The National Science Foundation has awarded $6 million to the University of Maine to study the impacts of climate change on the electrical grid.
The university will partner with colleges in South Dakota, Alaska and Puerto Rico to study the grids in each area.
Reinaldo Tonkoski is a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Maine, and the project's principal investigator.
"I think one of the main goals that we have for this project is to build research capacity in our jurisdictions to tackle those challenges that we have developing those climate change solutions that are relevant for the community," he said.
Over five years researchers will study the existing infrastructure and find ways to make it more dependable in light of increasingly unpredictable weather patterns. In Maine, more frequent flooding, high winds and extreme temperatures are possible, on top of the state's geography which already makes some areas difficult to access.
