Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: The decline in the resilience of the US power grid and its territories is a matter of life and death and undermines well-being. Energy access, affordability, and reliability are central to environmental justice and key social determinants of health and mobility; yet, inequalities in grid reliability remain under-addressed. Drawing on the observations and research on the Hurricane María outages, this perspective discusses the unequal consequences of grid unreliability and argues that environmental justice and just transition principles offer fruitful ways forward. Grid-resilience efforts grounded in these approaches can reduce loss of life, economic losses, and disruptions to healthcare systems and medical supply chains. I call for targeted investments in grid development for energy-oppressed communities, closing data gaps on medical and social vulnerability, and measures to curtail energy clientelism and corruption. Grid resilience is not solely a technical and economic problem but a social one requiring an environmental justice approach.
Source: iScience
Author: Fernando Tormos-Aponte
Institution: University of Pittsburgh
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,240
Funders: National Science Foundation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Social Science Research Council, National Center for Atmospheric Research, American Political Science Association, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Princeton University, University of Pittsburgh, NOAA Center for Earth System Sciences and Remote Sensing Technologies, Southern Methodist University, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation, University of Pittsburgh, Natural Hazards Center, University of Colorado Boulder
OpenAlex ID: W7169099567