Developing Local Climate Change Information: Steps and Illustrative Analysis

Evaluating the operational and business risks to the power system of a changing climate is relatively new for many utilities and operators, and there is increasing stakeholder interest in having companies disclose physical climate risks. Developing the data needed to assess if and how the climate has or could be changing is essential for being able to evaluate whether there are climate risks that need to be addressed. However, companies have unique resources, systems, customers, and risk perspectives, thus the data developed must be tailored to their needs. This document presents a step-by-step data development process and illustrative analysis for developing localized climate change information specifically to inform power system asset operators, planners, and risk management. The illustrative analysis walks through a process of five steps, from site selection through to alternative data communications, that is initiated by a facilitated requirements discussion with internal stakeholders. Each step has its own discussion, inputs, and outputs that together build the information and dialogue foundations needed for subsequent steps. The illustrative analysis consists of actual historical and projected local physical climate change data development and assessment for five specific locations across the United States. A diverse set of locations was chosen with project participants to facilitate exploration of capabilities and challenges for a diversity of hazards. Figures and tables are created for each location and hazard to illustrate different types of results and to demonstrate how these results may be communicated in different ways for different internal and external audiences. The illustrative nature of this document makes it generalizable and lays the groundwork for companies looking to conduct local climate risk assessments. The work presented here also serves as a case study for EPRI's Climate Resilience and Adaptation Initiative (Climate READi), with relevant insights incorporated into Climate READi guidance documents, such as the Climate Data User's Guide.