Each year, extreme weather events cause hundreds of billions of dollars of damage and lost productivity to infrastructure systems, residences, and businesses across the globe. The electric grid is one of many critical infrastructure sectors impacted by these disasters, and it also sits in the unique position of becoming even more critical as society moves to electrify additional aspects of everyday life. Going forward, electricity service disruptions are likely to become more consequential than those we’ve seen in recent decades, with significant societal impacts and potentially deadly results.
This paper examines how proactively implementing adaptation strategies is expected to result in more resilient power systems, avoided damages and repair costs, and reduced negative impacts to society.