1 Energy Inequality in Climate Hazards Empirical Evidence of Social and Spatial Disparities in Managed and Hazard -Induced Power Outages Authors Natalie Coleman1 Amir Esmalian2 Cheng -Chun Lee3 Eulises Gonzales4 Pranik Koirala5 Ali

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Energy Inequality in Climate Hazards: Empirical Evidence of Social and

Spatial Disparities in Managed and Hazard-Induced Power Outages

Authors: Natalie Coleman1*, Amir Esmalian2 , Cheng-Chun Lee3 , Eulises Gonzales4, Pranik Koirala5 , Ali

Mostafavi6

Affiliations:

1 Ph.D. Student, Zachry Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Urban Resilience.AI Lab, Texas A&M

University, College Station, TX, United States of America; email: ncoleman@tamu.edu

*Corresponding author

2 Ph.D., Zachry Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Urban Resilience.AI Lab, Texas A&M

University, College Station, TX, United States of America; email: amiresmalian@tamu.edu

3 Postdoctoral research associate, Ph.D., Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Engineering, Texas

A&M University, College Station, TX, United States of America; email: ccbarrylee@tamu.edu

4 Undergraduate Researcher, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Engineering, Texas A&M

University, College Station, TX, United States of America; euli19_99@tamu.edu

5 M.S. student, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Engineering, Texas A&M University, College

Station, TX, United States of America; email: pranik@tamu.edu

6 Associate Professor, Zachry Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Urban Resilience.AI Lab, Texas

A&M University, College Station, TX, United States of America; e-mail: amostafavi@civil.tamu.edu

Abstract

Due to the effects of climate change and urbanization, the severity and frequency of

hazard events is expected to increase. The energy sector in the United States is ever more

vulnerable to extreme climatic hazards: hurricane winds can damage electrical lines, causing

hazard-induced power outages. Extreme heat and freezing temperatures can imbalance the

supply and demand for energy resulting in managed power outages. Utility companies reportedly

prioritize the restoration of power systems based on the number of outages and the size of

affected populations. This approach fails to account for unequal impacts of hazard-induced and

managed power outages. Research in equitable infrastructure emphasizes that certain

populations, such as lower income and racial-ethnic minority households, are disproportionately

impacted by disruptions in the power system. Moreover, the connected network qualities of the

power system suggests an element of spatial vulnerabilities. However, little empirical evidence

exists regarding the presence and extent of energy inequality. A main roadblock is the data

collection process, in that outage data is often perishable and not found at granular spatial scales

to allow the undertaking of a comprehensive analysis on impacts of power losses. Recognizing

this important gap, this study collected and analyzed observational data related to the managed

power outages during Winter Storm Uri (2021) and the hazard-induced outages during Hurricane

Ida (2021). The research quantified the period of recovery at a granular spatial scale using an

equitable-focused analysis to detect social and spatial inequalities through an exploratory lens. In

extreme cases of power outage, census tracts of lower income and higher percentage of Hispanic

population had longer median durations of recovery during Winter Storm Uri. In the hazard-

induced outages of Hurricane Ida, non-coastal zip codes with lower income had a 1.00-day

longer median duration of recovery and higher percentage of Black population had a 2.00-day

longer median duration of recovery while coastal zip codes with higher percentage of Black

population had a 1.00-day longer median of recovery. Non-coastal regions had 63% greater

spatial Gini values and 16% greater value in infrastructure inequality when compared to coastal

regions. The managed power outages resulted in a 3% to 19% greater value of infrastructure

inequality to the hazard-induced power outages. The findings provide evidence of pervasive

arXiv: 2210.13781 [physics.soc-ph] January 2023

social and spatial inequality in power outages during climate hazards and highlight the

importance of integrating equity into the manner in which utility managers and emergency

planners restore power outages.

1.Introduction

A combination of urbanization and climate change has contributed to the increasing

severity, duration, and frequency of climate hazard events[1, 2]. Hazard events have transformed

from rare, intense occurrences to frequent, inevitable disruptions which must be accounted for in

the risk mitigation strategies of critical infrastructure[3, 4]. Critical infrastructure systems are

highly integrated into the standard way of life and provide essential services to residents and

community at large[5]. Unfortunately, these systems are increasingly susceptible to disruptions

during hazard events[6-8]. The energy sector, in particular, has been severely impacted by

extreme weather conditions including intense wind, heat, and freezing events[9]. Negative

impacts on households are substantial as residents are deeply dependent on the multiple energy

services to heat and cool their homes, cook and store fresh food, maintain a level of safety and

security, power household appliances, and charge electronic devices. In addition, power systems

are often interdependent with other critical infrastructure such as communication, water, and

health services, worsening the impacts at a community scale[10, 11]. The uncertainties

surrounding power disruptions places significant stresses on individual households and the

extended community which must plan and endure for these inevitable outages.

Large-scale power outages can be hazard-induced or managed. Power systems are not

only disrupted from direct physical damage but also from the imbalance in supply and demand[7,

12]. Hazard-induced outages can occur when hurricane winds down electrical lines, evidenced

by the disruption of power during Hurricane Ida (2021) throughout the state of Louisiana[13],

although outages were concentrated on the Louisiana coast in direct line of the hurricane path. In

some affected areas, power was not restored until several weeks after the hurricane. In contrast,

managed power outages are the protective measures taken when utility companies intentionally

throttle supply. This is due an anticipated demand surge that would surpass supply. The process

mitigates long-term damage to the power system [14]. At the network scale, extreme heat and

freezing events can directly disrupt the transmission and supply lines, which are not ruggedized

for operation in temperature extremes [15]. Electrical power providers preemptively shut down

power to minimize electrical damages from downed power lines. Meanwhile, at the household

level, energy demand remain high for heating and cooling systems to counteract extreme

temperatures. An already weakened power system may be overexerted by the high demand of

energy to the point of complete shutdown. Energy officials followed this strategy during Winter

Storm Uri (2021) in Texas[16]. Rolling power blackouts cut power to neighborhoods and

businesses with the attempted exception of critical facilities such as hospitals[17]. Rolling

blackouts allow a set of residents to use the power for certain periods of time and then

temporarily shut down their power to move power service to another set of residents[18]. Ideally,

this practice allows all residents to evenly share the burden of periodic power outages throughout

the hazard event, but this incorrectly assumes that residents will actually share the same energy

burden.

Multiple knowledge gaps exist in the current research on energy inequality and power

restoration. First, utility companies often restore power systems based on the extent of physical

damage, number of outages, or total population, a method that may overlook how affected

populations are differentially experiencing power losses[17, 19-21]. Recent policy and law

discussions have brought attention to the universal accessibility of energy, but this discussion has

not been reflected in the restoration of power outages [22-24]. Emerging research supports the

equitable restoration of infrastructure disruptions [25-28], and by extension, restoration of the

power system, for socially vulnerable populations [29-31]. Lower income and racial-ethnic

minority populations, in particular, have reported disproportionate hardships and a diminished

ability to mitigate power losses [32, 33]. Additional studies on Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico

and the wildfires in California highlighted that social vulnerability may complicate the

restoration of power systems [31, 34]. The second knowledge gap is a failure to consider spatial

inequalities in the restoration process. Power systems, by nature, are an interconnected and far-

reaching network which could be susceptible to highly concentrated regions of impact [35, 36].

Third, models and decision frameworks for power outages primarily focus on the restoration of

transmission lines [37], the creation of redundancy in links and nodes [38], and the perspectives

from expert opinion [39, 40]. Though more models and frameworks have begun to include an

equitable perspective[30, 41], there still lacks an understanding to the social and spatial

vulnerabilities at a household perspective which can only be mitigated by analyzing empirical

evidence of the intensity and duration of power outages.

