Addressing Hydro Ottawa’s distribution system vulnerabilities

Hydro Ottawa Climate Risk Assessment and Adaptation Plan

The National Capital Region has experienced damaging and costly weather patterns in recent years, including, but not limited to, an April 2018 freezing rain event, a high wind event in May 2018, and the September 2018 tornadoes. Hydro Ottawa’s distribution infrastructure is exposed to these extreme events—which have caused severe damages to the system.

Over 335,000 customers in the City of Ottawa and the Village of Casselman depend on Hydro Ottawa to supply continuous and reliable electrical service. So, Hydro Ottawa brought in our team to complete a climate risk assessment and adaptation plan on its distribution system. The goal? To identify key vulnerabilities within the system to these extreme 2018 events and other such climate disturbances both in the current climate and under projected future climate conditions.

We worked closely with Hydro Ottawa’s design, operations, and emergency response staff to produce a climate risk assessment that aligned closely with their policies, practices, and enterprise risk management system. Risk mitigation and adaptation recommendations were developed based on the results of the climate risk assessment and through a workshop setting with key Hydro Ottawa staff. Recommended strategies to help mitigate future damages or loss of service were developed to provide Hydro Ottawa with feasible actions towards climate adaptation.