Argonne helps New York Power Authority plan for future

LEMONT - Argonne National Laboratory said it is helping the New York Power Authority assess how its ability to generate, transmit and deliver electricity may be affected by climate change.

NYPA is the largest state public power entity in the U.S. Argonne said the study will help NYPA plan investments in its infrastructure and strengthen its resilience against all hazards, including major weather events.

For the first time, NYPA is evaluating its comprehensive climate risk with the help of the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne, in collaboration with the Electric Power Research Institute and the Columbia Center on Global Energy Policy.

Using state-of-the-art climate and infrastructure system modeling techniques, and a powerful supercomputer, Argonne's interdisciplinary team of scientists and engineers will determine the risks a changing climate poses to NYPA's infrastructure and investment strategy. Argonne's experts will also develop a climate resiliency plan that will inform how NYPA mitigates any potential risks.

"Large power utilities like NYPA need to anticipate and prepare for the possible impacts of extreme weather events to better address and harden our infrastructure and to better inform our business decisions," said Adrienne Lotto, vice president, chief risk and resilience officer at NYPA.