Critical Infrastructure Resiliency Project (CIRP)

The Critical Infrastructure Resiliency Project (CIRP) focused on improving planning and preparedness for large scale power outage incidents through collaborative engagement with utility operators and emergency services agencies.

Phase One of the project produced the Infrastructure Protection Plan for Electric Power Restoration, which provides a coordination strategy and tools for jurisdictions to support the electric power restoration work of utilities. The plan was developed as a result of a series of collaborative workshops where representatives from industry and public agencies came together to discuss assessment findings and identify baseline priorities for improving readiness and resiliency in the region.

Phase Two focused on the cascading impacts of power outages and building cross-sector resiliency. Impact modeling and assessments were conducted for water/wastewater facilities and for the communication systems of emergency service facilities. Targeted emergency communication system assessments provided recommendations for strengthening preparedness at specific critical facilities across the region and led to the creation of the Emergency Communications Resiliency Assessment Tool, a self-assessment tool to facilitate improvements at additional emergency service agencies.

Phase Three leveraged previous studies and partner agency technology to strengthen cross-sector planning by assessing resiliency at thirty facilities representing four critical sectors. A data-driven decision support tool provided scenario-based regional impact reports with recommendations for how public agencies can better prepare to support restoration of critical systems.

CIRP includes the following preparedness tools:

• Executive Level Power Outage Primers
• Rolling Blackouts Guide for Public Agencies
• Permits & Regulations Matrix
• Emergency Communications Resiliency Assessment Tool