Energy justice in a warming world: Why grid resilience matters for vulnerable communities

Communication blackouts and isolation

Without power, you may lose access to communication. With 5G towers down, cellphone batteries dying, and Wi-Fi connectivity sparse, a blackout could keep less-resilient populations apart from the rest of the connected world. If you are living alone or with few neighbors, you could be fending for yourself in a situation where community is the greatest asset to survival.

Examples include areas in the digital divide, where high-speed internet is minimal to absent. In a smartphone-dependent world, losing this access is potentially life-threatening. One survey found that lower-income households earning less than $30,000 annually are more reliant on phones, with 27% of respondents attesting¹ to this. Only 6% of people making $75,000 per year say they are.

This connectivity gap explains how those who are disadvantaged by systemic oppression will endure greater hardships if a blackout occurs. They would have to sacrifice and risk more to find the resources they need to survive, such as supply distribution points or contact with loved ones. These populations would also need to use more energy to research emergency shelters and inexpensive resources, when they should be prioritizing their safety.

Amplified economic shocks and food insecurity

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When you are unable to attend work because of impassable roads or lose perishable food because freezers lack power, your community falls into a perpetual cycle of hardship and may accumulate debt. Only 63% of people said they could cover² a $400 emergency expense in 2024, with lower percentages for Black and Hispanic communities — 43% and 47%, respectively. This savings gap leaves many without essential resources or consistent sources of income.  

An unexpected 2021 freeze in Texas represented how a lack of grid resilience correlates with food insecurity. Millions were trapped in their homes³, and food banks were working so hard to care for people that it disrupted the state’s supply chain. Some even closed because staff could not get there, making food even more inaccessible, while many others canceled their food runs despite the urgency. States must prepare for situations like this, as backup resources may not function without the grid.

Health and safety dependencies on powered medical equipment

Electricity is nonnegotiable in the modern age, as it is the foundation for a healthy life. It powers households to prevent your home from freezing, and it powers lifesaving technologies in hospitals. At-home medical devices and medicines, including refrigerated insulin, respirators, and dialysis machines, also need energy. An overloaded or damaged grid is costly, leaving you without the tools you need to stay healthy. Some individuals using these resources are far from the nearest care facility, making them more vulnerable during grid failures.

Events like heat waves are becoming more severe and even hitting areas where they usually do not occur. In places like Phoenix, Arizona, known for its high temperatures, a blackout could be catastrophic for public health. An estimated 13,000 people could die⁴, and 800,000 would need immediate medical attention.

Cities can prevent this by reinforcing their grids, especially for elderly populations, socially isolated people in rural areas and individuals with lower incomes who cannot afford backup power supplies. They must do this with more robust emergency preparedness and strategizing. The best-laid plans consider the inevitability of all types of grid threats, rather than relying solely on historical trends as a gauge.

Disproportionate recovery burdens and expenses

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The grid is undergoing modernization, but resilience-based implementations typically need funding and legislative support from state and federal governments. This process could make deployment slower than necessary, delegating responsibilities to you and your neighbors in the interim. Privatizing grid resilience makes it easier for those with higher incomes and access to more advanced technologies to stay safe, while having the opposite effect for others.

In marginalized communities, there are likely fewer generators, renewable microgrids and neighbors with resources to spare. Even the ability to commit to an extended hotel stay is a privilege. Therefore, if a natural disaster strikes and the grid goes down, vulnerable populations will have to spend the most time, effort and resources to keep the lights on and recover. 

Even agencies say these expenses are higher, but this explanation and representation of those most vulnerable is often not factored⁵ into recovery totals. This lack of nuance worsens systemic inequality, especially in areas with people of color, those with disabilities, and households with lower incomes, among others. You and your fellow citizens must collectively advocate for policies that protect and fund recovery efforts, especially in areas where this would objectively cost more due to systemic oversights.

Compounding environmental injustice

If the grid continues to fail and harm vulnerable people, it will delay progress toward climate justice. Wealthy and socially disconnected populations with a disregard for environmental injustice will further resent vulnerable areas for pulling more resources during recovery periods. 

However, greater assistance is necessary because of the issues catalyzed by the most polluting and unsustainable pockets of society. In addition to corporations’ disproportionate impact on the climate crisis, 10% of homes account for half⁶ of household emissions. This disparity shows that the most fortunate can harm the planet but face fewer repercussions. If electricity becomes scarce or unavailable due to intensified climate stressors, they have the privilege of turning on a generator to stay warm and informed.

Environmental racism is deeply ingrained in grid infrastructure. Privileged populations have reliable access to resources, even during a blackout, while communities near damaging and polluting power plants are some of the first to be ignored. The grid supports those in the correct zones, which were historically created with discriminatory intent⁷ and the desire to delineate who deserves well-maintained power assets.

You need to analyze your communities to identify how these boundaries are causing marginalized populations to experience greater hardship amid grid concerns. Then, cities can begin establishing microgrids and other community-supported resources to prioritize their care and protection, thereby improving grid resilience, before those with existing access.

Resilience as a social imperative

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Your communities must collaborate to build a grid that scales with growing demand and environmental pressures. It must handle massive spikes in energy consumption while maintaining distribution during unexpected storm outages. A fair and equitable grid gives affordable power to those who are in the greatest need, regardless of location, demographic and other affinities. Designing infrastructure this way is the only path toward a sustainable future where electricity is always ready to keep citizens safe and secure.

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Footnotes

1. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/mobile

2. https://www.federalreserve.gov/consumerscommunities/sheddataviz/unexpectedexpenses-table.html 

3. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/feb/18/texas-food-banks-crisis-storm-freezing-supplies 

4. https://unifiedpowerusa.com/protect-your-business-from-summer-heat/ 

5. https://www.undrr.org/explainer/the-invisible-toll-of-disasters-2022 

6. https://environment.co/climate-justice/ 

7. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-022-01162-y