POWER February 2020 - 37

EMERGENCY POWER
2. Hurricane Irma caused significant damage to power lines in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. This
image taken by a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) first-responder captures
some of the damage to electrical distribution infrastructure on Sept. 7, 2017. Irma was a Category
5 storm when it made landfall in the Virgin Islands. Source: Ron Alexander Jr. / Western
Area Power Administration
developed their own codes. Because
of the level of effort required to write
and maintain effective building codes,
private organizations were formed with
the charge to write and maintain 'model'
building codes. "
After about 2000, the three major
regional building codes merged into a
common code, the International Building
Code (IBC). FEMA built on that in
its model code aimed at backup power.
The FEMA document pertains to building
new facilities to withstand power
outages for critical loads. But most loads
are not new and covered by the IBC, and
must figure out how to prevent outages
from degrading their operations that can
economically devastate their businesses
or risk public health.
Diesel Service and Supply, a Colorado
company that provides backup power solutions
to commercial and industrial customers,
has posited, " In an emergency, is
your commercial building prepared? What
would happen if a major storm hit your
area with a large-scale power failure that
resulted in complete loss of power? If your
commercial facility is anything like many
others across the nation, it is likely ill-prepared
to handle a sustained power failure. "
Is the Risk Increasing?
The Washington Post's Weather Gang
reported in 2014 that the non-profit Climate
Central said its analysis, based on
Department of Energy (DOE) and North
American Electric Reliability Corp. data,
showed " a stunning ten-fold increase in
outages " between 1984 and 2012. Some
of that is clearly due to increased outage
reporting over that 28-year period,
as electric supply has become increasingly
important to critical loads, including
computer-driven loads impacted by
February 2020 | POWER
power quality issues.
Also increasing the number of outages
is the aging U.S. power grid infrastructure
and the heightened focus by
state and local regulators on utility maintenance
and oversight practices. That
has played a role in the intense attention
to grid infrastructure in California following
the series of catastrophic fires in fireprone,
arid areas of the Golden State.
Changes in the climate from global
warming may also be a factor. The 2014
Climate Central report observed, " Climate
change is, at most, partially responsible for
this recent increase in major power outages,
which is a product of an aging grid
serving greater electricity demand, and an
increase in storms and extreme weather
events that damage this system. " A warming
world may be producing " more fuel for
increasingly intense and violent storms,
heat waves, and wildfires. "
There is some expert skepticism about
the link between climate and extreme
weather. Climate scientist Roger Pielke
Jr. at the University of Colorado, Boulder
has long argued that there is no empirical
evidence, so far, that such weather
phenomena have actually increased recently
in a statistically significant fashion.
He doesn't deny global warming but
cautions that weather phenomena don't
provide evidence.
Diesel Service and Supply said, " The
U.S. power grid has been slowly improving
its load capacity and monitoring technology
for years so the ability to handle
the increasing load has greatly improved,
but this does little
in the overall unplanned
outage department. "
In 2018, the DOE's Energy Information
Administration (EIA) took a look at
electric distribution outage data by state,
measuring the frequency and duration of
www.powermag.com
power interruptions. The agency found,
" In 2016, customers experienced an average
of 1.3 interruptions and went without
power for four hours during the year.
Although some distribution customers
have backup generators that provide auxiliary
power, most customers are without
electricity when outages occur. "
Most short-term power outages are at
the distribution level, as the EIA acknowledged.
While high-voltage transmission
outages caused by hurricanes and large
wildfires garner the most media coverage,
the day-to-day distribution system accounts
for the bulk of customer outages.
The EIA looked at both the frequency
of power outages and their duration.
The agency also distinguished between
outages " without major events " by utility
types. According to the analysis, the
majority of outages were minor, while
the duration between minor and major
outages was about equal. Municipal utilities
fared the best for both frequency
and duration, while electric cooperatives
were the worst, with investor-owned
utilities falling in between. The rural coop
ratings may reflect their rural characteristic,
with longer distribution lines
over more difficult terrain.
What to Do?
Diesel Service and Supply, which has an
obvious commercial interest in providing
backup power, has some commonsense
advice for commercial electric customers.
It also applies well to all electric
customers who face hardships if power
fails. And that's almost everybody.
■ Be Prepared. The company says,
" The time to prepare is before an
emergency-not after. Being proactive
in protecting your commercial
facility prior to a power outage occurring
is a must. "
■ Make a Plan. " No matter what type
of facility you are managing (manufacturing
plant, data center, telecom
packaging plant, agricultural operation,
processing facility, commercial
building, etc.) you should have a thorough
plan in place to deal with power
outages of all types-from short term
to extended. "
The company notes that " in today's
world of high reliance on electricity
and power,
it's not will a failure happen,
it's when. " ■
-Kennedy Maize is a long-time
energy journalist and a frequent
contributor to POWER.
37

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POWER February 2020

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