A Texas ice storm in 2021. Hurricane Sandy in the Northeastern United States. Hurricanes Maria and Irma in Puerto Rico. All of these disasters not only destroyed homes and took lives, but also knocked out power infrastructures, leaving millions of households in the dark, without heating, cooling or life-saving medical equipment that requires electricity.
Power companies can do a lot to smooth the transition and limit the costs, as my colleagues and I at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Washington, note in a new report . Those planning to update their equipment and infrastructure should choose materials that can withstand a wide range of temperatures, both cold and hot.
Seattle City Light identified ways to adapt, including working with landowners to manage flammable vegetation near power lines, shielding energy-generating equipment from extreme precipitation and flooding, and continually tracking regional climate-change data to help prioritize the most cost-effective actions.New York State’s energy company Con Edison released its own climate-change vulnerability assessment in 2019.