Full Title: Resilient by Design: Utility Strategies for Climate-Ready Distribution Systems
Author(s): Jared Leader, Mishal Thadani, Mac Keller, Maddie Moyano, Solange Camacho, and Eshaan Mani
Publisher(s): SEPA
Publication Date: July 14, 2025
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):
Electric utilities face mounting challenges from electrification, climate resilience, and affordability concerns. U.S. investor-owned utilities’ capital expenditures have increased from $136.6 billion in 2021 to $167.8 billion, projected for 2023, with 36% of those capital expenditures allocated towards adaptation, hardening, and resilience, on average. Despite this, storm-related outages still cost the U.S. $64.8 billion annually, and a projected $500 billion gap remains in capital to fully harden generation, transmission, and distribution systems against climate threats through 2050.
Utilities are evolving their distribution system planning (DSP) processes to include resilience, decarbonization, and affordability due to extreme weather threats to the grid. However, resilience is not yet fully integrated into many utilities’ DSP. Requirements vary across states, with some focusing only on wildfire mitigation plans. SEPA and Rhizome analyzed utility resilience plans, offering best practices and insights to help utilities better incorporate resilience and guide regulators in refining planning policies and frameworks.