The US significantly underestimates the true economic cost of power outages, according to new analysis by clean energy nonprofit RMI. (Bloomberg)
Research shows that "business interruption losses" (like factories stopping or supply chains breaking) can be 800% to 900% higher than actual property damage, meaning official estimates may miss over $35B in annual losses.
Traditional models fail to account for "non-linear compounding losses,” or damages that don't just add up but multiply the longer the power is out—widespread food/medicine spoilage, evacuation costs, and transportation gridlocks.
The utility POV: Because we calculate the cost of blackouts to be lower than they actually are, regulators and utilities struggle to justify the high upfront cost of grid hardening measures that could prevent them.