A report from the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) states that power outages and problems with power quality are costing the U.S. economy over $119 billion per year. Called “The Cost of Power Disturbances to Industrial and Digital Economy Companies,” the study discusses the growing need for what it calls digital-quality electricity, which means power that is “always perfect and always on.”

According to Clark Gellings, EPRI’s vice president of energy utilization, “U.S. business activity is becoming more reliant on digital circuitry and more sensitive to incredibly minute variations in power supply — variations that would have gone unnoticed in years past. The results of this study emphasize the need for the energy industry to work with equipment manufacturers and end-use customers to maximize power reliability and quality, and develop a systematic approach to meeting electricity supply requirements in the 21st century.”

Publication date: 08/27/2001