Power outages can be more than just inconveniences. If they last long enough, they can become real threats to our well-being and even health. Power outages can affect just a single home or can be widespread, affecting millions of people. The most common causes of power outages are weather events, which can occur at any time of day or year. It’s important to understand these events and how to prepare and stay safe when the weather takes a turn.
Let’s start with some basic definitions.
• Electrical grid, or power grid: Consists of generation facilities; transmission and distribution equipment, such as transformers, substations, and power lines to deliver the energy; and consumers who use the power.
• Power outage: An unexpected, complete loss of electrical power for a period of time (sometimes minutes, sometimes days or weeks) that results from failures in the power infrastructure.
• Blackout: A power outage that affects many people.
• Brownout: A reduction in voltage of the electrical system, resulting in a dimming of lights and other malfunctions of electrical devices.
• Rolling brownouts Brownouts and blackouts that are planned by electricity providers to reduce demand, affecting a sequence of areas at different times.
