Researchers at the University of Arizona worked in collaboration with partners at Tucson Electric Power (TEP), Tucson's local electrical utility, between 2015 and 2017, to develop and pilot an innovative qualitative risk assessment process. Throughout the course of the initiative, more than a dozen researchers at the UA worked to gather, interpret, and synthesize information regarding the current state of the climate in relation to TEP decision-making, and to develop and inform plausible future scenarios for TEP's planning purposes, especially their Integrated Resources Plan process.
University of Arizona researchers follow a collaborative process that begins by identifying the partner's key concerns and interests. Through an iterative process characterized by a series of exchanges of knowledge and information regarding risk areas, scope of data, gaps, and needs, a collaborative process of co-discovery is ignited by an exploration of existing scientific knowledge and partner experience.
University of Arizona research teams identify key concern along with data and information that would further aid in decision making and planning, and recommendations for future actions that will help our partner plan for present and future climate and environmental risks. Beyond individual risks, a network of interrelated effects is crafted to understand the widest range of possible connections and outcomes that overlap within this system, and have the potential to amplify the cluster specific impacts, especially given current climatic trends. This process of synthesizing risks that span the topical clusters helped identify possible trade-offs between managing and adapting to the distinct risks, and can be used to plan, understand past events, and anticipate future events.
Climate Risks and Impacts for the Regional Utility Sector: Results of a Collaborative Research Process with Tucson Electric Power. (2017). By Andrea K. Gerlak, and Ben McMahon, with assistance from: Avelino Arellano, Ardeth Barnhart, Katharine L. Jacobs, Rachel Murray, Christopher O'Connor, Armin Sorooshian, and Jaron Weston. Tucson, Arizona: The University of Arizona.