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Decoding Resilience by Modeling Outage and Restoration Processes in Distribution Grids: A Pittsburgh Case Study

Conference · · 2025 IEEE Texas Power and Energy Conference (TPEC)
 [1]
  1. University of Pittsburgh, PA (United States)

Climate-induced extreme weather events, such as floods and heatwaves, pose significant challenges to the resilience of urban power distribution grids. This paper examines the outage and restoration dynamics of Pittsburgh's power grid during the flood event in April 2024 and three heatwaves in June, July, and August 2024. We introduce a comprehensive modeling framework that integrates outage and restoration processes, enabling the quantification of resilience metrics, including total customer-hours of power outage, maximum residual values, and restoration durations across various ZIP codes. Our analysis highlights spatial disparities in outage impacts and restoration efficiencies, with ZIP Code 15222 experiencing the highest cumulative disruptions, while ZIP Code 15217 shows lower susceptibility. By linking statistical trends with weather events, this study underscores the critical need for targeted infrastructure upgrades and advanced restoration strategies. Furthermore, the proposed framework offers valuable insights for planning and managing resilient power systems in the face of increasing climate stress.

Research Organization:
University of Pittsburgh, PA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Solar Energy Technologies Office
DOE Contract Number:
EE0010413
OSTI ID:
2568237
Journal Information:
2025 IEEE Texas Power and Energy Conference (TPEC), Journal Name: 2025 IEEE Texas Power and Energy Conference (TPEC)
Publisher:
IEEE
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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