Electric Disturbance Events - Monthly and Annual Summaries

Federal Electrical Emergency Alert and Incident Information

   A unique characteristic of electric power is that it cannot be stored for future use. Electric energy suppliers, therefore, must build and maintain generating and transmission facilities capable of meeting the demand levels for electric power at all times. Tracking disturbances that impact the integrated generating and transmission facilities is an important Federal task along with examining issues associated with insufficient capacity reserves.

   The Department of Energy’s Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability (OE) uses Form OE-417, “Electric Emergency Incident and Disturbance Report” to monitor major system incidents on electric power systems and to conduct after-action investigations on significant interruptions of electric power. As such, the form is designed to address timely initial filings. It is not designed to track incidents that happen within distribution electrical systems (or individual powerplant outages). That responsibility is covered by the various regulatory entities composed of State public utility commissions and local governmental authorities. The information is used to meet DOE national security responsibilities and requirements; support reports to Congress; provide input for coordinating Federal efforts regarding activities such as incidents/disturbances in critical infrastructure protection; continuity of electric industry operations; and the continuity of operations of the government.

   The Form OE-417 cannot follow a scheduled reporting date, since the reporting requirement is driven by actual or projected disturbance incidents that do not happen on a regular recurring basis. Reporting coverage for the Form OE-417 includes all 50 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the U.S. Trust Territories. However, it is the expectation that very few, if any, reports would be filed in any given year from most respondents that meet the alert notification requirements.

   DOE will continue to have the option to conduct special investigations of incidents affecting the electric power industry. Such investigations could involve one or more electric utilities or other entities participating in the electric power industry. Any utility, business entity, or energy concern that participates in the electric power industry could be notified by DOE that they would need to provide technical information concerning a particular incident.[1] These special investigations are infrequent and reports are released to the public.[2]

   [1]This is authorized by the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 791a et seq.) . The Federal Energy Administration Act of 1974 (Pub. L. No. 93-275) and the DOE Organization Act (Pub. L. No. 95-91) provide other authorities.

   [2]The Department of Energy has initiated four special studies about incidents that happened since the 1990s. The three studies are: The Cold Weather Snap of 1992, The Electric Power Outages in the Western United States, July 2-3, 1996 (DOE/PO-0050), and the Report of the U.S. Department of Energy's Power Outage Study Team (DOE/PO - March 2000 Final Report); and the Final Report on August 14, 2003 Blackout in the United States and Canada: Causes and Recommendations, April 2004.