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As the Central Oregon region grows, it faces new challenges. Maintaining resilient infrastructure, safety, and community health are critical priorities for the region. Parametrix is collaborating with the Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council (COIC) and Crook, Deschutes, and Jefferson counties to develop a comprehensive, data–driven energy resilience plan . This plan has been designed to enhance Central Oregon’s ability to anticipate, withstand, and recover from power outages while maintaining continuity of critical services. Challenges in Central Oregon Central Oregon is a largely rural and geographically dispersed region characterized by small population centers and significant unincorporated areas. Communities across the region face challenges related to frequent wildfires, winter storms, long travel distances, and limited infrastructure. Increasing strains on the power grid and extreme weather events necessitate planning for more severe outages in the future. Strategic investments that build resilience This plan guides counties toward strategic investments to protect essential services during power outages. It focuses on inclusive implementation informed by analysis of service reliability challenges, infrastructure conditions, and community input to support continuity of services for communities with heightened exposure to outages. The plan supports both low-cost, immediate response actions and a longer-term transition towards distributed, renewable energy systems and microgrids to enhance local self-sufficiency and public safety. At Parametrix, our climate team is leading technical planning and analysis to evaluate energy vulnerabilities throughout the tri-county area. Funded by Oregon Department of Energy grants under HB3630, the team is mapping critical infrastructure, identifying community access and service continuity risks, and assessing threats posed by natural hazards such as wildfires, winter storms, earthquakes, and system failures. We are also analyzing the energy requirements of essential public facilities and identifying potential community resilience centers where community members can access power, services, information, and safety when the power goes out. As part of this initiative, Parametrix is completing detailed energy-use inventories, determining power needs for critical facilities, and evaluating viable alternative energy solutions, such as microgrids, solar-plus-storage, and various backup systems. We are coordinating closely with emergency managers and local partners to ensure the plan is implementable, inclusive of an understanding of impacts on the community, and consistent with nondiscrimination principles and each county’s Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan. Through this process, we have co-developed both immediate priorities and long-range objectives to address outages of varying durations. Central Oregon residents place a high value on self-sufficiency, and community engagement efforts indicate that most prefer to shelter in place when possible. However, not all households have the resources or capacity to do so. By including strategies for individual household resilience, energy infrastructure hardening, critical public service facilities, and community resilience centers, this plan addresses a wide variety of needs and outage scenarios. Our holistic approach, combining technical expertise with on-the-ground outreach and community expertise, allows us to deliver high-quality services that meet communities where they are. Creating a safer, more sustainable future Energy resilience is an increasingly urgent part of broader community resilience as natural hazards and power system disruptions become more frequent. By planning and investing in distributed energy solutions, communities can protect health and safety during power outages, reduce risks, maintain critical services, and improve overall preparedness. This work represents a collaborative effort to build a safer, more sustainable future for Central Oregon.

Message From ASAP Board of Directors

This major conference will convene 1,000+ participants from across the state to make progress on the policies, partnerships, and practices needed to build resilience as climate change accelerates. Date: October 20-22, 2026 Location: SAFE Credit Union Convention Center, Sacramento  Organized by: California Governor’s Office of Land Use & Climate Innovation; Climate Resolve; Farallon Strategies; California Natural Resources Agency; UC Davis Institute of the Environment; and Indigenous Futures Society The Summit will feature a diversity of interactive sessions aimed at fostering conversation, sparking new ideas, and giving attendees the resources and tools they need to be successful in their work and communities. Participants will explore key insights from California’s Fifth Climate Change Assessment imagines the best possible future that remains within reach, and catalyzes the actions needed to turn that vision into reality. Visit ResilientCaliforniaSummit.org to learn more or you may contact events@climateresolve.org .

“As the world continues to evolve, it is crucial that we learn from each other’s challenges, strategies, and successes. By sharing my experiences, I hope to guide the next group in developing their own resilience and adaptability, helping them thrive in a constantly shifting environment.” “...working specifically with the ASAP mentors program, I’ve seen how it can catalyze the career of a mentee from early struggles to solid landings in new positions to advancing their caree,r becoming not only a continuing and active ASAP member, but a leader in the field.”  “I was in [a] previous cohort…as a mentee, and I found it extremely valuable for me both personally and professionally…I want to give back and serve as a Mentor this year, where I hope to provide wisdom and expertise I can to a mentee in this field to support their personal and professional goals.” “There’s a lot to learn from early career professionals with different outlooks and more specialized education, and I hope to help new names, faces, and ideas enter and enrich the adaptation field; we need all the help we can get!” The post The 2025 Mentorship Program Has Launched: Meet This Year’s Inspiring Cohort! appeared first on Adaptation Professionals.

Dear Fellow Climate Adaptation Professionals, This letter is to introduce the ASAP Board of Directors. I am deeply honored to be the President of the Board and wish to express my gratitude to the Board election transition committee, our past board members, and the new board members who have volunteered to lead ASAP through this… The post A Message from ASAP’s 2025-2026 Board President John Phillips appeared first on Adaptation Professionals.