The global oil market is experiencing a structural shift. Faced with a rapid price decline, large oil‐producing countries had decided to protect their market share, with the hopes of permanently removing expensive supply from the market. Meanwhile, the ability of the US shale oil producers to respond quickly to positive price signals puts downward pressure on prices. On the demand side, advances in renewable technology and the continued effort to curb consumption of fossil fuel conspire to inhibit long‐run growth.1 These factors suggest that the current down‐cycle may continue for an extended period of time or even invoke another down‐cycle.

At an increasing pace, power system outages are destroying billions of dollars in value every year. The United States endures more blackouts than any other developed nation, with the number of incidents and hours of outage increasing steadily for the past few decades.

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