Risk Assessment and Mitigation Build the Foundation of Utility Resiliency

The electric utility industry is facing the impact of climate change on the resiliency of its assets. Add to that an increase in extreme weather events, and utilities are feeling pressure from regulators and stakeholders to invest in resiliency planning efforts, incorporate climate impact analyses, and develop mitigation strategies.

In an article for Energy Central, Roy Pratt, a director in Guidehouse’s Energy, Sustainability, and Infrastructure segment, says that thorough risk assessment capabilities that are tightly coupled with enterprise-level integrated resilience planning are actions utilities must take to address these challenges.

“These are not one-and-done projects or events,” Pratt said. “They’re the ongoing ability to comprehensively assess risks and the ability to link these risks to resilience plans for everything we do.”

In the article, Pratt said that risk assessment should be an integrated model and structure with the rest of the organization. Furthermore, organizations must consider the complexity and interrelatedness of the systems of systems necessary to provide resilience in planning activities.

“Modeling technology and risk assessment techniques enable us to plan for and incorporate resilience into our complex energy delivery ecosystem. We need to use them,” he said.