| Resource Type | Case Study |
| Author / Source | American Public Power Association (APPA) |
| Publication Date | July 2025 |
| Location | Multi-state and U.S. territories (Florida, North Carolina, Delaware, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam) |
| Initiative Type | Technology, Program |
| Project Complexity | Advanced |
| Recommended For | Board, Staff |
Estimated reading time: 30+ minutes
Why This Matters for Rural Electric Co-ops
This American Public Power Association (APPA) report profiles five coastal, community-owned utilities facing a tension many co-ops share. They must protect aging infrastructure from hurricanes, flooding, and saltwater corrosion without pushing rates past what customers will support.
A co-op can use the case studies to compare hardening options at different costs, from stronger poles installed during routine replacement to undergrounding and microgrids. Each case also shows how the utility funded the work and built community support. The Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) section mainly helps co-ops that already have approved funding. Co-ops without it can still use the report's locally funded approaches, such as building a disaster reserve fund, paying for hardening through rates, and putting critical facilities first.
Key Takeaways
| › | Swapping wood poles for concrete, steel, ductile iron, or composite poles during scheduled replacement adds storm resilience at little extra cost, making routine maintenance an easy starting point. |
| › | Undergrounding greatly reduces weather outages but carries high upfront and upkeep costs. Flood-prone areas and historic preservation limits often call for hybrid approaches. |
| › | Utilities served by a single line are adding backup generation, battery storage, secondary lines, and microgrids, a relevant lesson for rural systems with limited redundancy. |
| › | Reserve funds, cost-benefit analysis, and clear outreach on rate impacts help build member support for hardening investments whose benefits may not show up right away. |
Implementation Considerations
- Cost or Funding Requirements: Undergrounding, substation relocation, and microgrids require major capital. The featured utilities relied heavily on federal disaster and mitigation grants, and not all customers were willing to pay more through rates.
- Staffing or Technology Requirements: Shortages of transformers, bucket trucks, and specialized contractors caused long delays after storms. Crews may also need training in underground repair and grid automation. Smaller co-ops may benefit from mutual aid or regional partnerships.
- Time-Sensitive Information: GRIP funding is not available to co-ops without an approved award, and new applicants should not rely on this pathway. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) mitigation grant availability may also have changed since publication. The microgrid cost estimate of $2 to $4 million per megawatt comes from 2018 NREL/NLR (U.S. Department of Energy) data.
Notable Examples
- Keys Energy Services (Florida): Replaced poles with ductile iron, protected water-crossing transmission poles from corrosion, and set a $40 million disaster reserve and mitigation fund goal.
- Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority (U.S. Virgin Islands): Undergrounded circuits after the 2017 hurricanes, which kept generation online through Tropical Storm Ernesto in 2024.
- New Bern Utilities (North Carolina): Rebuilding after Hurricane Florence in line with a citywide Resiliency and Hazard Mitigation Plan.
- Lewes Board of Public Works (Delaware): Small single-line utility that now requires underground lines in new construction while working within historic preservation limits. See Resolution 19-002, Underground Electric Lines Policy.
Estimated reading time: 30+ minutes
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