Computational Reliability Statistics of an Electric Power Grid

Have you ever stopped to wonder what the odds are of you losing power? Perhaps not but your electric service provider contemplates the question on a daily basis.In order for electrical companies to maintain happy customers, and satisfy federal regulatory mandates, they must depend on a system that can efficiently compute the probabilities of failing lines and locate the faulty distribution points. Thus, the main goal of our research project is to develop an algorithm, using the programming language R Studio, which will compute the reliability of a large radial electrical distribution system with multiple distribution points. We will first develop an algorithm that can calculate the number of customers without service under the assumption of independent components. The algorithm is then modified to be able to calculate the number of customers without power while taking into account local dependences. These tools should provide the power distribution companies with means to assess the reliability of their networks.