Flooding, extreme temperatures, ice, tornados, wildfire—the impacts of extreme weather and a changing climate are not just a problem of tomorrow but a challenge that the industry is facing today. Society’s growing dependence on electricity as a final energy source to meet global decarbonization targets requires the power sector to coalesce around a standardized and consensus-based framework to inform infrastructure investment and deployment with today’s extreme weather and future climate trends in mind.
This is the vision of Climate READi.
It has been an incredible first year for Climate READi (REsilience and ADaptation initiative), filled with rich engagement and the publication of several technical deliverables and resources. When we launched in April 2022, we knew the important need to facilitate the appropriate application of climate data and integration of climate-informed analysis methods to enhance the planning, design, and operation of a climate-resilient power system. With 40 member companies and over 70 stakeholder organizations now participating—including the U.S. Department of Energy National Laboratories and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), this work has clearly resonated with the industry.
This annual report provides a high-level look at achievements from the past year: what this effort is all about, how it’s progressing, and what we have to look forward to in the remaining two years of Climate READi’s timeline. We hope this document serves as a resource for those engaged to continue demonstrating the value of your commitment to this work and to share with those who are not yet involved.
Finally, we thank the EPRI team and all our collaborators from our participating energy companies and affinity group organizations for their time and effort dedicated to this initiative. They bring with them a diverse background and suite of knowledge that continues to add value to our developing body of work.
The time to address the challenges of extreme weather and climate change is now, and we are proud that this initiative will provide the power industry with the guidance, tools, and resources needed to assess and mitigate climate-related risk to protect our customers and communities.
We invite you to join us on this research journey; please reach out to ClimateREADi@epri.com to learn how you can get further engaged.
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Climate READi: Power
Strengthening the power sector’s collective approach to managing climate risk
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Arshad Mansoor
Stan Connally
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President & CEO
EPRI
Executive Vice President, Operations
Southern Company
CEO
Southern
Company Services, Inc.
Board-led Industry Working Group Chair
Climate READi
EST.
40
Member
Companies
April
2022
70+
Stakeholder Organizations
At the time of publication, Climate READi has 40 member companies and over 70 stakeholder participants in the Affinity Group. The diversity of perspective, expertise, and experience these groups provide enhances the peer-to-peer knowledge share and contributes to the Framework’s overall rigor.
Key Year One Milestones:
WEBINAR:
The State of READi
A special webcast event where the Climate READi team will dive into a comprehensive overview of what has transpired over the past year and what lies ahead.
Established a collaborative of more than 100 organizations
As we build a holistic framework, the Climate READi team is proactively developing and publishing content that can help efforts today, prioritizing the development of technical resources. In Year One, we published over a dozen deliverables, including several white papers, technical briefs, literature reviews and training modules.
Published over a dozen deliverables
Outside recognition is critical to elevating READi activities. Key outreach efforts, totaling more than 30 engagements, included participating in the World Meteorological Organization’s 2022 State of Climate Services Reports; feature articles in Utility Dive, Public Utilities Fortnightly (PUF), White House Chronicle, and POWER Magazine; and presentations at conferences hosted by the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC), Canada’s Energy and Utility Regulators (CAMPUT), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), among others.
Featured media and external events
READi Research Results
READi Media Links
READi Engagement
Climate READi Status:
The Climate READi Final Framework will be developed through the initiative through activities underway in each of the three workstreams, designed to advance in parallel and through iterative engagement. The following captures the overall project plan, subject to evolve as research and collaborators inform these efforts:
Climate READi Engagement:
Member Companies
Climate READi Affinity Group (CRAG) Participants
In addition to the 40 members, the Initiative is actively engaging with external participants, including consultants and colleagues from academia, codes and standards; equipment manufacturers; finance, non-governmental organizations, national laboratories, regulatory agencies, and government. Together, they comprise the Climate READi Affinity Group (“CRAG”), and are working to help the energy sector address the critical challenges of resilience and adaptation in the face of the changing climate. We appreciate the time and effort of these organizations as they support Climate READi efforts.
Climate READi Features at
External Events
Climate READi engaged with numerous stakeholders during its first year. The following events were opportunities to feature an overview of Climate READi; slides are linked when they were used:
Looking Ahead:
Climate READi will continue building capacity and remain resolute in its mission to strengthen the power sector’s collective approach to managing climate risk to the power system to help decision makers advance grid reliability and resilience. To accomplish this, Climate READi will continue to work with member companies and external stakeholders to develop new tools, publications, trainings, and other resources to identify optimal adaptation and resilience investments. A list of planned deliverables for Year Two is provided in the report.
