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Electricity grid: When the lights go out

The resilience of distribution power grids is put to the test by daily operations as well as by extreme weather events such as hurricanes. An analysis of blackout data in upstate New York now reveals that larger blackouts have a disproportionate effect on grid reliability.

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Figure 1: Disrupted customers in upstate New York during Hurricane Sandy.

References

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Correspondence to Ian Dobson.

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Dobson, I. Electricity grid: When the lights go out. Nat Energy 1, 16059 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nenergy.2016.59

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