Energy Resilience: Estimating Loss Economics
Following devastating summer floods in 2023 and 2024, the State of Vermont initiated a Resilience Implementation Strategy to support the state’s capacity to “anticipate, respond, adapt, and thrive in the face of current and future conditions and disasters.” One component of this strategy focused on energy delivery and infrastructure adaptation. Separately, Efficiency Vermont’s 2024 Energy Resilience Planning Framework supported another component of the strategy by examining the economic and environmental sustainability of recovery. Building on this work, and using interviews, surveys, and rebate records from the 2023-2024 flooding in Vermont, this whitepaper found consistent patterns of losses and costs across sectors that can be categorized as tangible (e.g., building systems, appliances, structural components) and intangible (e.g., income, labor diversion, personal time). Municipalities were found to have incurred costs in three stages (active event, immediate aftermath, and long-term recovery). Commercial losses clustered around infrastructure and business operations, while residential respondents reported losses related to both personal belongings and building structures, with heating systems and appliances representing the highest repair and replacement costs. Post-disaster price inflation and contractor shortages amplified recovery expenses.
In assessing resilience and recovery, this research identified five tangible and three intangible categories of loss typologies (providing a framework for planners to anticipate economic impacts and integrate them into resilience strategies). This research also provided cost benchmarks for these losses, with heating systems found to be the most expensive to replace, followed by structural repairs and appliances. Also identified are labor costs, which can impose hidden economic burdens, and community dynamics (such as volunteer labor) that can support accelerated recovery but also introduce uncertainties for planners. Finally, this whitepaper identified policy gaps to consider, namely, slow and insufficient FEMA buyouts (underscoring the need for proactive resilience investments and short-term housing strategies). The implications of these findings for energy resilience planning can enable planners to better quantify potential losses, improve cost-benefit analyses, and prioritize investments. These findings can serve as a foundation for broader disaster recovery efforts beyond Vermont.