Integrating climate adaptation into asset management at electric utility companies

Climate change happening mainly due to anthropogenic activities is now impacting all facets of the energy sector. Higher temperatures are impacting the performance of transformers and generators. Technical losses from transmission and distribution cables increase as they get hotter. Fires are posing threats to utility equipment and T&D network with costly consequences. Rising sea levels are threatening utility facilities near the coast. Storms and cyclones are impacting the generation of renewable technologies and adversely affecting the stability of grids with a sizable input of renewable energy. Much of the existing utility infrastructure has already been designed and built with a significant degree of flexibility and resilience. However, the utility system of the future, therefore, needs to take into consideration all possible impacts of climate change. It needs to be designed, located, constructed, and operated to be either adapted or adaptable to possible climate change. The paper highlights the need for sustainable financing, low-emission development and ensuring energy security, adaptation actions or opportunities, and building a climate-resilient infrastructure and communities. It also underlines the users’ behavior aspect in fostering the local capacity to protect utility assets. The authors share a few examples of vulnerabilities of utility assets and the strategies adopted for climate adaptation. A need for a framework to examine the vulnerability of assets considering exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity is also highlighted. Considering that extreme weather situations are not preventable much, the paper concludes with a few recommendations for utility asset managers and facility owners to quantify the risk that climate conditions can pose to their infrastructure and prepare better to tackle future climate-related hazards. Examples of climate adaptation strategies of a few utility companies in the North American region are referred to.