Journal of Critical Infrastructure Policy
Apart from cyber-attack , the U . S . Department of Homeland Security considers space weather and power grid failure as “ significant risk events .” Today ’ s complex , integrated , and inter-connected power grid system can be severely affected and damaged from severe solar storms ( NASA 2020 ) or human-related EMP events . It is incumbent on electricity providers and others to assess the benefits and costs to mitigate these types of low probability-high impact contingencies . Policies should enable and require the grid to devote sufficient resources to mitigate such eventualities .
Limitations
One noteworthy limitation of this research is that from 2000-2014 , OE-417 reported power outage causes in abbreviated terminology or labels rather than through descriptive narrative . That is , standard terms are provided , e . g ., vandalism , cyber-attack , and suspicious activity . But no qualifying narratives , further direction , or clear explanations of events are provided .
In 2018 , modifications to OE-417 added definitions for causes of outages , which improved the accuracy of reported information . However , the reported causes of outages would significantly benefit from additional information to assist both power suppliers and researchers in understanding the full scope of the cause of the power outages .
Another notable limitation is that this database is compiled from public reports of power outages from jurisdictions with mandatory reporting requirements . Thus , these reports do not capture unreported power outage data not required for submission by policy , statute or law ( Wirfs-Brock 2014 ). Additionally , reporting outage information using OE-417 provides incomplete data regarding the range of variables that may be implicated in a single or multiple outage events . Additional supportive information as obtained through Energy Information Administration surveys and other sources could assist in triangulating the causation and characteristics of power outages . This could assist more comprehensive and accurate disclosure of power grid disruptions and outages .
Conclusions
This study suggests future research to expand and improve the understanding of large power outages , their consequences for multiple stakeholders , and strategies to reduce their occurrence and impacts . The first approach , described above , would involve DOE collecting and curating additional information using Form OE-417 . Linking additional DOE with other information sources , such as data sharing by NERC members , could enable important researchable topics . Ideally , this would be augmented by a forensic capacity to validate key occurrences and to upgrade information post event deemed important for database integrity .
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