Most Texans who have resided in the state for the past five years will surely remember the catastrophic winter freeze of February 2021 that lasted nearly nine days, burst water pipes and left approximately 10 million people without power.
As devastating as those billion-dollar disasters can be, they often occur beyond the scope of any utility provider’s control.
What is likely to be treated with more annoyance than heartbreak are the power interruptions that are not the fault of a hurricane or winter storm, but rather are part of a provider’s routine operations and disrupt countless day-to-day activities, risking billions of dollars lost in home values and property taxes.
Seeking to understand the societal impacts of the latter, Texas Tech University researchers led investigations into how power interruptions affect regional economic growth and housing prices.