Major outage reports in 2020
373outage and grid-emergency reports filed with DOE for 2020
In 2020, 373 reports began; 102 more than 2019, when 271 began. August 2020 was the busiest month (74). The busiest day was 4 Aug 2020, with 13 reports across 12 states. Severe weather and natural disasters lead 2020 at 42%; 167 of the 2020 reports list customers and 124 list 50,000 or more.
2020 by month
2020 reports by start month
- 21Jan
- 21Feb
- 25Mar
- 45Apr
- 24May
- 20Jun
- 31Jul
- 74Aug
- 27Sep
- 38Oct
- 21Nov
- 26Dec
Which states filed most in 2020
2020 reports by grid region
| Region | Reports | States | Customers listed |
|---|---|---|---|
| WECC | 118 | 10 | 7,102,014 |
| SERC | 67 | 15 | 5,968,343 |
| RF | 57 | 14 | 4,167,551 |
| NPCC | 41 | 8 | 3,888,211 |
| TRE | 39 | 7 | 2,359,849 |
| MRO | 27 | 15 | 740,004 |
| SPP RE | 16 | 3 | 1,120,697 |
| FRCC | 8 | 1 | 49,999 |
Customer totals add filings as made, so one outage filed twice counts twice. NERC regions are the reliability areas DOE lists on each 2020 report.
Busiest days of 2020
| Day | Reports | States | Top type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 Aug 2020 | 13 | 12 | Severe Weather |
| 27 Aug 2020 | 9 | 11 | Severe Weather |
| 10 Aug 2020 | 7 | 5 | Severe Weather |
| 12 Apr 2020 | 6 | 8 | Severe Weather |
| 13 Apr 2020 | 6 | 9 | Severe Weather |
| 18 Aug 2020 | 6 | 4 | Severe Weather |
| 15 Nov 2020 | 6 | 11 | Severe Weather |
| 11 Jan 2020 | 5 | 8 | Severe Weather |
What 2020 reports were about
| Cause | Reports | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Severe weather and natural disasters | 157 | 42% |
| Equipment failures and system operations | 113 | 30% |
| Physical attacks, vandalism and suspicious activity | 93 | 25% |
| Fuel supply problems | 7 | 2% |
| Cyber events | 3 | 1% |
Years next to 2020
Sources
DOE OE-417 files hold 373 reports for 2020; snapshot 9 Dec 2024, method.
Questions
How many OE-417 reports were filed in 2020?
373 reports in the DOE file began in 2020, against 271 in 2019.
Which day of 2020 had the most outage reports?
4 Aug 2020, with 13 reports. The next busiest was 27 Aug 2020 (9).
What was the biggest outage report of 2020?
1,400,000 customers, in a report that began 18 Aug 2020 (Nevada).