How Reliable Is Your Alabama Electric Utility?

Birmingham AL

12 November, 2021

12:50 PM

Description

ALABAMA — Extreme weather made 2020 a bad year for keeping the lights on in the U.S., and climate change is expected to make reliability worse in the future. The average U.S. electricity customer experienced eight hours of power interruption in 2020, which was the most time since at least 2013, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Customers in Alabama averaged 55.3 hours without power (See how individual utilities performed below.) The states hit hardest by power outages fluctuated year-to-year depending on storms and other extreme events. California had a rough year in 2019 because of wildfires, and Texas will likely top the charts for 2021 because of a historic ice storm in February that knocked out power to millions. Alabama, Iowa, Connecticut, Oklahoma and Louisiana customers had the most time without power in 2020. Louisiana experienced the most active storm season in the state's history, including Hurricane Rita. Customers in the state averaged 60 hours without power. Alabama was also affected by several hurricanes. Some Connecticut electric customers went without power for more than a week after Tropical Storm Isaias caused widespread tree damage. State regulators fined utility companies for poor performance. Iowa was hit by a powerful derecho, and Oklahoma experienced an extreme ice storm. Climate change was expected to have far-reaching consequences for electric reliability, according to a study done by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. More frequent heat waves and wildfires and stronger rainstorms and intense hurricanes will greatly challenge the electric grid in coming years. Extreme weather associated with climate change will likely mean higher electric costs as utilities strive to make the electric grid more resilient and capable of meeting high demand during intense heat or cold. The EIA collected outage data from electric utilities annually and asked for information with and without major outages. The two major metrics were the following: How often the average customer experienced a non-momentary power outage during a year, referred to as the system average interruption frequency index. How many minutes the average customer went without power annually, referred to as the system average interruption duration index. Most electric utilities used standards developed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers to make their calculations. The IEEE used a complex formula based on a utility's historical data to determine whether an outage qualified as a major event. It also only counted outages longer than five minutes. Here's how utilities in Alabama did during 2020, according to data from the EIA. Can't find the utility provider you're looking for? Try searching for it here. Alabama Power Co Owner type: Investor Owned Number of customers: 1,484,464 IEEE standard followed: No Average customer hours without power, including major events: 23.907 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 2.007 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 2.188 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: 1.030 Diverse Power Incorporated Owner type: Cooperative Number of customers: 662 IEEE standard followed: Yes Average customer hours without power, including major events: 5.483 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 5.163 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 3.321 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: 3.101 Albertville Municipal Utilities Board Owner type: Municipal Number of customers: 10,054 IEEE standard followed: Yes Average customer hours without power, including major events: 0.315 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 0.315 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 0.417 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: 0.417 South Alabama Elec Coop, Inc Owner type: Cooperative Number of customers: 16,962 IEEE standard followed: Yes Average customer hours without power, including major events: 28.045 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 3.069 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 3.719 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: 1.788 Coosa Valley Electric Coop Inc Owner type: Cooperative Number of customers: 17,299 IEEE standard followed: Yes Average customer hours without power, including major events: 24.877 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 2.668 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 3.500 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: 1.770 Covington Electric Coop, Inc Owner type: Cooperative Number of customers: 23,206 IEEE standard followed: Yes Average customer hours without power, including major events: 12.529 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 6.888 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 3.026 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: 2.047 Dixie Electric Coop Owner type: Cooperative Number of customers: 24,294 IEEE standard followed: Yes Average customer hours without power, including major events: 5.435 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 2.470 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 2.548 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: 2.115 Wiregrass Electric Coop, Inc Owner type: Cooperative Number of customers: 25,127 IEEE standard followed: Yes Average customer hours without power, including major events: 19.835 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 1.664 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 2.470 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: 1.130 Decatur Utilities Owner type: Municipal Number of customers: 26,537 IEEE standard followed: No Average customer hours without power, including major events: 1.283 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 0.000 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 1.013 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: 0.000 Tallapoosa River Elec Coop Inc Owner type: Cooperative Number of customers: 28,112 IEEE standard followed: Yes Average customer hours without power, including major events: 14.953 Average customer hours without power, excluding major events: 5.407 Number of outages for average customer, including major events: 2.900 Number of outages for average customer, excluding major events: 2.300 Editor's note: This list was automatically generated using data compiled by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. 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