Repair-unit location models for power failures

Extreme weather conditions such as ice storms often cause significant damage to electric power transmission and distribution systems and result in large-scale power failures. In such cases, electric utilities need to repair the transmission and distribution systems as expeditiously and economically as possible. In this paper, for the electric utilities, the authors present three mathematical goal programming models: (1) a tactical model that provides the optimal repair-unit dispatch plan after a forecast of severe weather conditions; (2) a short-term strategic model that provides the optimal repair-unit location plan under normal weather conditions; and (3) a long-term strategic model that provides the optimal number of repair units. These models will assist electric utilities to locate and dispatch repair units and to restore the transmission and distribution failures efficiently. The authors illustrate some features of these models with a numerical example. Finally, a comparative study shows how these models could be more efficient than a modified conventional model.