IEEE reliability indices standards

This work discusses "beta method", a statistically based methodology that classifies electric power distribution reliability data into day-to-day and MED (major event days) performance. Further the article discusses the results of the evaluation of small utility data and encourages more utilities to use this methodology to determine MEDs and submit the data to the IEEE working group on system design. Regulators, utilities, and customers benefit from the beta method because it segments reliability performance to reveal trends that utilities can then address.