Climate Vulnerability Assessment in Power Systems

Southern California Edison (SCE) developed a vulnerability assessment to address the expected climate impacts on its power system. Five climate hazards were analyzed through future climate projections, namely extreme heat, sea level rise, precipitation, wildfire, and debris flow. SCE followed a two-step methodology of (i) combining exposure and sensitivity to determine risk of asset failure, and (ii) combining risk and adaptive capacity to determine the power system vulnerability. Power system assets were categorized as having either high, medium, or low adaptive capacity and potential adaptation strategies for each of the five climate hazards were identified. SCE’s analyses identified climate-driven risks to its assets and additional studies are needed to understand the magnitude and timing of climate hazards due to their dynamic nature, as well as the specific challenges climate change pose to integrated power system planning.