) proposed reliability standards, requiring utilities to implement freeze protection measures that would keep generation running during periods of extreme cold weather. FERC also directed NERC to modify reliability standards in order to plan for the reliability of the transmission system during extreme heat and cold weather conditions.
Further measures can be taken to reduce outages. Building transmission infrastructure to increase redundancy is one way to reduce the threat of outages. Undergrounding is another option, though the costs and impacts to ratepayers of undergrounding infrastructure are of continued concern, technological advancements are decreasing the cost of doing so. The federal government provides loans and grants to assist in making the grid more resilient. A guide of the available programs may be found here.
While efforts may be taken to reduce the occurrence of such outages, utilities can take additional actions to be prepared for when they do occur. Proactive emergency response plans can be developed to coordinate critical repairs before and after an event. Utilities can coordinate with suppliers and ensure that a prepared supply chain exists when there is a spike in demand for limited parts. Emergency Restoration Systems (ERS) are temporary, modular, quick-erect towers that can be raised in less than a day and address power outages and divert circuits where needed. Microgrids can also be used to provide localized power generation and distribution during outages.
While severe weather events are inevitable, efforts can be taken to mitigate their effects. Utilities can also be prepared for when these events do occur to ensure that power returns to the grid as swiftly as possible.
For more information on mitigating and preparing for outages, and for assistance in applying for federal grid resilience programs, please contact Sean Neal or Lisa Gast.
