RAPID: Implications of Utilities Decision-making and Communication Strategies in Urban Populations Response under Extreme Weather Events (in Texas)

This project analyzed how communication approaches from utilities and the communities happened when they were exposed to the Winter Storm 2021 events in Texas. This project explored 3 interacting themes that lie at the intersection of natural disasters, people, and the built environment. (1) Equitable decision-making – we engaged with utilities to understand how critical decisions (e.g., reduce electric load to customers) reflected an equitable outcome. (2) Utilities’ communications – we developed an understanding of the communication strategies utilities implemented in the face of critical weather conditions, and the factors influencing potential deviations from pre-established alerting procedures. (3) Evaluated community response, what perceptions the customers had about the effectiveness of preparedness recommendations from the utilities, and how customers— and the community at large— reacted without proper official guidance to overcome challenges when faced with an absence of services (e.g., electricity, water) compounded by the pandemic. This project contains the interview protocol used for the (power) utilities.