The Counties Where Power Outages Pose the Greatest Health Risk

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Across the country, millions of Americans rely on electricity-dependent medical equipment for daily life. While most hospitals and nursing homes have backup generators to ensure life-saving medical equipment stays on when the power goes out, there have been several incidents in the U.S. where power outages and backup failures resulted in loss of life.

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As power demand increases over the next decade, those dependent on electric medical devices may be particularly at-risk. In fact, new data analysis shows that many of the counties with the greatest power system vulnerability – a measure from researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory based on grid reliability, outage frequency, and recovery time – also have relatively high concentrations of patients using electricity-dependent durable medical care.

The combination of power system vulnerability and medical electricity dependence creates pockets of high risk in counties where both the population and grid infrastructure are aging in tandem. Some of the highest-risk pockets include clusters in Virginia, West Virginia, and Arizona. A closer look at the data reveals the counties where power outages pose the greatest health risk.

To determine the places where power outages pose the greatest health risk, Climate Crisis 247 reviewed data on durable medical equipment usage from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services and power system vulnerability from Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Counties with major and extreme Power System Vulnerability Index ratings were ranked based on the number of Medicare beneficiaries using electricity-dependent durable medical equipment per 1,000 residents.

25. Dixon County, NE

Medicare beneficiaries using electricity-dependent DME: 18.3 per 1,000 residents
Percentage using electricity-dependent DME: 7.4% of beneficiaries
Power System Vulnerability Index score: 91.9/100 (major)
Total population: 5,561
County seat: Ponca

24. Catahoula Parish, LA

Medicare beneficiaries using electricity-dependent DME: 18.4 per 1,000 residents
Percentage using electricity-dependent DME: 6.6% of beneficiaries
Power System Vulnerability Index score: 95.9/100 (major)
Total population: 8,738
County seat: Harrisonburg

23. Cabell County, WV

*Photo by American Public Power Association on Unsplash*

Medicare beneficiaries using electricity-dependent DME: 18.6 per 1,000 residents
Percentage using electricity-dependent DME: 8.6% of beneficiaries
Power System Vulnerability Index score: 89.9/100 (major)
Total population: 93,300
County seat: Huntington

22. Pratt County, KS

Medicare beneficiaries using electricity-dependent DME: 18.6 per 1,000 residents
Percentage using electricity-dependent DME: 8.2% of beneficiaries
Power System Vulnerability Index score: 91.6/100 (major)
Total population: 9,120
County seat: Pratt

21. Waynesboro city, VA

Medicare beneficiaries using electricity-dependent DME: 18.8 per 1,000 residents
Percentage using electricity-dependent DME: 5.1% of beneficiaries
Power System Vulnerability Index score: 99.9/100 (extreme)
Total population: 22,574

20. Bernalillo County, NM

Medicare beneficiaries using electricity-dependent DME: 18.9 per 1,000 residents
Percentage using electricity-dependent DME: 9.3% of beneficiaries
Power System Vulnerability Index score: 94.4/100 (major)
Total population: 674,357
County seat: Albuquerque

19. Wood County, WV

Medicare beneficiaries using electricity-dependent DME: 18.9 per 1,000 residents
Percentage using electricity-dependent DME: 7.1% of beneficiaries
Power System Vulnerability Index score: 89.5/100 (major)
Total population: 83,829
County seat: Parkersburg

18. Harrison County, WV

Medicare beneficiaries using electricity-dependent DME: 19.8 per 1,000 residents
Percentage using electricity-dependent DME: 7.8% of beneficiaries
Power System Vulnerability Index score: 90.3/100 (major)
Total population: 65,407
County seat: Clarksburg

17. Radford city, VA

Medicare beneficiaries using electricity-dependent DME: 20.1 per 1,000 residents
Percentage using electricity-dependent DME: 8.3% of beneficiaries
Power System Vulnerability Index score: 92.0/100 (major)
Total population: 16,505

16. Big Stone County, MN

Medicare beneficiaries using electricity-dependent DME: 20.2 per 1,000 residents
Percentage using electricity-dependent DME: 6.7% of beneficiaries
Power System Vulnerability Index score: 90.9/100 (major)
Total population: 5,152
County seat: Ortonville

15. Buena Vista city, VA

Medicare beneficiaries using electricity-dependent DME: 20.2 per 1,000 residents
Percentage using electricity-dependent DME: 6.4% of beneficiaries
Power System Vulnerability Index score: 99.9/100 (extreme)
Total population: 6,612

14. Kanawha County, WV

Medicare beneficiaries using electricity-dependent DME: 20.9 per 1,000 residents
Percentage using electricity-dependent DME: 7.9% of beneficiaries
Power System Vulnerability Index score: 97.7/100 (major)
Total population: 178,198
County seat: Charleston

13. El Paso County, CO

Medicare beneficiaries using electricity-dependent DME: 21.8 per 1,000 residents
Percentage using electricity-dependent DME: 13.1% of beneficiaries
Power System Vulnerability Index score: 93.8/100 (major)
Total population: 736,008
County seat: Colorado Springs

12. Arthur County, NE

Medicare beneficiaries using electricity-dependent DME: 22.7 per 1,000 residents
Percentage using electricity-dependent DME: 12.9% of beneficiaries
Power System Vulnerability Index score: 93.1/100 (major)
Total population: 540
County seat: Arthur

11. St. Louis city, MO

Medicare beneficiaries using electricity-dependent DME: 23.0 per 1,000 residents
Percentage using electricity-dependent DME: 3.1% of beneficiaries
Power System Vulnerability Index score: 93.0/100 (major)
Total population: 293,109

10. McPherson County, NE

Medicare beneficiaries using electricity-dependent DME: 24.1 per 1,000 residents
Percentage using electricity-dependent DME: 11.6% of beneficiaries
Power System Vulnerability Index score: 96.4/100 (major)
Total population: 463
County seat: Tryon

9. Jefferson County, CO

Medicare beneficiaries using electricity-dependent DME: 24.1 per 1,000 residents
Percentage using electricity-dependent DME: 11.3% of beneficiaries
Power System Vulnerability Index score: 94.0/100 (major)
Total population: 579,715
County seat: Golden

8. Slope County, ND

Medicare beneficiaries using electricity-dependent DME: 26.3 per 1,000 residents
Percentage using electricity-dependent DME: 26.5% of beneficiaries
Power System Vulnerability Index score: 93.0/100 (major)
Total population: 795
County seat: Amidon

7. Lexington city, VA

Medicare beneficiaries using electricity-dependent DME: 26.5 per 1,000 residents
Percentage using electricity-dependent DME: 4.4% of beneficiaries
Power System Vulnerability Index score: 96.6/100 (major)
Total population: 7,420

6. Cheyenne County, KS

Medicare beneficiaries using electricity-dependent DME: 28.3 per 1,000 residents
Percentage using electricity-dependent DME: 9.7% of beneficiaries
Power System Vulnerability Index score: 90.7/100 (major)
Total population: 2,628
County seat: Saint Francis

5. Carter County, MT

Medicare beneficiaries using electricity-dependent DME: 28.5 per 1,000 residents
Percentage using electricity-dependent DME: 10.5% of beneficiaries
Power System Vulnerability Index score: 90.5/100 (major)
Total population: 1,361
County seat: Ekalaka

4. Yavapai County, AZ

Medicare beneficiaries using electricity-dependent DME: 31.2 per 1,000 residents
Percentage using electricity-dependent DME: 8.0% of beneficiaries
Power System Vulnerability Index score: 91.0/100 (major)
Total population: 241,656
County seat: Prescott

3. Daniels County, MT

Medicare beneficiaries using electricity-dependent DME: 35.2 per 1,000 residents
Percentage using electricity-dependent DME: 11.4% of beneficiaries
Power System Vulnerability Index score: 92.4/100 (major)
Total population: 1,524
County seat: Scobey

2. Niobrara County, WY

Medicare beneficiaries using electricity-dependent DME: 41.9 per 1,000 residents
Percentage using electricity-dependent DME: 15.4% of beneficiaries
Power System Vulnerability Index score: 99.9/100 (extreme)
Total population: 2,415
County seat: Lusk

1. Fairfax city, VA

Medicare beneficiaries using electricity-dependent DME: 164.3 per 1,000 residents
Percentage using electricity-dependent DME: 2.4% of beneficiaries
Power System Vulnerability Index score: 91.5/100 (major)
Total population: 24,478

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