Remote work and climate change: Considerations for grid resilience in the 21st century
Abstract
This paper explores how the unprecedented dependence on remote work since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the demand for electricity. The paper discusses how the increased dependence on information and communication technologies has driven a shift in the daytime demand for power, from the commercial sector to the residential sector, prompting changes in the way electric utilities plan for peak load demand. As the article goes on to argue, this exposes the growing need for greater grid resilience in order to safeguard the supply of electricity in the face of increasingly frequent potential disruptions such as extreme weather events. The paper finds that emergency planners and responders, public agencies, utilities and other public and private sector stakeholders will need to collaborate ever more closely when devising and implementing solutions as well as when responding to emergencies.
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Author's Biography
Jackie Ratner is a senior project manager at the National Center for Disaster Preparedness. Her advocacy for public access to disaster-specific knowledge has been recognised in awards for science outreach, and she has spoken at the annual conferences of the American Geophysical Union and the European Geophysical Union, as well as numerous smaller conferences. Her BS with honours in geology was awarded by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and she was accepted to the earth science doctoral programme at the University of Oxford.
Vincent Westfallen is a Principal Engineer in Distribution Capacity planning at Commonwealth Edison, where he has been involved in a broad range of activities, including field testing and distribution planning. He earned his Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Susanna Aguilar is a senior analyst in Smart Grid programs at Commonwealth Edison, where she works on developing methodologies to evaluate the qualitative and quantitative impacts of investments in grid resilience. Susanna holds a PhD in management science and an undergraduate degree in architecture from Illinois Institute of Technology, where she previously worked as a postdoctoral researcher and adjunct faculty member.
Jeff Schlegelmilch is the Deputy Director for the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at the Earth Institute, Columbia University. He oversees projects related to the practice of disaster preparedness and guides the development of strategic planning for the centre. His areas of expertise include public health policy and preparedness, community resilience and public-private partnerships.
Citation
Ratner, Jackie, Westfallen, Vincent, Aguilar, Susanna and Schlegelmilch, Jeff (2022, September 1). Remote work and climate change: Considerations for grid resilience in the 21st century. In the Journal of Business Continuity & Emergency Planning, Volume 16, Issue 1. https://doi.org/10.69554/AXGH5041.
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