This illustrative case study applied portions of EPRI’s Climate Resilience and Adaptation initiative, or Climate READi™, framework to evaluate climate-related risks across the bulk and distribution grids for Wisconsin Power and Light Company (WPL) in the U.S. Midwest. It demonstrated how traditional planning processes can be leveraged to conduct climate-resilient planning by systematically integrating asset vulnerabilities, climate hazards, and societal considerations within a structured, coordinated approach. Results provide detailed key findings for the bulk and distribution systems by integrating asset vulnerabilities into modeling frameworks to quantify the impacts of extreme weather and climate hazards on reliability, which informed system adjustments. The findings also demonstrated cost-effective pathways to strengthening system resilience against climate-driven events by assessing the effects of increased severity while also considering the broader impacts on prudent investment decisions.
Detailed sections include:
- Bulk System Resilience through an Integrated Planning Framework
- Distribution Grid Resilience Planning with Updated Climate Hazards
- Accounting for Societal Considerations in Distribution System Planning
- Applying Cost Benefits to Distribution Climate Resilience Planning
Click here to access the Story Map: Climate-Resilient Planning in the U.S. Midwest