Multidimensional risk and resilience score: informing utility investments in vulnerable communities

Power outages increasingly intersect with socioeconomic and climatic vulnerabilities, disproportionately affecting under-resourced communities. This study develops a multidimensional risk and resilience score that integrates social vulnerability, social capital, climate exposure, and outage risk to assess community-level resilience. Using case studies from Puget sound energy (PSE) in Washington and Austin Energy (AE) in Texas, we combine multi-resolution datasets—including high-resolution outage polygons, FEMA’s national risk index, and Meta’s social connectedness index—to construct a composite risk score. The results reveal significant spatial disparities in community vulnerability, showing that risk is driven by the intersection of social, infrastructural, and climatic factors. These insights highlight the importance of integrating diverse variables into utility investment strategies to promote equitable and effective resilience planning. By overlaying canopy and infrastructure data, we further demonstrate how utilities can operationalize this framework to prioritize targeted investments—such as vegetation management, undergrounding, and community engagement—toward building more resilient and inclusive energy systems.