NSF-ECS project
Data collection
following Katrina: Interdependencies across time, space, and subsystems
characterizing bulk energy transportation
Dr. James McCalley
Esteban Gil
November, 2006
Executive summary
The objective of this project report is to present data gathered to characterize the effects of hurricanes Katrina and Rita on the U.S. bulk energy transportation system, with the perspective of obtaining data for use in validating the simulation tools associated to our National Electric Energy System (NEES) model and to identify infrastructure weaknesses and interdependencies that can be better observed as a result of major system disturbances.
The data presented in this report covers the electric, natural gas, and coal bulk production and transportation sub-systems, since these are the main energy systems incorporated into the simulation tools associated to our NEES model. This data reflects the effects of the hurricanes in terms of changes in production, transportation, storage, and prices of the different energy forms. Where possible, data was gathered to reflect conditions given months or years before and for the months following the hurricanes. Information on restoration efforts in each subsystem was also included when available.
Even though the electric and the coal subsystems suffered disruptions in their infrastructures, the consequences of such disruptions remained local and affected a limited number of energy companies and consumers. On the other hand, the extensive damage to natural gas production and transportation facilities brought along consequences that could be observed nationwide. The data also presents evidence of interdependencies between different subsystems, and also suggests that coal storage plays an important role in the robustness of the system with respect to catastrophic events.
The research described here has been supported by NSF grant ECS-0553979. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsors.