Adam Freed

Opinion contributor

All eyes are now on the trail of destruction left by Hurricane Michael. This new devastation sadly comes only weeks after Hurricane Florence killed dozens of people and submerged vast swathes of countryside and left hundreds of thousands without power.

Climate change has created a terrifying new normal of severe weather patterns in many regions, and it seems we are now facing once-in-a-lifetime storms on a regular basis. To face this growing threat, we can no longer rely on old energy systems — we must develop infrastructure that can withstand increasingly frequent climate hazards. This gives us an opportunity to build in a smarter, more sustainable way.

One of the only encouraging facts in the aftermath of Florence is that the region’s renewable energy sources proved remarkably resilient to the storm’s fury. Following Hurricane Matthew, which two years ago caused similar destruction, North Carolina worked to rebuild a system with more solar and wind energy. Renewable power now accounts for almost 5 percent of its total energy production, more than any other state other than California. News reports have indicated that, while solar farms experienced minor damage, these renewable energy facilities has come back online faster those powered by fossil fuels.

Hurricanes highlight the need for energy reform

The current wreckage in the US also recalls the hurricanes last year — Irma and Maria — which ripped through the Caribbean less than 14 days apart. Islands such as Puerto Rico, St. Martin and the US Virgin Islands (USVI) were left in ruins, without electricity for months, and thousands perished in the terrible conditions that followed.

While tragic, this destruction has created a chance to reevaluate and improve upon the region’s infrastructure. Puerto Rico has recently been turning to solar energy to help fix its battered electric grid. The USVI in particular provides an example of how current rebuilding efforts are being used to build more resilient and sustainable energy systems.

Irma and Maria tore down more than 90 percent of the overhead power lines on the USVI, destroyed half of the US territory’s wooden utility poles, and damaged 20 percent of its power generation capacity. But even before the hurricanes, the USVI’s energy system was unreliable and expensive — with residents paying the highest electricity rates in the country, three times higher than the US average. This was due, in part, to the system’s over-reliance on fossil fuels, which account for half of the utility’s operating costs.

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To guide the territory’s recovery and rebuilding efforts, the USVI convened a task force of public and private members to identify concrete actions to increase the resilience of the USVI across a variety of sectors. The final report, issued earlier this month, includes 17 initiatives to transform the USVI’s energy generation portfolio, modernize its grid and fortify its energy infrastructure against climate risks.

More than 25 percent of these initiatives are already underway. In the aftermath of the storm, the USVI installed more than a thousand composite poles to better withstand high winds; replaced aerial wires with underground lines in commercial districts; and purchased smaller, more efficient generators for power plants.

As part of this effort, the USVI developed a roadmap to triple the amount of renewables on the USVI’s grid to 75 percent of peak demand by 2025. Local officials hope to achieve this goal with a mix of utility scale wind and solar projects and rooftop solar panels. In the USVI, as in other regions of the US, renewable power is now consistently cheaper than fossil fuel assets. Increasing the use of renewables will therefore increase reliability and lower utility costs and customer rates over the long-term.

It's time to revise outdated regulations

On St. John, the local power utility is also working to create the USVI’s first hybrid microgrids. Microgrids can operate independently of the broader grid, if needed, to reduce single points of failure in the system, and they represent the next big step that needs to be taken nationwide. Hybrid microgrids not only include back-up diesel generators that ensure energy needs are met in the event of outages, but utilize solar panels and battery storage to inject low-cost, clean renewable energy into the grid at all times. Neighborhoods in cities like Chicago and Los Angeles are already developing microgrids to meet their energy needs.

Revising outdated regulations is another reform worth considering, which can often hinder adoption of renewable technology. The USVI recently announced a process to develop new regulations to allow building owners to install distributed energy systems, remain connected to the grid for redundancy, and sell excess power back to utility. This follows the example set by places such as Kauai, HI, and will enable the USVI to leverage private solar installations for the broader public good and more quickly meet the renewables target set by the Governor.

As recent events both on the mainland and off the coast of the US prove, solutions do exist that not only increase resilience against climate change, but also reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases and help boost local economies by lowering energy costs. Following the examples of North Carolina and the USVI, we know these complimentary mandates are not actions for the future, but solutions for the present, and we should be taking more steps to achieve them.

Adam Freed is a principal at Bloomberg Associates, an international non-profit consulting firm, and lectures on sustainability at Columbia University. Follow him on Twitter: @AdamMFreed