Climate Adaptation at SDG&E
Climate change and its associated hazards are already impacting California and the San Diego region. Some primary examples of these hazards include increased wildfire risk, extreme heat, drought, and sea level rise.
At SDG&E, we’re on a mission to continuously improve our own climate resilience and the resilience of communities we serve while prioritizing equity, advancing science, and developing strategic regional partnerships.
Our vision is for SDG&E and the San Diego region to be global contributors and leaders in climate resilience. Extreme weather and climate conditions of today are expected to become more frequent and severe in the future, so we’re working today to ensure were ready for whatever comes tomorrow.
Facing a Changing Climate
Recent extreme weather events in California and the western United States have emphasized the need for utilities to expand their capacity to adapt to the changing climate.
SDG&E has taken steps to reduce the risk of wildfires and other climate hazards by:
- Utilizing the best available science and supporting the development of that science where it is lacking
- Cutting-edge situational awareness technology
- Subject matter experts dedicated to solving complex climate adaptation issues
Past actions
- Joined Department of Energy Partnership for Energy Sector Climate Resilience (2014)
- Produced SDG&E Climate Vulnerability Report (2015)
- Formed SDG&E Climate Advisory Group (2015)
- Built sea level projections into design for South Bay substation (2013-2016)
- Published RAMP filing addressing climate risks (2016)
- Participated in CEC-funded climate vulnerability study (2016-2018)
- Formed Fire Science & Climate Adaptation Group (2018)
- Increased wildfire situational awareness through cameras, weather center, etc. (2010-ongoing)
- Developing flexible adaptation pathway for Montgomery substation
Current work
- New tide gauge installation & real-time coastal flooding model partnership with Scripps
- Analysis of outage data for climate risk assessment
- Expanding fire science and integrating artificial intelligence to model fire behavior
- WRF Wildfire Weather Modelling with Scripps
- System-Wide Vulnerability Assessment
- Participation in several CEC grant opportunities
- Community Engagement Efforts
Leadership in Wildfire Space
Of all the climate hazards facing San Diego today, none have been more impactful than wildfire. At SDG&E, nothing is more important to us than safety, so for more than a decade, we’ve strived to be the industry leader in wildfire prevention and mitigation activities. We plan to apply what has made us successful in adapting to wildfire as we improve our resilience to other climate hazards.
First-of-its-kind Utility Weather Network
A decade ago, SDG&E hired our first meteorologist and started building our own weather station network, so we can closely track how temperature, humidity and winds affect the power grid and plan accordingly to reduce wildfire risk.
Over the years, we have continued to expand and upgrade our weather network to support our wildfire program. Today, we have 191 weather stations, up from 177 in 2018.
This network not only gives us an extremely granular picture of how weather conditions are developing across the service territory during a Santa Ana wind event, but also shows where problem areas in the territory lie to ensure hardening efforts are being focused in the appropriate areas and to the appropriate degree.
Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment
SDG&E is conducting a system-wide climate change vulnerability assessments for a variety of climate change hazards including wildfire, temperature (average & extreme), precipitation (average & extreme), sea level rise & coastal flooding, drought, subsidence, and compounding hazards.
As a part of this, SDG&E will develop adaptation plans for the vulnerabilities identified and implement them as necessary. This process will ensure we are operating and adapting to climate change with the best information available and are planning for a safe and resilient future for our service territory. Updates and information from the Vulnerability Assessments will be posted on this page as they become available.
Community Engagement Plan
By first asking what our communities need in the face of climate change impacts, we tailor our adaptation strategies to prioritize them.
By partnering with local community based organizations, local governments, and other regional partners to facilitate communication, we aim for an equitable future in which our customers have agency in how we plan for and adapt to climate impacts. Specifically, this work will prioritize communities in SDG&E’s territory that have been identified by the State of California as "Disadvantaged Vulnerable Communities."
To assist with this process, SDG&E has partnered with the San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative and will be using guidance from their recent publication: Equity-First Approach to Climate Adaptation.
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Academic Partnerships
Partnering with academic institutions is an integral aspect of building smart, long-term solutions to climate change. SDG&E leverages several key partnerships to both develop and implement the best climate science in California & the country to ensure the utility and the region are as resilient as possible.
- U.S. Department of Energy Partnership for Energy Sector Climate Resilience
- San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative Sea Level Rise Working Group
- Partnership with the Center for Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation (CCCIA) and the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes (CW3E) at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego to assess climate hazard risk to utility infrastructure
- Collaboration with San Jose State University to develop new Live Fuel Moisture Content (LFMC) tools to better assess fire danger in the SDG&E service territory
- Partnership with San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) to ingest and store SDG&E datasets for weather forecast, fire potential index and fuels to enable publicly available findability and accessibility of these datasets
Meet the Climate Adaptation Team
These are the subject matter experts dedicated to SDG&E’s climate adaptation efforts.
- Brian D’Agostino, Vice President, Wildfire & Climate Science
- Mark Mezta, Manager, Climate Adaptation
- Chris Arends, Meteorology Program Manager
- Max Beller, Climate Adaptation Project Advisor
- Bri Haugen, Climate Adaptation & Resilience Specialist
- Katie Giannecchini, Meteorology Data Scientist
- Robyn Brookshire, Community Resilience Advisor
- Dr. Yumin Moon, Numerical Weather Prediction Scientist
Climate Advisory Group
To ensure a well-rounded approach to adaptation, SDG&E’s Climate Advisory Group will help oversee the adaptation process and provide valuable perspectives from various sectors of the utility. This group consists of over 20 leaders from across the company.
Climate Adaptation Survey
To let us know what you and your community need in the face of climate change, complete our five-question Climate Adaptation survey. We want to hear from you!
Contact Us
Should you want to reach out with any questions about SDG&E’s climate adaptation efforts, please email [email protected].