New White Paper: Electricity Sector Adaptation to Heat Waves

The Sabin Center has published “Electricity Sector Adaptation to Heat Waves” by Sofia Aivalioti, a student in the Joint European Master in Environmental Studies – Cities & Sustainability program and a Visiting Scholar at the Center last fall. The white paper takes an up-close look at the impacts of extreme heat events on the electricity generation, transmission and distribution system and makes a series of recommendations for adaptive responses that can help states and localities avoid blackouts and brownouts and the risks to public health, public safety and local economies they pose. The recommendations include sweeping technological fixes and grid modernization, behavioral changes by utilities and end users alike, and managing the complexity of a multi-scalar, multi-sectoral problem through transparency and communication. The paper also provides comparative case studies of heat waves and adaptation responses in France, California, New York City and Australia.

Jessica Wentz

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