Indeed, the availability of empirical data is quite limited. Power outage data is typically

perishable and not available at granular spatial scales [42-44]. These limitations have hindered

the ability to examine and understand the presence and extent of energy inequality in climate

hazards. Recognizing this gap, in this research, we have collected and utilized observational data

to calculate the percentage of outages at zip code and census tract scales, respectively, for two

recent major events: the hazard-induced outages in the 2021 Hurricane Ida and the managed

outages in the 2021 Winter Storm Uri. We analyzed these empirical data to quantify the extent of

social and spatial inequalities and answer the following research questions: (1) to what extent

power outage durations varied inequitably across different areas with different income and

minority status?; (2) what was the extent of spatial inequality in the duration of power outages

for each event?; (3) to what extent managed power outages led to greater spatial inequality

compared with hazard-induced outages? In the analysis, first, we quantified the duration of

service restoration for the two hazard events. Second, we determined the differential outage

durations for low-income and minority populations within the two climate hazard events. Third,

we compared the extent of spatial inequality between the hazard-induced and managed power

outage events. The findings will bring attention into the equity gaps of power restoration,

spotlight the importance of data transparency, and advance the understanding of mitigation

strategies for energy inequality in climate hazard events.

2. Review on Relevant Literature

The literature review opens with the importance of researching and developing equitable

infrastructure for normal and disaster conditions. It also discusses the role of decision makers

and utility managers in equitable infrastructure. The review then narrows the scope to focus on

disruptions in power systems. This includes the pervasive issue of energy inequalities and

disproportionate impacts for power outages caused by disasters. The review closes with a

discussion on the knowledge gaps in the studying power outages.

2.1 Importance of Equitable Infrastructure

Infrastructure plays a vital role in the recovery of households after a major disaster [6,

10]. People depend on infrastructure services like power, water, and transportation to return to

their daily routines and maintain their well-being[5, 45]. However, not all community members

have the same relationship with infrastructure. Certain populations may have less dependency,

have greater accessibility, or can easily replace infrastructure services during disaster events. To

maximize the recovery efforts of households after a disaster, there has been increasing interest in

developing and cultivating equitable infrastructure[46-48]. For instance, the National Academies

of Science identified “equitable and resilient infrastructure investments” as a priority for hazard

mitigation research [49]. Equitable infrastructure addresses the systemic inequalities in

communities to ensure everyone has access to the same opportunity and outcome of

infrastructure services[49, 50]. Concurrently, resilient infrastructure ensures that infrastructure

systems can recover to a level of functionality within a specified timeframe after the disaster[49,

51]. These two components ensure that all members in the community are able to recover after a

disaster through accessibility and functionality of infrastructure services.

Decision makers and utility managers are influential to the managing equitable

infrastructure since they play a key role in ensuring households receive adequate infrastructure

services[5, 52]. However, the literature on equitable infrastructure reveals that equitable and

social elements of infrastructure have not been properly considered. In his discussion of crises on

the built-environment, Castaño-Rosa et. al [48] argues for the importance of using social

interventions to achieve inclusive infrastructure management. Hendricks and Van Zandt [25] also

state that the “built environment must be explored with a progressive lens that views physical

infrastructure as an extension of social circumstances.” They specifically mention how certain

vulnerable communities such as low-income and racial-ethnic minority households could be

unequally managed and protected in both daily and extreme events. Furthermore, Birkmann et. al

[26] emphasizes that greater systematic knowledge of governance and human vulnerability is

needed in infrastructure planning.

2.2 Disproportionate Impacts of Power Outages

Energy inequality is a significant issue in both normal and disaster conditions, and it has

been debated from a human rights approach and within policy development [22-24]. Energy

supply conditions, home energy efficiency, and the income affordability can all contribute to

energy inequality[53]. Research in equitable infrastructure has also captured instances of energy

inequality given in the form of disproportionate impacts of power disruptions. Through

household survey data, Coleman et. al found repeated instances of increased hardship and longer

disruption in low income and minority households from power outages caused by Hurricane

Harvey, Hurricane Michael, and Hurricane Florence [32, 33]. Mitsova et. al [34] examined the

differences in electric power outages and restoration rates in Hurricane Irma, and they showed a

spatial dependency gap for lower income and less employed counties. In addition, Gargani [54]

captured recovery through the energy production of the French territories impacted Hurricane

Irma, and the indicators found that wealthier territories had comparatively quicker recovery rates.

