Analysis of Methodologies for the Evaluation of Power Outage Costs

More than three decades now, experts in the field of electrical engineering economics have devised techniques to evaluate power outage costs. In a world that depends so much on electrical energy for virtually all of its activities, it becomes important to correctly quantify the losses arising from power outages especially in view of the economic significance of electricity to the individual consumer, industries and the nation. Accurate assessment of the impact of a power outage depends upon which methodology is employed in its evaluation. The research draws upon secondary data and available scholarly literature to describe the major methodologies and techniques currently available in the power system economics. This paper is significant as it presents different methodologies for adequate and reliable estimation of power outages costs according to data requirements and complexity of the outage incident.