Using Data Envelopment Analysis to Evaluate the Performance of Post-Hurricane Electric Power Restoration Activities

The post-hurricane restoration of electric power is attracting increasing scrutiny as customers' tolerance for even short power interruptions decreases. Currently there are no standards for what constitutes an acceptably fast restoration. This paper introduces the use of data envelopment analysis to help evaluate post-hurricane restorations through comparison with the experiences of other companies in similar storms. The method accounts for the variable severity of the hurricane themselves, so that companies are not penalized for outages that are long only because the hurricane that caused them was particularly severe. The analysis is illustrated through an application comparing 19 recent post-hurricane restoration experiences across 9 different electric power companies in the United States. The method could be applied to other types of infrastructure systems and other extreme events as well.