Understanding the Cost of Power Interruptions to U.S. Electricity Consumers

摘要

The massive electric power blackout in the northeastern United States and Canada on August 14-15, 2003 resulted in the U.S. electricity system being called 'antiquated' and catalyzed discussions about modernizing the grid. Industry sources suggested that investments of $50 to $100 billion would be needed. This report seeks to quantify an important piece of information that has been missing from these discussions: how much do power interruptions and fluctuations in power quality (power-quality events) cost U.S. electricity consumers. Accurately estimating this cost will help assess the potential benefits of investments in improving the reliability of the grid. We develop a comprehensive end-use framework for assessing the cost to U.S. electricity consumers of power interruptions and power-quality events (referred to collectively as 'reliability events').