Restoration and Impacts from the September 8, 2011, San Diego Power Outage

Abstract

This case study discusses post-event reconnaissance research of the September 8, 2011, power outage that left San Diego County, California, without electricity for up to 12 h. The objective of this case study is to synthesize and analyze the impacts of the outage and responses to the event. Understanding the outage’s impacts and responses helps to reveal restoration practices and contexts that promote meeting both technical and nontechnical goals. This study reveals several issues related to restoration decision-making and communication related to critical customers, particularly those responsible for health care, wastewater and potable water management, fuel provision, and food service. Restoration did not occur and was not communicated in such a way to avoid impacts to dependent critical infrastructure, reflect state restoration criteria, or meet expectations of a variety of power customers. Insight from this case study suggests three themes to guide research and development of best practices for power restoration: (1) emergency preparedness and public information, (2) power continuity, and (3) protocols and planning. Assessment of these themes are put in context with other studies of contemporary power outages and restoration to argue that power restoration protocols, policy, and planning are an important area for interdisciplinary research.