Utility Industry Executives Say Rising Severe Weather from Climate Change Threatens Grid Operations and Increases Need for Resilience, According to Accenture Research

More than nine in 10 executives (95%) believe that climate change due to greenhouse gas emissions has been a contributing factor to increased extreme weather events that their electricity networks have experienced over the past 10 years, according to new research from Accenture (NYSE: ACN). In addition, 90% believe an expected rise in severe weather poses an increased financial risk to their grid businesses.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200514005093/en/

Utility executives say rising severe weather threatens grid operations and increases need for resilience, says Accenture. (Photo: Business Wire)

The study — the sixth edition of Accenture’s Digitally Enabled Grid research — is based on a survey of more than 200 electric utility executives in 28 countries on five continents. Other key findings include:

• Almost three-quarters (73%) of survey respondents said that extreme weather events represent a significant challenge to network operations and safety.
• 92% said they expect severe weather to increase in the next 10 years.
• 88% said maintaining network resilience to extreme weather will result in significant increases in network prices for customers.
• At the same time, only one-quarter (24%) believe that their businesses are very well prepared to deal with the impact of extreme weather, with one in 12 (8%) reporting being poorly prepared.

“With various parts of the world affected by droughts, wildfires, and flooding in addition to the U.S. hurricane season just around the corner, climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events and impacting the electricity grid,” said Stephanie Jamison, a global industry senior managing director who leads Accenture’s Utilities business. “Greater system flexibility, delivered through digital and emerging technologies, will be critical to optimizing grid resilience in a cost-effective and timely manner. For example, active management of available network redundancy, distributed generation and energy storage can help maintain power delivery during severe weather events and speed service restoration after network failures.”