Prepare for Power Outages During the Next Severe Weather Event

In September 2021, the remnants of Hurricane Ida, a Category 4 hurricane, passed through New York City causing widespread power outages. The storm caused nearly 150,000 customers in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut to lose power, affecting nearly 45,600 customers in New York State alone. The damage directly impacted business owners’ revenue streams while they waited several days for power restoration. New York City’s infrastructure may not be prepared for the next severe weather storm. As a result, organizations are uncertain how severe weather will affect them in the future. By prioritizing energy resiliency now with the help of our sustainable energy consulting, your organization can implement a proactive plan that will insulate you from energy crises and ensure long-term success.

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Which Factors Contributed to the 2021 Outages in New York?

Evidence suggests that human caused climate change is creating more severe weather patterns as witnessed through the aftermath of Hurricane Ida. The storm’s powerful wind and record-breaking rain arrived in quick succession, causing New York City’s first flash-flood warning and millions of dollars in losses. The power outages in New York were caused by flood and wind disruptions to electricity transmission and distribution systems. Strong winds tumbled utility poles and downed numerous power lines while flooding damaged electric substations and transformers.

Following Super Storm Sandy in 2012, utilities spent billions of dollars upgrading electrical grids, substations, and transformers to be more resilient in the face of severe weather. Despite these upgrades, Hurricane Ida showed that the city is still unprepared for severe weather disturbances. Although outages may be impossible to avoid, your organization can take steps to become less vulnerable to energy disturbances caused by severe weather.

How Can You Prepare Your Organization?

To protect your organization and your bottom line during future severe weather events, we recommend implementing a resiliency plan that addresses and future proofs for an energy crisis. Using Environ’s proprietary methodology, Resiliency 360, your organization can minimize the effects of severe weather, reduce costs, and lower your carbon footprint.

Resiliency is the ultimate amenity in dealing with an energy crisis or severe weather outage. Environ has deployed clean onsite power generation including photovoltaic solar and battery technology, fuel cells, and combined thermal energy and electricity generation. Our resiliency strategy also utilizes onsite distributed energy resources (DERs) such as microgrids, a resilient technology that can be fully operational during broader grid outages. Microgrids operate by using distributed energy resources independent from your local utility provider, providing reliable energy during severe weather storms.

Environ is a trusted women-owned business in the New York City area that can help you identify DER opportunities, evaluate rates or tariffs, and develop a custom resiliency plan for your organization. Our experience helping customers recover from Super Storm Sandy has prepared us well to develop and implement resiliency strategies.

Using our comprehensive methodology of resiliency, sustainability, procurement, and efficiency, we work with you to create a plan customized to the unique needs of your organization. If you are ready to make the leap to a more sustainable energy solution, call (800) 375-1457 or fill out our contact form to get in touch with us. We would love to work with you!