Climate resilience is often sold as a tech problem. More solar panels. Bigger batteries. Smarter grids. New hardware. Better software. The list keeps growing.
But technology alone does not keep the lights on during a storm. It does not decide who gets power first. It does not fix broken incentives. It does not change human behaviour.
Real resilience starts with systems thinking.
That means planning. It means incentives. It means understanding how people, rules, money, and infrastructure interact under stress.
Few people understand this better than Tyler James Pommier, an energy executive who has spent years rebuilding power systems after hurricanes and advising on grid resilience policy. His work spans renewable deployment, microgrids, and recovery efforts where failure is not theoretical.
“After a storm, the question isn’t how advanced your tech is,” he says. “It’s whether the system around it knows how to use it.”
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Climate Resilience Is a System Problem
A system is more than equipment. It includes people, decisions, budgets, and rules.
When one part fails, others follow.
Power outages are rising. In the United States, major outages have increased by more than 60% since the early 2000s. Extreme weather now causes most large blackouts. The same trend is appearing across Europe and Asia.
Yet many resilience plans still focus on tools instead of structure.
A battery without clear ownership sits idle. A solar array without storage shuts down when the grid fails. A microgrid without trained operators becomes dead weight.
“Technology fails quietly when no one is responsible for it,” says Pommier. “Systems fail loudly.”
Planning Comes Before Hardware
Planning decides outcomes long before equipment arrives.
Good planning asks basic questions. Who needs power first. Hospitals. Water plants. Emergency shelters. Fuel stations. Schools.
Bad planning skips those questions and buys hardware first.
After Hurricane Laura, several communities in Louisiana had new solar assets but no plan to island them from the grid. Power stayed out. Equipment sat unused.
In contrast, towns with simple plans restored service faster. They had clear priorities. They had mapped circuits. They had agreements in place.
Planning does not require advanced tools. It requires discipline.
“You don’t need perfect forecasts,” Pommier says. “You need clear decisions made before stress hits.”
Incentives Shape Behaviour
People respond to incentives. Systems amplify that response.
Utilities are often rewarded for building assets, not preventing outages. Homeowners get tax credits for panels, not for resilience. Developers optimise for lowest upfront cost, not long-term reliability.
The result is predictable.
Infrastructure gets built in the wrong places. Storage is undersized. Maintenance gets delayed.
Incentives also affect speed. After storms, recovery slows when funding rules are unclear. Crews wait. Equipment waits. Communities wait.
One study found that every dollar spent on resilience saves up to six dollars in recovery costs. Yet resilience budgets remain a fraction of disaster spending.
“The system rewards response, not preparation,” Pommier says. “That’s backwards.”
Human Behaviour Breaks or Saves Systems
People are part of every energy system.
They flip switches. They maintain equipment. They decide whether to trust a solution.
When systems ignore behaviour, they fail.
After Hurricane Ida, some backup systems failed because operators were unfamiliar with them. Others failed because no one felt ownership.
Training mattered more than hardware.
In one rural microgrid rebuild, Pommier worked with local crews instead of outside contractors. Restoration took days, not weeks. Locals knew the terrain. They knew the loads. They stayed.
“People protect what they understand,” he says. “If they don’t understand it, they avoid it.”
Communication also matters. Clear instructions reduce panic. Simple interfaces reduce error. Familiar routines reduce mistakes.
Resilience improves when systems fit human habits instead of fighting them.
Technology Still Matters, Just Not First
None of this means technology is unimportant.
Solar, wind, batteries, and controls are essential. But they are tools, not strategies.
Distributed energy works best when it supports clear goals. Microgrids succeed when governance is simple. Storage delivers value when dispatch rules are defined.
A report from the International Energy Agency found that grids with higher shares of distributed energy performed better during extreme events when planning and coordination were in place.
Without those layers, complexity increases risk.
“More tech adds more failure points,” says Tyler Pommier. “Unless the system around it is simple.”
What Systems Thinking Looks Like in Practice
Systems thinking starts small.
It begins with mapping. What loads matter. What assets exist. What fails first.
It continues with rules. Who controls what. Under which conditions. With what authority.
It includes incentives. Who pays. Who saves. Who benefits.
And it ends with training. Not once. Repeatedly.
In Louisiana, microgrids that followed this model restored power faster after storms. They did not rely on advanced controls. They relied on clarity.
“The best systems are boring,” Pommier says. “They work because everyone knows their role.”
Actionable Steps for Real Resilience
Resilience is not abstract. It is built through choices.
Here are practical steps that work.
For Communities
Map critical loads. Update it yearly. Do not guess.
Create simple islanding plans. Test them.
Train local operators. Pay them. Respect their time.
Align incentives with uptime, not expansion.
For Businesses
Audit power risks. Do not rely on one source.
Invest in storage before adding generation.
Write clear procedures. Assume stress and confusion.
Reward preparedness, not just recovery.
For Individuals
Know where your power comes from.
Support local resilience projects, not just large ones.
Ask leaders how systems fail, not how they shine.
Choose solutions that work during outages, not only on sunny days.
Why This Matters Now
Climate risk is rising. Grids are strained. Demand is growing.
Electric vehicles, heat pumps, and data centres increase load. Ageing infrastructure struggles to keep up.
Resilience gaps widen each year.
Technology will keep improving. Costs will fall. Tools will multiply.
But outcomes will not change unless systems do.
“You can’t patch your way to resilience,” says Pommier. “You have to design for it.”
Climate resilience is not about the future. It is about the next outage.
Systems thinking turns preparation into habit. Habit turns chaos into recovery.
That is how resilience actually works.
