Building a Climate-Resilient City: Electricity and information and communication technology infrastructure

The document argues that climate change increases risks to urban energy and ICT systems through extreme weather and shifting demand patterns. It proposes building resilience through three pillars: robustness (hardening infrastructure via protocols like PIEVC), redundancy (deploying decentralized renewable energy and diverse ICT channels), and resourcefulness (utilizing smart grid technology and emergency roaming). Specific recommendations include adopting the PIEVC protocol for new investments, implementing time-of-use pricing, and encouraging the use of distributed energy storage.

• Climate change in Alberta is projected to increase mean annual temperatures by 2.0°C by the 2030s and 4.0°C by the 2060s, compared to the 1990s, assuming current greenhouse gas emission rates continue.
• Climate change is expected to shift the energy load profile of cold-climate cities like Calgary and Edmonton from a winter peak to a summer peak due to increased air conditioning loads.
• The Public Infrastructure Engineering Vulnerability Committee (PIEVC) protocol is highlighted as a proven Canadian methodology for strengthening infrastructure design to account for climate impacts, such as identifying when electricity distribution systems should be buried underground to manage ice and wind loads.
• Decentralized renewable energy technologies (RETs) and distributed storage provide critical system redundancy, allowing households or communities to remain powered during grid failures, similar to early rural mini-grids.
• ICT infrastructure is naturally more resilient due to its modularity and redundant architectures, but can be further improved through diverse Internet Service Providers (ISPs), emergency roaming, and the use of mesh networking apps like MeshMe and Serval.
• Smart grid technology enhances resourcefulness by enabling time-of-use pricing to reduce peak demand and allowing the automatic disconnection of high-load discretionary appliances during major climate events.

APA

Venema, H., & Temmer, J. (2017). Building a Climate-Resilient City: Electricity and information and communication technology infrastructure. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/pcc-brief-climate-resilient-city-electricity-ict.pdf

Chicago

Venema, Hank, and Jennifer Temmer. Building a Climate-Resilient City: Electricity and information and communication technology infrastructure. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2017. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/pcc-brief-climate-resilient-city-electricity-ict.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Venema |first1=Hank |last2=Temmer |first2=Jennifer |title=Building a Climate-Resilient City: Electricity and information and communication technology infrastructure |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=2017 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/pcc-brief-climate-resilient-city-electricity-ict.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{venema2017building, author = {Venema, Hank and Temmer, Jennifer}, title = {{Building a Climate-Resilient City: Electricity and information and communication technology infrastructure}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2017}, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/pcc-brief-climate-resilient-city-electricity-ict.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }