Tracking electricity losses and their perceived causes using nighttime
  light and social media
Samuel W Kerber Nicholas A Duncan Guillaume F LHer Morgan Bazilian Chris Elvidge Mark R Deinert
Urban environments are intricate systems where the breakdown of critical
infrastructure can impact both the economic and social well-being of
communities. Electricity systems hold particular significance, as they are
essential for other infrastructure, and disruptions can trigger widespread
consequences. Typically, assessing electricity availability requires
ground-level data, a challenge in conflict zones and regions with limited
access. This study shows how satellite imagery, social media, and information
extraction can monitor blackouts and their perceived causes. Night-time light
data (in March 2019 for Caracas, Venezuela) is used to indicate blackout
regions. Twitter data is used to determine sentiment and topic trends, while
statistical analysis and topic modeling delved into public perceptions
regarding blackout causes. The findings show an inverse relationship between
nighttime light intensity. Tweets mentioning the Venezuelan President displayed
heightened negativity and a greater prevalence of blame-related terms,
suggesting a perception of government accountability for the outages.