Economic Impacts of Large-Scale Power Outages: Global Blackouts, Reliability Metrics, and Value of Lost Load

Sezai Polat; Hacer Oztura

doi:10.67047/tepes.1973562

Economic Impacts of Large-Scale Power Outages: Global Blackouts, Reliability Metrics, and Value of Lost Load

Abstract

Large-scale power outages have become a major concern not only for power-system reliability but also for economic resilience, social continuity, and critical infrastructure security. This review examines the economic impacts of major blackout events by linking outage causes, reliability metrics, sectoral interruption costs, and Value of Lost Load (VoLL)-based assessment methods. To establish a consistent analytical framework, the paper distinguishes customer-based reliability indices from energy-based measures such as Energy Not Supplied (ENS) and Expected Energy Not Served (EENS). It also clarifies the role of adequacy metrics, including Loss of Load Probability (LOLP) and Loss of Load Expectation (LOLE), and microgrid-oriented indicators such as Loss of Power Supply (LPS) and Loss of Power Supply Probability (LPSP). The review emphasizes that probability- or duration-based indices cannot be directly converted into monetary losses unless they are first expressed as energy-not-served quantities. Evidence from major events, including India 2012, North America 2003, Italy 2003, Türkiye 2015, Texas 2021, Iberia 2025, and Chile 2025, shows that outage consequences depend on the interaction between technical failure mechanisms, interruption duration, affected sectors, restoration processes, and infrastructure interdependencies. The study concludes that future outage-cost assessments should rely on transparent data reliability levels, updated sectoral cost data, dynamic VoLL estimates, and dimensionally consistent links between reliability indicators and economic losses.

Keywords

References

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Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Electrical Engineering (Other)

Journal Section

Review Article

Authors

Sezai Polat ^*
Türkiye

Hacer Oztura
0000-0003-1277-2414
Türkiye

Publication Date

October 27, 2026

Submission Date

June 17, 2026

Acceptance Date

August 4, 2026

Published in Issue

Year 2026 Volume: 6 Number: 3

DOI

https://doi.org/10.67047/tepes.1973562

IZ

https://izlik.org/JA63CT49HY

Cite

RIS / Bibtex

APA

Polat, S., & Oztura, H. (2026). Economic Impacts of Large-Scale Power Outages: Global Blackouts, Reliability Metrics, and Value of Lost Load. Turkish Journal of Electrical Power and Energy Systems, 6(3), 241-254. https://doi.org/10.67047/tepes.1973562

AMA

1.Polat S, Oztura H. Economic Impacts of Large-Scale Power Outages: Global Blackouts, Reliability Metrics, and Value of Lost Load. TEPES. 2026;6(3):241-254. doi:10.67047/tepes.1973562

Chicago

Polat, Sezai, and Hacer Oztura. 2026. “Economic Impacts of Large-Scale Power Outages: Global Blackouts, Reliability Metrics, and Value of Lost Load”. Turkish Journal of Electrical Power and Energy Systems 6 (3): 241-54. https://doi.org/10.67047/tepes.1973562.

EndNote

Polat S, Oztura H (October 1, 2026) Economic Impacts of Large-Scale Power Outages: Global Blackouts, Reliability Metrics, and Value of Lost Load. Turkish Journal of Electrical Power and Energy Systems 6 3 241–254.

IEEE

[1]S. Polat and H. Oztura, “Economic Impacts of Large-Scale Power Outages: Global Blackouts, Reliability Metrics, and Value of Lost Load”, TEPES, vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 241–254, Oct. 2026, doi: 10.67047/tepes.1973562.

ISNAD

Polat, Sezai - Oztura, Hacer. “Economic Impacts of Large-Scale Power Outages: Global Blackouts, Reliability Metrics, and Value of Lost Load”. Turkish Journal of Electrical Power and Energy Systems 6/3 (October 1, 2026): 241-254. https://doi.org/10.67047/tepes.1973562.

JAMA

1.Polat S, Oztura H. Economic Impacts of Large-Scale Power Outages: Global Blackouts, Reliability Metrics, and Value of Lost Load. TEPES. 2026;6:241–254.

MLA

Polat, Sezai, and Hacer Oztura. “Economic Impacts of Large-Scale Power Outages: Global Blackouts, Reliability Metrics, and Value of Lost Load”. Turkish Journal of Electrical Power and Energy Systems, vol. 6, no. 3, Oct. 2026, pp. 241-54, doi:10.67047/tepes.1973562.

Vancouver

1.Sezai Polat, Hacer Oztura. Economic Impacts of Large-Scale Power Outages: Global Blackouts, Reliability Metrics, and Value of Lost Load. TEPES. 2026 Oct. 1;6(3):241-54. doi:10.67047/tepes.1973562