Utilities + Resilience Thought Leadership

Publications

Overview

The ComEd and NCDP thought leadership partnership is analyzing and writing about vulnerabilities pertaining to utility resilience and utility-related policies. Below is a collection of published writings organized by topic area. Please check this page for regular updates.

Resilience

In the context of disasters, resilience is the ability to bounce back quickly and completely. Where the energy sector is concerned, energy resilience is an important component of overall community and economic resilience. This topic area explores the ways in which the energy sector and disaster/climate resilience are intertwined.

Remote work and climate change: Considerations for grid resilience in the 21st century – The Journal of Business Continuity and Emergency Planning, September 23, 2022, Ratner, J., Westfallen, V., Aguilar, S., Schlegelmilch, J.
The electrical grid of the future must be built around community need – The Hill, January 25, 2022, Schlegelmilch, J., Kushner, D.
How utilities can help communities build economic resilience to disasters: Part II – Columbia Climate School, State of the Planet, October 8, 2021, Krasniqi, Q., Burg, R., Skeete R., Ratner, J.
How to build a more resilient energy grid for the future: Part 1 – Columbia Climate School, State of the Planet, March 10, 2021, Kusher, D., Ratner, J., Schlegelmilch, J.
In Puerto Rico, a glimpse of the future of resilient energy – The Hill, May 8, 2020, Schlegelmilch, J., Bahramirad, S.
The role of utilities in building resilience [Audio podcast] Episode 22 – Disaster Politics Podcast, April 17, 2020, Schlegelmilch, J. (Producer), Bahramirad, S.

Covid-19

The coronavirus pandemic created ubiquitous challenges, including within operational continuity for the energy sector. This topic area explores the novel approaches utilized by the NCDP and ComEd partnership in order to predict and maintain workforce stability for an essential electric utility.

Integrating data variability into contemporary COVID-19 decision support – Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness, October 15, 2021, Saxena, G., Ratner, J., Schlegelmilch, J., White, Z., Wongsodirdjo, K., Aguilar, S., Kushner, D., Paaso, A.
Using analytics to support a utility’s initial response to the COVID-19 pandemic amid an uncertain evidence base – Journal of Business Continuity & Emergency Planning, March 16, 2021, Schlegelmilch, J., Paaso, A., Ratner, J., Saxena, G., White, Z., Aguilar, S., Kushner, D., Matevosyan, N., Ortega, J., Bahramirad, S.
Current Data Gaps in Modelling Essential Worker Absenteeism due to COVID-19 – Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness, September 10, 2020, White, Z., Schlegelmilch, J., Ratner, J., Saxena, G., Wongsodirdjo, K., Aguilar, S., Kushner, D., Ortega, J., Paaso, A., Bahramirad, S.

Microgrids

The centralized electric grid is one of the 20^th century’s greatest accomplishments. Yet now, in a rapidly changing world of technological advancements and societal evolution, the centralized grid presents challenges and vulnerabilities to our ways of life and work. This topic area explores microgrids and other energy innovations for a resilient grid of the future.

An Exercise in Resilience: Testing the Bronzeville Community Microgrid – Natural Hazards Center, Research Counts, August 23, 2021, Schlegelmilch, J., Ratner, J., Aguilar, S.
The Resilient Power of Microgrids: From the South Side of Chicago to Patagonia – Renewable Energy Magazine, July 19, 2021, Samur, A., Burg, R.
La energía resiliente de las microrredes: del lado sur de Chicago a la Patagonia – Energías Renovables, July 16, 2021, Samur, A., Burg, R.
K12: Wind Beneath Our Wings – Columbia Climate School, Columbia University, June 24, 2021, J., Ratner and ComEd
Looking back won’t tell us everything we need to know about grid vulnerability – The Hill Opinion, November 4, 2020, Schlegelmilch, J., Ratner, J., Bahramirad, S., Paaso, A.
Lives on the line: The big benefits of microgrids in disaster – Natural Hazards Center, Research Counts, March 31, 2020, Schlegelmilch, J., Ratner, J., Bahramirad, S., Paaso, A.

Conferences

In addition to written work, the ComEd and NCDP teams share their thought leadership insights and experiences at conferences and other forums nationwide.

Power Outages and Disaster Impacts – Intersection of Utilities and Communities – NDEM Expo, November 18, 2021, Ratner, J., Aguilar, S.
Effect of COVID-19 in transportations: Discussion on the impacts, the usefulness of data dashboards and lesson learned, Panel 3 – IEEE International Smart Cities Conference, September 29, 2020, Paaso, A., Schlegelmilch, J.
Rebuilding for social justice: Sustainable futures and nature-based solutions – 2020 Natural Hazards Research and Applications Workshop, July 14, 2020, Paaso, A.