Several studies have also investigated energy inequalities associated by Hurricane Maria,

a powerful storm that caused months of power outages in Puerto Rico. Investigated by Garcia-

Lopez [55], the impacts on critical infrastructure and resource systems including water, food, and

energy were magnified by poor planning of federal institutions and decades of mismanagement.

The wealthiest neighborhood in San Juan also had the quickest restoration time. In a related

study, socially vulnerable populations were also less likely to be prioritized during disaster relief

efforts based on crew deployments to restore power lines [56]. Satellite-based data revealed

disproportionate duration of electricity outages in rural municipalities and lower income

households [31]. Thus, social vulnerabilities are associated with increased impacts of outage

which must be considered in the recovery process. Power restoration models have already begun

to include aspects of social vulnerability[41, 57], but further research is needed to understand the

nuances relationship between disaster impact, infrastructure disruption, and social vulnerability.

2.3 Research Gaps in the Energy Inequality

Despite advances in acknowledging equitable infrastructure[49], collecting relevant data

through social media and satellite sources, [58-61] and integrating social vulnerabilities in power

restoration models[41, 57, 62], there remain key research gaps in studying energy inequality in

disasters. First, greater data transparency about the restoration of power is needed between utility

companies and resident customers. Late reporting and inadequate information can lead to

increased feelings of anxiety, worry, and discomfort as affected communities are left wondering

about an essential service[63]. Second, power outage data is often perishable which means there

is a lack of empirical data to support and inform decisions about power restoration [42]. Third,

although certain power outage events report data, there is a lack of data at a granular spatial scale

such as zip code or census tract [42]. Because of this, it can be difficult to connect the impacts of

outages to the demographics of households or detect areas of spatial inequalities. Coarser-scale

analysis can also overlook social vulnerabilities prominent in inner-cities due to the law of

averages [64, 65]. In essence, the research study addresses these knowledge gaps by examining

the outages during Hurricane Ida and Winter Storm Uri using observational outage data at a

granular spatial scale. The study focuses on the potential disparities in the period of recovery to

hazard-induced and managed power outages for low-income and racial-ethnic minority

households. This research study contributes to the field of equitable infrastructure by examining

the social and spatial impacts of an infrastructure system disruption. In particular, managed

power outages are directly influenced by decision makers and utility managers, and thus, the

research hopes the findings will highlight the importance of an equitable perspective in the

restoration of power.

3. Background on Hazard Events

The research examined two recent weather events which significantly impacted the

United States. The researchers aimed to select a weather event which represented managed

power outages (Winter Storm Uri) hazard-induced outages (Hurricane Ida). This distinction is

important as managed power outages can have direct implications in the decision-makers’

response to outages while hazard-induced outages can reveal the restoration practices after

extreme hazard exposure.

3.1 Managed Power Outage: Winter Storm Uri

Winter Storm Uri (WU) swept through a large swath of Central and Eastern United States

between February 13 through 17, 2021. As the storm moved from the Pacific Northwest to the

southern United States, it brought freezing temperatures with some areas experiencing new

temperature lows and snowfall records [66]. Texas, one of states most affected by the storm,

suffered an extended duration of power outages with certain areas reaching more than 3

consecutive days of outages against winter temperatures[67]. The harsh cold temperatures

brought on by Winter Storm Uri resulted in a higher-than-normal energy demand by customers

who mostly required it for heating their homes along with other essential services. Unable to

sustain this unprecedented demand, power grids started failing. To manage the strain, the

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1EnergyInequalityinClimateHazards:EmpiricalEvidenceofSocialandSpatialDisparitiesinManagedandHazard-InducedPowerOutagesAuthors:NatalieColeman1*,AmirEsmalian2,Cheng-ChunLee3,EulisesGonzales4,PranikKoirala5,AliMostafavi6Affiliations:1Ph.D.Student,ZachryDepartmentofCivilandEnvironmentalEngineering,Urban...

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1 Energy Inequality in Climate Hazards Empirical Evidence of Social and Spatial Disparities in Managed and Hazard -Induced Power Outages Authors Natalie Coleman1 Amir Esmalian2 Cheng -Chun Lee3 Eulises Gonzales4 Pranik Koirala5 Ali

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