Most Ontario utilities dont study climate risk to electrical grid: survey [Video]

The majority of Ontario’s electricity utilities don’t study how climate change could threaten parts of the power grid, a survey found as the province eyes changes that would require them to assess their vulnerability to extreme weather and build it into their infrastructure plans.

A survey prepared for the Ontario Energy Board, the provincial regulator, says the utilities have made progress in making the grid more resilient to extreme weather events fuelled by climate change.

“However, several areas remain where further potential actions could be taken to enhance the overall preparedness and response capabilities of distributors,” said the survey prepared by the consulting firm ICF.

More than a million customers lost power and hundreds of electrical poles were damaged when an ice storm tore through Ontario late last month. The destruction was so severe in some areas that Hydro One, one of the few utilities in Ontario that has started to carry out climate risk planning, said it has to rebuild …