Climate Resilience Maturity Model Will Help Illinois Utilities Prepare for Climate, Severe Weather

(December 20, 2024) Environmental Defense Fund is calling on electric utilities in Illinois to draw on the Climate Resilience Maturity Model for several upcoming electric utility planning dockets around the state.

The Climate Resilience Maturity Model was developed by national experts on climate resilience. It’s an assessment tool designed to help essential service providers, like electric utilities, improve their climate and severe weather preparedness. The model helps providers make informed decisions and prioritize investments, which can then lead to more reliable and affordable service in this time of increasing extreme weather events. 

“The Climate Resilience Maturity Model is a valuable tool for regulators and utilities who are working to adapt to, and plan for, for severe climate threats like hurricanes, floods, droughts, and wildfires,” said Curt Stokes, EDF Senior Attorney. “As communities face more frequent and more severe weather events because of climate change, regulators and utilities face new challenges in how to provide safe and reliable service.”

Using a maturity model approach allows organizations to evaluate their resilience efforts and allocate limited resources effectively. The Climate Resilience Maturity Model guides essential service providers along five capabilities: governance, climate aware planning, active stakeholder and community collaboration, resilience and adaptation actions, and customer engagement and coordination. 

By understanding how well their local electric utility is preparing for severe weather, residents and businesses can make informed decisions about their own climate resilience efforts. Civic leaders and utility regulators will also benefit by using the tool as a framework for evaluating their electric utilities’ efforts to adapt to severe weather.

For upcoming proceedings in Illinois and other states, EDF plans to ask regulators to require that utilities apply the Climate Resilience Maturity Model to their electric utility grid and integrated resource planning processes, and then apply that data to their detailed business forecasts and investment projections over multiple years.