As our electric power distribution infrastructure has aged, considerable investmenthas been applied to modernizing the electrical power grid through weatherizationand in deployment of real-time monitoring systems. A key question is whether or notthese investments are reducing the number and duration of power outages, leading toimproved reliability.Statistical methods are applied to analyze electrical disturbance data (from theDepartment of Energy, DOE) and reliability index data (from state utility public servicecommission regulators) to detect signs of improvement. The number of installedsmart meters provided by several utilities is used to determine whether the numberof smart meters correlate with a reduction in outage frequency.Indication emerged that the number of power outages may be decreasing overtime. The magnitude of power loss has decreased from 2003 to 2007, and behavescyclically from 2008 to 2014, with a few outlier points in both groups. The durationalso appears to be decreasing between 2003-2014.Large blackout events exceeding 5 GW continue to be rare, and certain poweroutage events are seasonally dependent. There was a linear relationship betweenthe number of customers and the magnitude of a power outage event. However, norelationship was found between the magnitude of power outages and time to restorepower. The frequency of outages maybe decreasing as the number of installed smartmeters has increased.Recommendations for inclusion of additional metrics, changes to formatting andsemantics of datasets currently provided by federal and state regulators are made tohelp aid researchers in performing more effective analysis. Confounding variables andlack of information that has made the analysis diffcult is also discussed.
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