Extreme Weather- Planning: Creating the Framework for Resiliency

As a nation, we have experienced a number of extreme weather catastrophes in recent years. We have continuously been able to connect the extremity of these events with our need to address climate change in order to prepare in the best way possible for the next major disaster. Extreme Weather is a prominent theme at SOLAR 2013 and this was the first of four sessions of the week.

The perspective from a state role was given by David Terry, Executive Director, National Association of State Energy Officials. He gave an overview of state energy emergency plans.

Casey Johnston of ICLEI spoke next from a local point of view, focusing on climate preparedness. There is a need for energy security in America, which will come from the expansion of the local renewable energy generation. He discussed the need for infrastructure renewal, which will include investing in upgrades to community facilities to serve the needs of changing communities, and updating new building codes to prepare for extreme weather events. The Resilient Communities for America Agreement is a campaign working to rally leadership to overcome our nation’s climate and energy changes. The goal is to rally 1,000 plus local elected officials. The key message to take home here is the connection between climate and energy, and the economy.

 Margaret Jolly, Distributed Generation (DG) Ombudswoman for ConEdison, was our next speaker who applied her personal experience in super storm Sandy, with what she is doing to promote distributed generation. Margaret tells her entire story about her experience in Sandy, when the storm water rushed in at approximately 14 feet high. She was actually at a power plant explosion and discusses how some of the protection in place, such as sand bags, actually caused more damage after the storm hit. Margaret is involved in planning very closely with city legislators on the terms of how much to prepare for. The public service commissions are working to plan for the next hurricane season, in terms of utility design.

The need to prepare for extreme weather in our nation is now inevitable, and legislation progress is being made in high risk areas to try to make quick changes that will save many lives and communities.