Feasibility of Energy Communities for Urban Resilience against Hurricanes

Coastal cities are vulnerable to climate extremes such as hurricanes, causing large-scale power outages. Peer-to-peer (P2P) energy sharing fosters resilient energy communities (ECs) by leveraging distributed energy resources (DERs) for local electricity generation and sharing, ensuring power access after disasters. This study developed a validated high-fidelity power system model for 2,640 urban households, integrating geographically sourced data and probabilistic risk analysis to assess ECs for hurricane resilience. Our model couples grid damage, islanding, and renewable energy generation with solar panels and behind-the-meter batteries, and analysis shows that ECs in Absecon, New Jersey, could have experienced 68% shorter outages during Hurricane Isaias (2020). Similarly, ECs provide the highest resilience to future hurricanes in Miami’s high-wind region compared with no grid upgrade, DERs without P2P sharing (non-ECs), and undergrounding. Financial analysis shows that households in ECs would have lower energy bills and would increase savings, whereas households could incur 65% higher costs with undergrounding measures. Our findings underscore the importance of integrating resilience into energy policies as urban communities adapt to the growing challenges from the changing climate.