Full Title: Hurricanes and Electricity Infrastructure Hardening
Author(s): Richard J. Campbell
Publisher(s): Congressional Research Service
Publication Date: September 1, 2017
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Description (excerpt):
This Insight discusses the measures undertaken by electric utilities to prevent or mitigate power outages resulting from severe weather events. Power lines and transformers used to provide electricity to customers are particularly susceptible to damage due to their exposure to the elements. (See CRS Report R42696, Weather-Related Power Outages and Electric System Resiliency.) The loss of life and extensive damage seen so far in the 2017 hurricane season has refocused the attention of Congress on the destructive potential of such storms. High winds, rain, and coastal surges can combine to create floods which exacerbate damage from hurricanes. Other severe weather events such as ice storms can be equally as destructive as hurricanes and tropical storms, and can also affect entire U.S. regions