Tracking the Reliability of the U.S. Electric Power System: An Assessment of Publicly Available Information Reported to State Public Utility Commissions

Technical Report · Fri Oct 10 04:00:00 EDT 2008

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/941540· OSTI ID:941540

LaCommare, Kristina H; Eto, Joseph H

Large blackouts, such as the August 14-15, 2003 blackout in the northeasternUnited States and Canada, focus attention on the importance of reliable electric service. As public and private efforts are undertaken to improve reliability and prevent power interruptions, it is appropriate to assess their effectiveness. Measures of reliability, such as the frequency and duration of power interruptions, have been reported by electric utilities to state public utility commissions for many years. This study examines current state and utility practices for collecting and reporting electricity reliability information and discusses challenges that arise in assessing reliability because of differences among these practices. The study is based primarily on reliability information for 2006 reported by 123 utilities to 37 state public utility commissions.

• Research Organization: Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA (US)
• Sponsoring Organization: Environmental Energy Technologies Division
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-05CH11231
• OSTI ID: 941540
• Report Number(s): LBNL-1092E
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
ELECTRIC UTILITIES
ELECTRICITY
OUTAGES
POWER SYSTEMS
RELIABILITY
power interruption
electric reliability
SAIDI
SAIFI