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Title: An insurance perspective on U.S. electric grid disruption costs

Journal Article · · The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance. Issues and Practice
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1057/gpp.2016.9· OSTI ID:1342541
 [1];  [2]
  1. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
  2. Hartford Steam Boiler Insurance and Inspection Company, Hartford, CT (United States)

Large yet infrequent disruptions of electrical power can impact tens of millions of people in a single event, triggering significant economic damages, portions of which are insured. Small and frequent events are also significant in the aggregate. This article explores the role that insurance claims data can play in better defining the broader economic impacts of grid disruptions in the U.S. context. We developed four case studies, using previously unpublished data for specific actual grid disruptions. The cases include the 1977 New York City blackout, the 2003 Northeast blackout, multi-year national annual lightning-related electrical damage and multi-year national line-disturbance events. Insured losses represent between 3 and 64 per cent of total loss costs across the case studies. Here, the household sector emerges as a larger locus of costs than indicated in previous studies, and short-lived events emerge as important sources of loss costs.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
Energy Analysis & Environmental Impacts; USDOE
OSTI ID:
1342541
Report Number(s):
LBNL-1006392; ir:1006392
Journal Information:
The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance. Issues and Practice, Vol. 41, Issue 4; ISSN 1018-5895
Publisher:
SpringerCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (8)

Economic Growth in the Face of Weather and Climate Extremes: A Call for Better Data journal June 2013
A Global Review of Insurance Industry Responses to Climate Change journal July 2009
US billion-dollar weather and climate disasters: data sources, trends, accuracy and biases journal February 2013
Equipment failures caused by power quality disturbances conference January 2004
Large blackouts in North America: Historical trends and policy implications journal December 2009
Cost of power interruptions to electricity consumers in the United States (US) journal September 2006
Power-generation system vulnerability and adaptation to changes in climate and water resources journal January 2016
Scoping study on trends in the economic value of electricity reliability to the U.S. economy report June 2001

Cited By (1)

A flexible framework for modeling customer damage functions for power outages journal November 2018

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