Storm Surge and Blackouts in the Delaware Valley, and How Clean Energy Can Help

The report finds that significant portions of the U.S. East and Gulf Coast electricity grids are exposed to coastal flooding, with the Delaware Valley specifically facing risks to 79 substations and 35 power plants under current Category 3 hurricane conditions. It warns that reliance on historical flood data underestimates future risks as sea levels rise, potentially leading to widespread, long-lasting power outages. To address this, the authors recommend a combination of infrastructure adaptation (protection, accommodation, and retreat) and the deployment of decentralized clean energy technologies—such as solar with storage, combined heat and power (CHP) plants, and microgrids—to ensure critical facilities remain powered during grid failures while reducing the carbon emissions that drive sea level rise.

• A significant portion of electricity infrastructure serving over 70 million coastal residents on the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts is already exposed to flooding from severe storms, and this exposure will increase as sea levels rise.
• In the Delaware Valley, a Category 3 hurricane today could expose 79 major substations (30% of the total) and 35 power plants with over 8,800 MW of capacity to flooding; by 2050, the number of exposed substations is projected to rise to 84.
• Analysis of five metropolitan regions shows that the share of substations exposed to storm surge today ranges from 16% in southeastern Florida to nearly 70% in the central Gulf Coast.
• Current flood protection for electricity infrastructure often relies on static historical data or FEMA assessments, which fail to account for future sea level rise and the lifetime of the equipment.
• The report identifies three primary adaptation strategies for at-risk infrastructure: protection (building defenses like seawalls), accommodation (elevating equipment or using submersible gear), and retreat (relocating or retiring infrastructure).
• Decentralized clean energy solutions—specifically renewable energy with storage, combined heat and power (CHP) plants, and microgrids—can provide resilient power to critical facilities when the centralized grid fails.
• The cost of wind and solar power has decreased by 60 to 70 percent over the five years preceding the report, making resilient energy systems more cost-effective for communities and vulnerable populations.

APA

Union of Concerned Scientists (2015). Storm Surge and Blackouts in the Delaware Valley, and How Clean Energy Can Help. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2015/10/lights-out-delaware-valley.pdf

Chicago

Union of Concerned Scientists. Storm Surge and Blackouts in the Delaware Valley, and How Clean Energy Can Help. 2015. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2015/10/lights-out-delaware-valley.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Union of Concerned Scientists |title=Storm Surge and Blackouts in the Delaware Valley, and How Clean Energy Can Help |date=October 2015 |url=https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2015/10/lights-out-delaware-valley.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{unionofconcernedscientists2015storm, author = {{Union of Concerned Scientists}}, title = {{Storm Surge and Blackouts in the Delaware Valley, and How Clean Energy Can Help}}, institution = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, year = {2015}, month = oct, url = {https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2015/10/lights-out-delaware-valley.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }