UAlbany, UConn Researchers Awarded $550,000 to Advance Renewables, Grid Resilience and Security

A downed tree damages power lines following a severe storm.
Extreme weather is among the leading causes of power service disruptions worldwide. (Photo courtesy of Caddie Brain / Wikimedia Commons)

By Mike Nolan

ALBANY, N.Y. (Feb. 27, 2025) — A national weather and energy center led by researchers at the University at Albany and University of Connecticut was awarded $550,000 for several projects that are aimed at safeguarding the energy industry.

Backed by a grant from the National Science Foundation, the Center for Weather Innovation and Smart Energy and Resilience (WISER) is an Industry-University Cooperative Research Center. It was established in 2023 to leverage the research and expertise at UAlbany and UConn to create advanced weather- and climate-based solutions for the energy industry, now and in the future.

In February, WISER hosted its second annual Industry Advisory Board meeting. The board members announced that 10 new research projects totaling $550,000 were funded through WISER for the 2025 year.

Emmanouil Anagnostou and Chris Thorncorft stand for a photo during the recent meeting with the WISER Industry Advisory Board meeting.
Emmanouil Anagnostou (left) and Chris Thorncorft stand for a photo during the recent meeting with the WISER Industry Advisory Board. (Photo by Joane Ternier)

Chris Thorncroft, director of UAlbany’s Atmospheric Sciences Research Center and Emmanouil “Manos” Anagnostou, director of UConn’s Eversource Energy Center, are leading WISER for their respective universities.

“The secret sauce of WISER is in the collaboration that exists between our academic institutions and our industry partners,” said Thorncroft. “WISER enables early-stage research to advance more rapidly toward commercialization. We are ultimately trying to create real impact for the energy sector by leveraging each institution’s valuable research capabilities and strengths.”

“By fostering collaboration between academia and industry, WISER is poised to become a leading resource for solutions that enhance resilience and sustainability in the energy sector,” added Emmanouil Anagnostou.

The 10 newly funded projects include:

  • Snowstorm Changes and Their Impact on Power Outages over the Northeast (PI: Aiguo Dai, UAlbany Department of Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences)
  • Weather-Power-Grid Testbed Experiments for Risk Contingency Management during Hazards: Cascading Failures, Fragility Curves, and Grid and Weather Monitoring Needs (PI: Malaquias Peña, UConn School of Civil and Environmental Engineering)
  • Quantifying Grid Resiliency Using GFM with HELICS Co-Simulation for Enhancing Outage Management During Extreme Weather Events (PI: Sung Yeul Park, UConn Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering)
  • Deep Learning Based Nowcasting of Damaging Winds (PI: Sukanta Basu, UAlbany Atmospheric Sciences Research Center)
  • A Mapping Tool for Addressing Socioeconomic and Demographic Disparities in Power Outage Impacts (PI: Amvrossios Bagtzoglou, UConn School of Civil and Environmental Engineering)
  • Extreme Heat Metrics for More Accurate Energy Demand Prediction (PI: Guiling Wang, UConn School of Civil and Environmental Engineering)
  • Wind power resources for Northeast US under a changing climate (PI: Marina Astitha, UConn School of Civil and Environmental Engineering; Co-PI: Jeff Freedman, UAlbany Atmospheric Sciences Research Center)
  • Peak Energy Load Management System for Cities (PI: Jorge Gonzelez-Cruz, UAlbany Atmospheric Sciences Research Center; Co-PI: Jeff Freedman, UAlbany Atmospheric Sciences Research Center)
  • Predicting Extreme Weather-Induced Power Outages with Spatially-Aware Hybrid Graph Neural Networks (PI: Dongjin Song, UConn School of Computing)
  • Integrating Interdisciplinary Resilience Indices for Power Outages and Restorations (PI: Wei Zhang, UConn School of Civil and Environmental Engineering)

WISER’s Industry Advisory Board consists of ten members: Avangrid, Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp, Con Edison, Eversource Energy, Hydro‑Québec, National Grid, New York Power Authority, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, New York State Foundation for Science, Technology, and Innovation, and Pacific Gas and Electric Company.

During the February meeting, the advisory board announced awarded projects following a highly competitive selection process. Along with announcing new funding, seven existing WISER projects shared their progress from 2024 during the meeting.