{"674971":{"#nid":"674971","#data":{"type":"news","title":"VIP Tackles Grid Resilience with Real-Time Power Outage Tracker ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u0027s new \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.vip.gatech.edu\/teams\/vyg\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EGROWER VIP\u003C\/a\u003E is creating the country\u0027s most comprehensive real-time power outage tracker for research use.\u0026nbsp;The database will help researchers explore questions about the causes and effects of power outages and how policy interventions can help strengthen grid resilience.\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Ch2\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhy now?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis understanding is urgent in the wake of increasingly extreme climate change-driven weather events and natural disasters, as well as the federal government\u2019s investment of more than $15 billion in grid modernization under the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe database will help researchers learn more about the causes of outages and their societal impacts, such as on housing prices, business activity, public health, and crime. It will also help them obtain greater insight into which communities experience the most frequent and longest outages and what can be done to help.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Ch2\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHow does it work?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003EUtility companies report real-time power outages, but the data is fractured across different service territories and states.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EUsers can\u2019t download data directly, making the information difficult to use for research and evaluation.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EBecause of this, it\u0027s hard for researchers and agencies to understand the extent and scope of problems with the energy grid.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo address these challenges, the GROWER team developed algorithms and web scrapers. They use Amazon Web Services to crawl the utility websites every 15 minutes and collect the power outage data for many states in one place.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Ch2\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWho\u2019s Involved?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Grid Resilience, Outage, Weather, and Emergency Response (GROWER) Lab is a \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.vip.gatech.edu\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EVertically Integrated Project\u003C\/a\u003E launched in 2024 by faculty and students in the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts and the College of Engineering.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/spp.gatech.edu\/people\/person\/c9f0cadc-5bb4-5b6f-9eca-bd38a9233993\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EBrian Y. An,\u003C\/a\u003E an assistant professor in the School of Public Policy, and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/research.gatech.edu\/constance-crozier\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EConstance Crozier,\u003C\/a\u003E an assistant professor in the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, lead the project alongside John Kim, the lab manager and a public policy Ph.D. student. The group includes 15 students in computer science, city and regional planning, business, public policy, and industrial systems and engineering programs.\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Ch2\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat\u2019s Next?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe GROWER team has already begun applying findings from the dataset to research questions.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThey are writing a paper based on data showing that racial and ethnic minorities experience more frequent and longer power outages than other groups and have also begun examining the effects of power outages on crime and medical emergencies.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis summer, they will partner with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory to provide technical assistance to the Department of Energy Grid Deployment Office, which is the lead federal agency administering grid modernization grants.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt is incredibly rewarding to connect with research groups in and out of Georgia Tech who share this vision with us,\u201d An said. \u201cWe\u2019re excited to conduct robust research that will inform real-word policy making across the country.\u0022\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"The database will help researchers explore questions about the causes and effects of power outages and how policy interventions can help strengthen grid resilience. "}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe database will help researchers explore questions about the causes and effects of power outages and how policy interventions can help strengthen grid resilience.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The database will help researchers explore questions about the causes and effects of power outages and how policy interventions can help strengthen grid resilience. "}],"uid":"35766","created_gmt":"2024-06-03 14:37:57","changed_gmt":"2024-06-10 15:42:43","author":"dminardi3","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2024-06-03T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2024-06-03T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"674122":{"id":"674122","type":"image","title":"GROWER.png","body":"\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;Students in the GROWER VIP on a site visit to Cobb EMC, a non-profit electric utility company, this spring.\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1717426056","gmt_created":"2024-06-03 14:47:36","changed":"1717426570","gmt_changed":"2024-06-03 14:56:10","alt":"Students in Georgia Tech\u0027s GROWER VIP on a site visit to Cobb EMC in Spring 2024","file":{"fid":"257596","name":"GROWER.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/06\/03\/GROWER.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/06\/03\/GROWER.png","mime":"image\/png","size":1292506,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2024\/06\/03\/GROWER.png?itok=eWtxzo-F"}}},"media_ids":["674122"],"groups":[{"id":"1281","name":"Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts"},{"id":"1289","name":"School of Public Policy"}],"categories":[{"id":"142","name":"City Planning, Transportation, and Urban Growth"},{"id":"42901","name":"Community"},{"id":"144","name":"Energy"},{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"151","name":"Policy, Social Sciences, and Liberal Arts"}],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"},{"id":"39511","name":"Public Service, Leadership, and Policy"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71901","name":"Society and Culture"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:dminardi3@gatech.edu\u0022\u003EDi Minardi\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EIvan Allen College of Liberal Arts\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["dminardi3@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}