Year Two Anticipated Deliverables
As we begin year two of Climate READi, the following deliverables are planned for publication. This list is subject to change based on scope evolution and input from READi collaborators:
–Guidance for selecting and applying climate data in power system applications
–Climate Data Assessment and Inventory
–Climate 101, Part II (Training Module)
–Critical Asset Selection Technical Brief (White Paper)
–Data Needs for Climate-Informed Planning Assessments (READi Insights)
–Planning for Extreme Events Across Time Scales (READi Insights)
–Assessing Resilience Benefits in the face of a Changing Climate (White Paper)
–Scenario Development Capturing Uncertainties in Climate Resilience Planning (White Paper)
–Risk Informed Vulnerability Identification (White Paper)
–Climate Data and Asset Impact Relational Database (Software)
About EPRI:
Founded in 1972, EPRI is the world’s preeminent independent, non-profit energy research and development organization, with offices around the world. EPRI’s trusted experts collaborate with more than 450 companies in 45 countries, driving innovation to ensure the public has clean, safe, reliable, affordable, and equitable access to electricity across the globe.
Together, we are shaping the future of energy.
EPRI
3420 Hillview Avenue, Palo Alto, California 94304-1338 USA • 800.313.3774 • 650.855.2121 • askepri@epri.com • www.epri.com
© 2023 Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), Inc. All rights reserved. Electric Power Research Institute, EPRI, and TOGETHER…SHAPING THE FUTURE OF ENERGY are registered marks of the Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. in the U.S. and worldwide.
As extreme weather events increase in frequency and society’s dependence on clean energy generation technologies electricity as a final fuel source grows, impacts to the power system need to be better understood and decisionmakers require science-based insights to identify optimal adaptation and resilience investments.
Launched in April 2022, Climate READi (REsilience and ADaptation Initiative) is developing a Common Framework to deliver a comprehensive, consistent, and collaborative approach to mitigate physical climate risk, ensure resilient energy, and enable robust planning for the years and decades ahead.
EPRI is leveraging fifty years of experience in collaborating with global thought leaders and scientific researchers to develop an industry-accepted, risk-informed, multi-stream approach to physical climate risk assessment and resilience planning. Operating concurrently, the three workstreams outlined below will provide the following:
About Climate READi: Power
PHYSICAL CLIMATE HAZARD
VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT
RESPONSE
PRIORITIZATION
COMPREHENSIVE guidance on the specific climate and secondary physical data needs, datasets, variables, specifications, suitability, and interpretation to develop a vulnerability assessment of the power system, including a characterization of how to treat the inherent uncertainty in climate and ecosystem modeling for applications.
CONSISTENT approach for power system stakeholders to apply climate-related information, with guidance for specific asset/system vulnerability analyses. This may allow an easier resolution of any differences between government and industry organizations on the design and operation of the future energy system.
COLLABORATIVE effort to drive stakeholder alignment on adaptation objectives with power system requirements, along with how to apply a cost-benefit analysis for managing climate risk and identifying efficient and effective resilience investments.
Physical Climate Data & Guidance
Identify climate hazards and data required for different applications
Evaluate data availability, suitability, and methods for downscaling & localizing climate information
Address data gaps
WORKSTREAM 1
Energy System & Asset Vulnerability Assessment
WORKSTREAM 2
Evaluate vulnerability at the component, system, and market levels from planning to operations
Identify mitigation options from system to customer level
Enhance criteria for planning and operations to account for event probability and uncertainty
Resilience / Adaptation Planning & Prioritization
WORKSTREAM 3
Assess power system and societal impacts: resilience metrics and value measures
Create guidance for optimal investment priorities
Develop cost-benefit analysis, risk mitigation, and adaptation strategies
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
April 2022
April 2023
October 2023
April 2023
October 2024
April 2025
Eurelectric Power Summit
EEI 2022 Climate Resilience Panel
CIGRE Paris
WMO 2022 State of Climate Services: Energy
Sharm el-Sheikh Climate Change Conference (COP 27)
Grid Resilience to Extreme Events (ResiliEX) Summit
IAEA Technical Meeting on Climate Change
NARUC "Making the Value of Resilience Come to Life" Panel
CAMPUT Connexions
American Geophysical Union Conference
NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Seminar
Networking after Inaugural Climate READi Workshop in Albuquerque, New Mexico – October 2022
Climate READi Board-led Working Group Chair and Southern Company Executive Vice President Stan Connally provides remarks during the Workstream 2 Climate Asset Workshop in Charlotte, NC – April 2023
Illinois Emergency Management Agency Director Alicia Tate-Nadeau delivers the opening keynote at the Climate READi Midwest Regional Workshop in Chicago, IL – April 2023
Climate READi Director Morgan Scott speaks at the Climate READi International Summit in Vienna, Austria – March 2023
Climate READi Workstream 1 participants in Washington, DC - May 2023
Climate READi Workstream 1 Lead Laura Fischer (center) and her team after the Workstream 1 Workshop in Washington, DC – May 2023
Year One Annual Report
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Join us on this research journey; please reach out to ClimateREADi@epri.com to learn how you can get further engaged.
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