How We Respond to Power Outages

Timing Is Critical

The most common reason for the frustration is that the power goes out at the worst possible time – for example, right in the middle of cooking. On top of the inconvenient timing of outages, many say what annoys them most is not knowing when the power will be back.

Stable Supply

Nearly 70 percent of Norwegians say they are not worried about power outages in everyday life, according to the survey that TNS Gallup conducted for Statnett. Delivery reliability in the Norwegian grid is as high as 99.98 percent. Over the last 20 years, there has been a clear decline in the number of power outages. The number of megawatt-hours that did not reach customers because of outages has dropped from 50,000 to 11,000.

Acceptable

54 percent of all Norwegians experienced one or more power outages last year. Eight out of ten think the number of outages is within reason and acceptable, given the weather and where they live. Only 14 percent think the number of outages is unacceptable. On average, each end user nationwide had 2.2 short interruptions (under three minutes) and 2.4 long interruptions, where the customer on average was without power for one hour and six minutes.

Poorly Prepared

Norwegians are poorly prepared for power outages, even when extreme weather is forecast and warned about. Only three in ten Norwegians have taken or are taking steps to prepare for a possible long-lasting power outage. In the survey, as many as 74 percent say they do not have matches, candles, or a flashlight available during a power outage. Even fewer have stocked up on firewood.

Mobile First

The group that gets most annoyed by power outages says the mobile phone is the most important thing to keep powered. People under 30 put their phone ahead of hot water, heating, cooking, the fridge, and the washing machine.

Older people

Older people put cooking at the top of the list of what matters most. Next comes power for hot water and the mobile phone. Even though well over half of the electricity use in Norwegian households goes to heating, power for heating only came in fourth place.