Whether planned or unplanned, loss of grid power can happen at any time — and can wreak havoc on commercial buildings that may be sensitive to power outages.
Unexpected outages have increased as the U.S. places growing electricity demands on a century-old grid. In fact, the U.S. endures more blackouts than any other developed nation. And, according to federal databases at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), the number of U.S. outages lasting more than an hour have increased steadily over the past decade. These increasingly common power interruptions can cost American businesses as much as $150 billion per year, according to data from the DOE, with weather-related disruptions accounting for the most per event.