Helping Utilities Withstand Extreme Ice Events

The globe has been experiencing increasingly frequent extreme weather events — including more ice storms in regions where they were once considered rare. Utilities across the U.S. have recently struggled with ice storms damaging overhead power lines and leaving customers without power when they need it most.

In an article published in the fall issue of Western Energy Institute's WE magazine titled "Proactive Risk-Informed Hardening for Cold Weather Grid Reliability," Exponent's Harri Kytömaa, Ph.D., P.E., CFEI, FASME, Ezra Jampole, Ph.D., P.E., and Brian McDonald, Ph.D., S.E., F.ASCE, explore ways in which complex risk models can help utilities operationally manage these extreme weather events. By leveraging quantitative risk assessments and computer models and integrating climate change-informed data to help identify the most vulnerable parts of power grids, utilities can zero in on priorities for hardening their assets against freezing rain and ice storms. 

From the publication: "Utilities facing cold weather-related outages can readily adapt QRA strategies that account for the health of their assets — down to the level of individual towers, poles, and components — as well as the localized impacts of climate change, which can be site-specific."