Equitable Building Decarbonization: Climate-Resilient Electrical Grids
In the second blog post in this series, “A Path to Climate Resiliency”, we discussed the importance of climate-resilient, healthy homes. This blog explores the need for resilient electric grids in the face of extreme weather events, such as fires exacerbated by the climate crisis.
The Eaton and Palisades fires burned collectively more than 38,000 acres of land, displaced more than 150,000 people, and caused over $250 billion in damages. Months later, we’ve only just begun to see how the fires have changed the landscape and health of Angelenos.
Unfortunately, the Eaton and Palisades fires are only two of ten fires LA County has seen in 2025, and we're only in April. Adding to the concern, LA County has been officially ranked by FEMA as the county most susceptible to fires in the nation.
While this extreme event has been the most severe in our region, we can expect to experience equally devastating fire events in Los Angeles and throughout California. We’re facing an unprecedented rise in catastrophic impacts from the climate crisis and poor energy infrastructure. Worse, the burden of these events—rising costs, health impacts, and disrupted lives—is once again falling on the shoulders of already vulnerable communities, deepening health and social disparities.
As we face this new reality, it's clear that our current energy infrastructure is not equipped to handle the challenges posed by climate change. Aging and neglected electrical lines are increasingly contributing to this crisis.
Addressing climate change head-on—by making polluters pay—is key to preventing fires and other devastating weather events. Additionally, improving our electric grid and ensuring that climate solutions are not profit-driven are vital to promoting community health and well-being. We can't continue to profit our way out of the climate crisis. We need a resilient electricity grid and equitable energy solutions that ensure impacted communities aren’t left behind.
The Issue with Current Electric Grids
To electrify Los Angeles equitably, we must prioritize investments in vulnerable and environmental justice communities and transition to reliable energy infrastructures prepared to withstand extreme weather events.
Over the past decade, California fires have become more frequent and intense due to climate change. Rising temperatures, prolonged droughts, and increasingly dry conditions have created the perfect environment for fires, leading to longer and more devastating fire seasons. Unfortunately, California’s aging electrical infrastructure has only worsened the problem. For example:
The 2018 Camp Fire, California's deadliest and most destructive fire, started due to a poorly maintained Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) transmission line during strong winds. It killed 85 people, burned 14,000 homes, and destroyed 95 percent of the town of Paradise.
The 2025 Eaton Fire, which destroyed more than 9,000 structures and disseminated the historically Black neighborhood of Altadena, is being investigated for being ignited by Southern California Edison’s (SCE) equipment.
According to the California Public Utilities Commission, utility equipment has caused less than 10% of California’s wildfires — but nearly half of its most destructive fires. Still, as fires become more frequent, communities need access to resilient grids, not aging infrastructure that causes more harm.
Fires are not the only weather events that can cause damage to our energy infrastructure and drive up energy demand. During heat waves, residents and businesses use more energy to keep cool. Increased use can cause power outages, often at moments when people need electricity the most. Unmaintained, under-funded electric grids cannot cope with the impacts of climate change, preventing equitable, resilient housing and leaving many individuals and households vulnerable.
Grid Instability: A Health & Environmental Issue?
One tactic utility companies have implemented to prevent overuse and breakdown during extreme weather events is blackouts, or ‘Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS).’ While intended to protect infrastructure, these power shutoffs put people and essential facilities at risk without critical resources such as air conditioning, filtered clean indoor air, and refrigeration, especially during heat waves.
In 2019, the state’s three investor-owned utilities—PG&E, SCE, and San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E)-conducted a series of wildfire-related power shutoffs. This action resulted in more than 2.1 million customers losing power and impacting nearly 77,000 households who depend on electricity for their medical needs.
Unfortunately, power outages disrupt more than essential home medical electrical devices, such as oxygen concentrators and ventilators. They can lead to food insecurity, hinder the ability to charge phones or receive emergency alerts, and impact essential medical and health and safety services such as first responders and health professionals.
On top of this, PG&E customers have also faced a staggering 128% rate surge, partly due to the company’s profit-driven preference for costly wildfire-mitigation infrastructure over affordable and sustainable alternatives. As a result, many vulnerable communities bear the compounded effects of climate change, unreliable power, affordability, and health issues.
Resilient Energy and Homes
Protecting vulnerable communities requires comprehensive investments and holistic solutions that improve housing quality, climate resilience, grid stability, and overcoming barriers to electrification. Solutions include equitable building decarbonization programs and the development of decentralized grids like microgrids and community-owned energy systems, which can provide greater energy resilience and address affordability concerns.
As we work toward a more resilient energy future, the communities most impacted by climate change must be at the center of decision-making. This means prioritizing investments in historically neglected neighborhoods, hiring locally for decarbonization projects, and empowering communities to take ownership of their energy futures.
We must forgo expensive, unproven solutions like hydrogen and power line undergrounding that could exacerbate disproportionate risks and harms.
These devastating impacts underscore the urgent need for a more resilient energy future, one that prioritizes the needs of the hardest-hit communities and keeps energy justice in mind.
Still, we have a historic opportunity to transform the built environment from one that drives climate change and disproportionately harms low-income communities and communities of color to one that promotes health resilience and addresses long-standing disparities in climate justice. If we can do that in our City and County, we can set a model for the state and beyond.
Mutual Aid and Resources for Those Impacted by the Los Angeles Fires
Resources for Impacted Californians NOTE: Your immigration status does not matter at emergency shelters. Everyone is welcome.
Mutual Aid Los Angeles Network (donations/volunteers, shelters, aid)
Build a DIY air purifier (Corsi-Rosenthal box)
Opportunities to Support Impacted Angelenos
