Climate READi: EPRI’s Framework for Climate Resilience and Adaptation

In April 2022, EPRI launched the Climate Resilience and Adaptation Initiative (Climate READi) to strengthen the planning, design, and operation of a resilient power system against climate and weather risk. Developed in collaboration with over forty electric companies and one hundred organizations, EPRI released the Climate READi: Power Framework in May 2025.

This framework provides a science-based, collaborative framework for physical climate risk assessment and adaptation planning in the electric power sector. Since Climate READi launched, the U.S. has experienced seventy climate-related disasters, resulting in a combined loss of nearly three hundred forty billion dollars. Stakeholders across the industry require data-driven insights into how the grid will perform under current and evolving climate conditions.

This framework provides power system practitioners and industry stakeholders with guidance, references, and tools to assess asset and system risks to physical climate conditions. Designed to support proactive and integrated planning, the framework offers resources to identify, evaluate, and prioritize adaptation strategies to help companies enhance resilience and make informed investment decisions amid evolving climate risks.

The framework is structured around three core focus areas. First, Physical Climate Data and Guidance delivers technical guidance on applying climate data in power system modeling and analysis and delivers training to enhance stakeholder knowledge of key climate data concepts and terminology.

Next, Power System Asset Vulnerability Assessment focuses on identifying vulnerabilities of individual asset classes to weather and climate hazards. In this focus area, the framework identifies adaptation strategies for addressing climate-related vulnerabilities and provides guidance on conducting vulnerability assessments.

And finally, System Modeling and Investment Prioritization adopts a system-wide perspective, incorporating climate data and asset vulnerability information into power system models. This area focuses on integrating climate considerations into power system planning and modeling, using models to evaluate whether adaptation strategies are needed, and justifying resilience-informed investments.

To facilitate access to the framework’s sixty-plus deliverables, EPRI developed the Climate READi Compass: Navigating Physical Climate Risk Assessments for the Power System. This web-based tool helps power companies and practitioners navigate available resources, guiding them through the stages of the physical climate risk assessment process. 

The compass assists users in identifying relevant framework components for their specific implementation needs. It provides step-by-step guidance on preparing for assessments, tailoring the framework’s application, understanding its scope and limitations, and conducting Climate READi assessments.

The Climate READi Framework is designed to serve various stakeholders in and adjacent to the electric power sector by providing science-based guidance for assessing and addressing physical climate risks. Power companies can use it to evaluate resilience and justify adaptation strategies tailored to their corporate structures and regulatory requirements.

At the same time, investors can use it to better understand the processes and methods companies are using to assess physical climate risk. Consulting firms can apply the framework to support clients or benchmark existing practices, and standards organizations may use it to inform climate-related standards.

As the power sector works to increase reliability and build resilience, EPRI’s Climate READi Framework provides a robust technical foundation and a collaborative platform to advance these efforts.

EPRI will continue to expand on Climate READi and plans to launch Program 262: Climate Risk and Resilience in January 2026. This new program will build on the existing framework foundation, continue collaborative research, and ensure that the framework remains a living resource for the industry.

For more information, please contact ClimateREADI@epri.com. To sign up for the Climate READi newsletter, visit: https://www.epri.com/research/sectors/readi