IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v16y2025i1d10.1038_s41467-025-64012-x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Unequal power outages induced by natural disasters

Author

Listed:
  • Bo Wang

    (Beijing Institute of Technology
    Digital Economy and Policy Intelligentization Key Laboratory of Ministry of Industry and Information Technology)

  • Han Shi

    (Beijing Institute of Technology
    Digital Economy and Policy Intelligentization Key Laboratory of Ministry of Industry and Information Technology)

  • Yueming ‘Lucy’ Qiu

    (University of Maryland College Park)

  • Nana Deng

    (Digital Economy and Policy Intelligentization Key Laboratory of Ministry of Industry and Information Technology
    Beijing Institute of Technology)

  • Destenie Nock

    (Carnegie Mellon University)

  • Xingchi Shen

    (Shanghai Jiao Tong University)

  • Zhaohua Wang

    (Digital Economy and Policy Intelligentization Key Laboratory of Ministry of Industry and Information Technology
    Beijing Institute of Technology)

  • Yi ‘David’ Wang

    (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University)

Abstract

Natural disasters increasingly threaten energy system reliability. However, little empirical research has examined the unequal impact of such events on power outages. Here, we employ a nationwide high-frequency point-level power outage and natural disasters dataset in China, spanning from 2019 to 2021, to empirically assess the impact of natural disasters on power outages. We focus on the poverty counties, identified by the Chinese government, based on income, infrastructure, geographical location, and other criteria. We find that these impacts of natural disasters on power outage are not distributed evenly between poverty counties (5.19% and 8.96% increase in frequency and duration, respectively) and non-poverty counties (3.80% and 5.34%). Long-term projections under SSP-RCP scenarios suggest that climate change exacerbates the disparity. This paper highlights the need for planners to evaluate disaster-induced outages in vulnerable regions to target climate funds to areas with the utmost necessity.

Suggested Citation

  • Bo Wang & Han Shi & Yueming ‘Lucy’ Qiu & Nana Deng & Destenie Nock & Xingchi Shen & Zhaohua Wang & Yi ‘David’ Wang, 2025. "Unequal power outages induced by natural disasters," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-10, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-64012-x
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-64012-x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-64012-x
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-025-64012-x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dato, Prudence & Hekponhoue, Sylvain & Lawson, Laté & Mukhaya, Brian & Okyere, Michael Adu, 2025. "Implications of alleviating unreliable electricity supply for energy poverty: Evidence from households in Benin," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    2. Alan Barreca & R. Jisung Park & Paul Stainier, 2022. "High temperatures and electricity disconnections for low-income homes in California," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 7(11), pages 1052-1064, November.
    3. Massoud Amin, 2013. "The smart-grid solution," Nature, Nature, vol. 499(7457), pages 145-147, July.
    4. Chen, Hao & Yan, Haobo & Gong, Kai & Geng, Haopeng & Yuan, Xiao-Chen, 2022. "Assessing the business interruption costs from power outages in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    5. Vivian Do & Heather McBrien & Nina M. Flores & Alexander J. Northrop & Jeffrey Schlegelmilch & Mathew V. Kiang & Joan A. Casey, 2023. "Spatiotemporal distribution of power outages with climate events and social vulnerability in the USA," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-13, December.
    6. Juan P. Montoya-Rincon & Said A. Mejia-Manrique & Shams Azad & Masoud Ghandehari & Eric W. Harmsen & Reza Khanbilvardi & Jorge E. Gonzalez-Cruz, 2023. "A socio-technical approach for the assessment of critical infrastructure system vulnerability in extreme weather events," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 8(9), pages 1002-1012, September.
    7. Chen, Hao & Jin, Lu & Wang, Mingming & Guo, Lin & Wu, Jingwen, 2023. "How will power outages affect the national economic growth: Evidence from 152 countries," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    8. Francesco Fuso Nerini & Julia Tomei & Long Seng To & Iwona Bisaga & Priti Parikh & Mairi Black & Aiduan Borrion & Catalina Spataru & Vanesa Castán Broto & Gabrial Anandarajah & Ben Milligan & Yacob Mu, 2018. "Mapping synergies and trade-offs between energy and the Sustainable Development Goals," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 3(1), pages 10-15, January.
    9. Babar, Zainab & Jamil, Faisal & Haq, Wajiha, 2022. "Consumer's perception towards electricity theft: A case study of Islamabad and Rawalpindi using a path analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    10. Seleshi G. Yalew & Michelle T. H. van Vliet & David E. H. J. Gernaat & Fulco Ludwig & Ariel Miara & Chan Park & Edward Byers & Enrica De Cian & Franziska Piontek & Gokul Iyer & Ioanna Mouratiadou & Ja, 2020. "Impacts of climate change on energy systems in global and regional scenarios," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 5(10), pages 794-802, October.
    11. Bjoern Soergel & Elmar Kriegler & Benjamin Leon Bodirsky & Nico Bauer & Marian Leimbach & Alexander Popp, 2021. "Combining ambitious climate policies with efforts to eradicate poverty," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-12, December.
    12. Mukherjee, Sayanti & Nateghi, Roshanak & Hastak, Makarand, 2018. "A multi-hazard approach to assess severe weather-induced major power outage risks in the U.S," Reliability Engineering and System Safety, Elsevier, vol. 175(C), pages 283-305.
    13. Huang, Ruting & Yao, Xin, 2023. "The role of power transmission infrastructure in income inequality: Fresh evidence from China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Deng, Nana & Wang, Bo & Wang, Zhaohua, 2023. "Does targeted poverty alleviation improve households’ adaptation to hot weathers: Evidence from electricity consumption of poor households," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    2. Yang, Jingna & Zhou, Kaile & Hu, Rong, 2024. "City-level resilience assessment of integrated energy systems in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    3. Yang, Jingna & Zhou, Kaile, 2025. "The impact of trans-regional power transmission on urban energy system resilience in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 322(C).
    4. Belligoni, Sara & Trader, Elizabeth & Li, Mengjie & Rahman, Mohammad Siddiqur & Ali, Javed & Enriquez, Alejandra Rodriguez & Nagaraj, Meghana & Aksha, Sanam K. & Stevens, Kelly A. & Wahl, Thomas & Emr, 2025. "Transdisciplinary research promoting clean and resilient energy systems for socially vulnerable communities: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 213(C).
    5. Bhorat, Haroon & Köhler, Timothy, 2025. "Watts happening to work? The labour market effects of South Africa’s electricity crisis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    6. Gebara, C.H. & Laurent, A., 2023. "National SDG-7 performance assessment to support achieving sustainable energy for all within planetary limits," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    7. Ptak, Thomas & Brooks, Julie & Stock, Ryan, 2025. "A systematic review and typology of power outage literature: Critical infrastructure, climate change and social impacts," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).
    8. Loni, Abdolah & Asadi, Somayeh, 2024. "A data-driven approach to quantify social vulnerability to power outages: California case study," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 359(C).
    9. Alexander C. Abajian & Tamma Carleton & Kyle C. Meng & Olivier Deschênes, 2025. "Quantifying the global climate feedback from energy-based adaptation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-15, December.
    10. Giacomo Falchetta & Nicolò Stevanato & Magda Moner-Girona & Davide Mazzoni & Emanuela Colombo & Manfred Hafner, 2020. "M-LED: Multi-sectoral Latent Electricity Demand Assessment for Energy Access Planning," Working Papers 2020.09, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    11. Pin Li & Jinsuo Zhang, 2019. "Is China’s Energy Supply Sustainable? New Research Model Based on the Exponential Smoothing and GM(1,1) Methods," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-30, January.
    12. Prashamsa Thapa & Brijesh Mainali & Shobhakar Dhakal, 2023. "Focus on Climate Action: What Level of Synergy and Trade-Off Is There between SDG 13; Climate Action and Other SDGs in Nepal?," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-32, January.
    13. Jing-Li Fan & Zezheng Li & Xi Huang & Kai Li & Xian Zhang & Xi Lu & Jianzhong Wu & Klaus Hubacek & Bo Shen, 2023. "A net-zero emissions strategy for China’s power sector using carbon-capture utilization and storage," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-16, December.
    14. Martins, Flavio Pinheiro & De-León Almaraz, Sofía & Botelho Junior, Amilton Barbosa & Azzaro-Pantel, Catherine & Parikh, Priti, 2024. "Hydrogen and the sustainable development goals: Synergies and trade-offs," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 204(C).
    15. Adil Ashraf & Mohammed Basheer & Jose M. Gonzalez & Eduardo A. Martínez Ceseña & Mikiyas Etichia & Emmanuel Obuobie & Andrea Bottacin-Busolin & Jan Adamowski & Mathaios Panteli & Julien J. Harou, 2025. "Delivering equity in low-carbon multisector infrastructure planning," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-13, December.
    16. Gunnarsdottir, I. & Davidsdottir, B. & Worrell, E. & Sigurgeirsdottir, S., 2022. "Indicators for sustainable energy development: An Icelandic case study," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    17. Houljakbe Houlteurbe Dagou & Asli Pelin Gurgun & Kerim Koc & Cenk Budayan, 2025. "The Future of Construction: Integrating Innovative Technologies for Smarter Project Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(10), pages 1-29, May.
    18. Mujjuni, F. & Betts, T. & To, L.S. & Blanchard, R.E., 2021. "Resilience a means to development: A resilience assessment framework and a catalogue of indicators," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    19. Vivian Do & Heather McBrien & Nina M. Flores & Alexander J. Northrop & Jeffrey Schlegelmilch & Mathew V. Kiang & Joan A. Casey, 2023. "Spatiotemporal distribution of power outages with climate events and social vulnerability in the USA," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-13, December.
    20. Karolis Andriuškevičius & Dalia Štreimikienė & Irena Alebaitė, 2022. "Convergence between Indicators for Measuring Sustainable Development and M&A Performance in the Energy Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-23, August.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-64012-x. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.