Nothing is infallible. Even the growing deployment of smart-grid technology can’t eliminate power outages. According to a recent report, power outages continue to be a problem for businesses and residential customers.


Published by power-management solutions provider Eaton Corp., “Blackout Tracker Annual Report 2015” examines data on electrical power outages in all 50 states for the entire year. It finds that 3,571 outages were reported in 2015, a slight dip from the 3,634 reported in 2014. The outages affected more than 13 million people. Of these, 3,714 people were affected for more than 49 minutes per outage.


Outages are costly. According to Eaton, the average total cost to a data center for an unplanned outage comes to about $8,800 per minute. This is more than a 50 percent increase from $5,600 per minute in 2010.


Outages affect everyone, even those who live in states that boast a progressive approach to energy. According to the report, California led the list with 417 outages. It was followed by Texas, New York, Ohio and Michigan. It was the seventh consecutive year that California led the nation in outages.


Despite all of the smart technology deployed in our nation’s grid distribution systems, outages can be caused by some of the most unexpected, if not comical, reasons. Examples include a goose that left its flock and crashed into a power line, a man who flew his drone into a power line, and a woman who drove off the road and crashed into a power pole while looking for her cigarette lighter on the floor of her car.