Impact of Extreme Weather Events on the Grid

Abstract

The rise in temperature due to climate change has increased the frequency and severity of extreme weather events in the past few years. The 2010s in the US saw a total of 119-billion-dollar disasters, with an estimated cost of these events exceeding $800 billion. ERCOT’s grid failure in 2021 was an example of the devastating impacts extreme weather events can have on the grid. Therefore, our project measured the impact of extreme weather on Duke Energy. We examined the reliability outcomes of different strategies for expanding power generation capacity in Duke Energy when extreme weather scenarios are considered.