Findings from a new WSU study suggest that power outage data is insufficient for identifying socially vulnerable communities at increased risk of experiencing more frequent and longer power outages.
Published in the journal PLOS ONE, the study covered 2018-2021 outage data for 27 Washington state counties served by 14 electric utilities. The researchers looked at the relationship between four factors of social vulnerability—poverty level, unemployment, disability and limited English proficiency—and the frequency and duration of power outages. To control for differences in weather, they also looked at the relationship between power outages and temperature, wind, and precipitation levels in each county.
The researchers found that wind and precipitation are associated with increased frequency and duration of power outages. Lead study author Claire Richards said this could point to atmospheric rivers as a potential cause of power outages, noting that climate change is expected to drive an increase in this type of weather event. They also found associations between social vulnerability factors and power outage frequency and duration that were statistically significant but weak.
The study uncovered data quality issues that limit the analysis of outages to the county level, making it difficult to identify which areas are most in need of interventions to reduce the health risks of power outages. These issues may also explain why the study found only weak associations between social vulnerability factors and power outages. The researchers noted that more reliable data with a higher level of geographical detail is needed to examine the impact of power outages on vulnerable populations. Having access to data by census tract—a small geographic area that has between 2,500 and 8,000 residents—could help them better identify those vulnerable populations that are most impacted, which could help inform public health efforts to reduce disparities. This could be achieved through regulatory changes requiring electric utilities—particularly large utility companies—to share data in a consistent format.
