CSUN to Create Local Resiliency Plan to Cope with Aging Infrastructure

The recent transformer fire at the DWP year on Parthenia highlighted the issues of deferred infrastructure and the lack of an effective resiliency plan to cope with our aging utilities and growing energy needs.  Given the onset of our increasingly warmer weather, days with temperatures over 100 will increase and become the norm, thereby taxing our aging electrical grid.  

According to the LA Times article of July 8th, the burning transformer, the size of a large truck, was more than 40 years old and needed to be replaced in the next to five to ten years.  There are a total of 70 large transformers in the utility’s greater network, with 20 of them needing to be replaced at a cost of about $5 million each.  A 2015 DWP report found the utility will need to rebuild and modernize much of its aging power grid infrastructure over the next 15 years. The same report cited research stating that eight of the utility’s 70 high-voltage transformers were past their 50-year lifespans.

In response, the City of Los Angeles installed base of local solar photovoltaic capacity has been increased in the last several years.  LA is now home to the largest rooftop solar installation in the country—a 2-million-square-foot array built atop four privately owned warehouses on Westmont Drive in San Pedro, adjacent to the Port of Los Angeles. With TruGreen Capital as the project developer, PermaCity teamed up with building owner Black Rock to lay down 16.5 megawatts of solar power.  Part of LADWP’s Feed-in-Tariff (FiT) program, the Westmont project created 500 local green jobs, with a special focus on hiring veterans, and utilizes three different types of solar panels, including a double-sided design that captures up to 45 percent more power than conventional panels.

As a direct response to the Aliso Canyon natural gas leak, another example of aging energy infrastructure, LADWP launched SummerShift, a new demand response program, in June 2016. Over the summer months, LADWP gave large commercial and industrial customers a $10 per kilowatt incentive to cut their power use between the critical hours of 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. The program paid out $306,000 and saved 270 megawatts over the previous summer’s peak consumption levels.

These are examples of specific projects that both commit the city to cleaner energy, as well as more renewable energy sources.  However, what is being done at the macro level to create systems that can adapt and survive the large-scale energy demands of the future, as well as create built-in goals for reductions in that energy demand?

Resiliency planning highlights how infrastructure systems are vulnerable to a variety of natural and human hazards, from extreme weather events, landslides and earthquakes and other large-scale accidents.  Unlike traditional emergency planning, resiliency planning is proactive and not reactive.  It strives to adapt and design new systems which are better suited to survive critical demands on government and community resources.

Most of our current infrastructure systems were not designed for the deep uncertainties we now face from a changing climate.  Resilient systems are more flexible and adaptive to changing circumstances, less vulnerable to catastrophic failure than standard systems, and recover more quickly to restore service in the event of disruption.

Public support for infrastructure investment is critical to the ability to upgrade and adapt current infrastructure systems to current and future needs.  Infrastructure needs can be hard to quantify, and investments in those systems compete with many other priorities that local, state, and national elected officials must address. 

Construction of new roads, sewer mains, infrastructure projects and public venues can create tremendous temporary disruptions, while benefiting communities significantly in the long term. Engaging the public early in the planning process helps to mitigate issues and concerns, reducing the stress of change.  Examples of early stakeholder input have helped guide local discussion on infrastructure projects such as light rail, traffic calming and other transit issues.   However, these changes are never easy and usually pit the haves against the have nots, AND those who benefit most from projects against those who tend to benefit the least or whose tax burden is the greater.

 

CSUN has launched this resiliency project, in recognition of the critical role the university plays in the community.  In times of trouble, the university’s open spaces will play an important part in emergency coordination.  At the same time, the resiliency project will work to map ways in which the university and the community around can be better protected by long term infrastructure planning which promotes better adaptability in the case of natural or human disaster.

Information of community input for CSUN’s resiliency project should be forthcoming.  Please be sure to follow the discussion in future issues of the Community Connection.