Major outage reports in 2016
141outage and grid-emergency reports filed with DOE for 2016
In 2016, 141 reports began; 2 fewer than 2015, when 143 began. July 2016 was the busiest month (27). The busiest day was 7 Oct 2016, with 5 reports across 4 states. Physical attacks, vandalism and suspicious activity lead 2016 at 35%; 59 of the 2016 reports list customers and 46 list 50,000 or more.
2016 by month
2016 reports by start month
- 7Jan
- 13Feb
- 10Mar
- 9Apr
- 10May
- 4Jun
- 27Jul
- 12Aug
- 14Sep
- 23Oct
- 3Nov
- 9Dec
Which states filed most in 2016
| State | Reports | Top count |
|---|---|---|
| Washington | 14 | 56,000 |
| Texas | 14 | 415,103 |
| California | 13 | 4,300 |
| Puerto Rico | 9 | 1,475,000 |
| Utah | 8 | 85,179 |
| Oregon | 8 | — |
| Florida | 8 | 1,200,000 |
| Massachusetts | 7 | 115,057 |
| North Carolina | 7 | 284,610 |
| Rhode Island | 6 | 115,057 |
| Connecticut | 6 | 115,057 |
| Vermont | 6 | 114,190 |
2016 reports by grid region
| Region | Reports | States | Customers listed |
|---|---|---|---|
| WECC | 54 | 10 | 323,798 |
| SERC | 22 | 11 | 1,363,282 |
| NPCC | 15 | 7 | 737,605 |
| RFC | 15 | 9 | 534,850 |
| TRE | 13 | 1 | 901,167 |
| PR | 8 | 1 | 1,049,000 |
| FRCC | 7 | 1 | 1,530,000 |
| MRO | 3 | 3 | 269,124 |
Customer totals add filings as made, so one outage filed twice counts twice. NERC regions are the reliability areas DOE lists on each 2016 report.
Busiest days of 2016
| Day | Reports | States | Top type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 Oct 2016 | 5 | 4 | Severe Weather |
| 7 Feb 2016 | 3 | 3 | Cyber Attack |
| 27 Apr 2016 | 3 | 2 | Vandalism |
| 8 Jul 2016 | 3 | 4 | Severe Weather |
| 14 Jul 2016 | 3 | 5 | Severe Weather |
| 2 Sep 2016 | 3 | 2 | Severe Weather |
| 8 Oct 2016 | 3 | 2 | Severe Weather |
| 24 Feb 2016 | 2 | 3 | Vandalism |
What 2016 reports were about
| Cause | Reports | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Physical attacks, vandalism and suspicious activity | 49 | 35% |
| Severe weather and natural disasters | 42 | 30% |
| Equipment failures and system operations | 35 | 25% |
| Fuel supply problems | 7 | 5% |
| Cyber events | 4 | 3% |
| Supply shortfalls, load shedding and public appeals | 3 | 2% |
| All other groups | 1 | 1% |
Years next to 2016
Sources
DOE OE-417 files hold 141 reports for 2016; snapshot 9 Dec 2024, method.
Questions
How many OE-417 reports were filed in 2016?
141 reports in the DOE file began in 2016, against 143 in 2015.
Which day of 2016 had the most outage reports?
7 Oct 2016, with 5 reports. The next busiest was 7 Feb 2016 (3).
What was the biggest outage report of 2016?
1,475,000 customers, in a report that began 21 Sep 2016 (Puerto Rico).