How Reliable Is Your Oregon Power Provider?

Lake Oswego OR

26 February, 2021

4:45 PM

Description

LAKE OSWEGO, OR — The monumental power failure in Texas caused by unseasonable cold showed how extreme weather can push an electric grid to the brink. The average U.S. power customer loses electricity for 1.5 to 2 hours annually even before extreme weather events are taken into account, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. As the Texas experience showed, hurricanes, snowstorms, heat waves and other extreme weather events can make such outages dramatically worse. Customers in Oregon state experienced 4.41 hours without power in 2019 — 0.29 fewer hours than the national average of 4.7 hours in 2019, which is the most recent information available, according to the EIA. Nationally, 3.2 hours of downtime occurred during major events such as hurricanes and blizzards in 2019, and 1.5 hours occurred during non-major events. The average 2019 interruption time was shorter than 2018 and 2017, which saw total average outage times of nearly six hours and nearly eight hours respectively. Still, 2019's average total outage time was higher than 2013 through 2016, according to the EIA. The number of hours without power can vary widely from state to state, especially when many extreme weather events such as hurricanes, snowstorms and wildfires occur. North Carolina electric customers likely remember many hours in the dark during 2018 — the average customer in that state spent nearly 30 hours without power, much of that due to Hurricanes Michael and Florence. The states with the highest average total interruption time per customer in 2019 were Maine, West Virginia, California, Michigan and Mississippi, according to the EIA. Maine had severe winter storms and California had large wildfires. The states with the least amount of average downtime were Florida, Nevada, Arizona, Nebraska and Washington, D.C. The EIA collects outage data from electric utilities annually and asks for information with and without major outages. The two major metrics are: How often the average customer experiences a non-momentary power outage during a year, referred to as the system average interruption frequency index. How many minutes the average customer is without power annually, referred to as the system average interruption duration index. Most electric utilities use standards developed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers to make their calculations. The IEEE uses a complex formula based on a utility's historical data to determine whether an outage qualifies as a major event. It also only counts outages longer than five minutes. Utilities are mostly owned by investors, cooperatives or municipalities. Investor-owned utility customers spent an average of 5.1 hours without power in 2019 while municipal customers spent an average of 2.1 hours and cooperative customers had about five hours without the lights. Here's how utilities in Oregon did during 2019, according to data from the EIA. Editor's note: This list was automatically generated using data compiled by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Please report any errors or other feedback to [email protected]. Can't find the utility provider you're looking for? Try searching for it here. Portland General Electric Co Owner type: Investor Number of customers: 884,690 IEEE standard followed: Yes Average customer hours without power, including major events: 2.13 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 1.63 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 0.71 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: 0.61 PacifiCorp Owner type: Investor Number of customers: 617,662 IEEE standard followed: Yes Average customer hours without power, including major events: 6.93 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 1.8 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 1.46 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: 0.97 City of Eugene - (OR) Owner type: Municipal Number of customers: 95,344 IEEE standard followed: Yes Average customer hours without power, including major events: 1.16 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 1.16 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 0.47 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: 0.47 Central Lincoln People's Ut Dt Owner type: Political Subdivision Number of customers: 39,762 IEEE standard followed: Yes Average customer hours without power, including major events: 2.53 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: Not reported Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 1.03 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: Not reported City of Springfield - (OR) Owner type: Municipal Number of customers: 31,654 IEEE standard followed: No Average customer hours without power, including major events: 0.29 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: Not reported Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 0.46 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: Not reported Oregon Trail El Cons Coop, Inc Owner type: Cooperative Number of customers: 31,282 IEEE standard followed: No Average customer hours without power, including major events: 2.87 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 1.67 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 1.53 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: 1.13 Consumers Power, Inc Owner type: Cooperative Number of customers: 22,909 IEEE standard followed: Yes Average customer hours without power, including major events: 7.82 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 4.08 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 1.81 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: 1.33 Salem Electric - (OR) Owner type: Cooperative Number of customers: 19,718 IEEE standard followed: No Average customer hours without power, including major events: 0.18 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 0.18 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 0.27 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: 0.27 Midstate Electric Coop, Inc Owner type: Cooperative Number of customers: 19,661 IEEE standard followed: No Average customer hours without power, including major events: 1.71 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: Not reported Number of outages for average customer, including major events: Not reported Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: Not reported Columbia River Peoples Ut Dist Owner type: Political Subdivision Number of customers: 19,590 IEEE standard followed: Yes Average customer hours without power, including major events: 1.01 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 1.01 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 0.68 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: 0.68 Idaho Power Co Owner type: Investor Number of customers: 19,231 IEEE standard followed: Yes Average customer hours without power, including major events: 2.02 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 1.97 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 0.63 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: 0.63 Coos-Curry Electric Coop, Inc Owner type: Cooperative Number of customers: 18,198 IEEE standard followed: Yes Average customer hours without power, including major events: 3.16 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 2.04 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 1.33 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: 1.01 City of McMinnville - (OR) Owner type: Municipal Number of customers: 16,427 IEEE standard followed: No Average customer hours without power, including major events: 1.02 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: Not reported Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 0.67 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: Not reported Umatilla Electric Coop Assn Owner type: Cooperative Number of customers: 15,447 IEEE standard followed: Yes Average customer hours without power, including major events: 1.74 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 1.74 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 1.04 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: 1.04 Lane Electric Coop Inc Owner type: Cooperative Number of customers: 13,019 IEEE standard followed: No Average customer hours without power, including major events: 116.73 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 8.91 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 4.9 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: Not reported City of Forest Grove Owner type: Municipal Number of customers: 10,364 IEEE standard followed: No Average customer hours without power, including major events: 0.08 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: Not reported Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 0.09 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: Not reported Northern Wasco County PUD Owner type: Political Subdivision Number of customers: 10,163 IEEE standard followed: Yes Average customer hours without power, including major events: 0.29 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 0.29 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 0.09 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: 0.09 Canby Utility Board Owner type: Municipal Number of customers: 7,557 IEEE standard followed: No Average customer hours without power, including major events: 0.24 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 0.24 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 0.11 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: 0.11 City of Hermiston Owner type: Municipal Number of customers: 5,340 IEEE standard followed: No Average customer hours without power, including major events: 0.34 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 0.34 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 0.29 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: 0.29 Click here to see the numbers for more Oregon utility providers.