Conference Agenda

The value of lost load (VoLL) is a monetary metric quantifying the cost of unsupplied energy (€/kWh) during outages, providing valuable insights for policymakers, utility providers, and industrial stakeholders. Disruptions can lead to production losses, equipment damage, and extended downtime, inflicting significant economic costs. In Sweden, core industrial sectors such as pulp and paper, chemicals, mining, and steel manufacturing, are crucial to the national economy and exemplify high values due to their heavy reliance on electricity. With the rise of renewable energy sources, increasing electricity demand and geopolitical turbulence, ensuring grid reliability while managing costs has become an urgent priority for policymakers. Leveraging a mixed-method approach that integrates and compares survey data with publicly available microeconomic data insights, results show how value-added based measures significantly underestimate the financial impact of power outages. Shorter outages are found disproportionately costly, primarily due to high fixed costs associated with initial disruptions. Businesses report that the effects of a one-hour outage could linger for months, with some unable to fully recover even 12 months after the event. These extended disruptions underscore the enduring consequences of power outages, particularly for electricity-intensive industries. With its dual approach, this paper highlights the limitations of traditional value-added metrics and emphasize a comprehensive approach integrating stated cost data reflecting real-world consequences.