For utilities, it is important to apply high social and environmental standards, as it may have a high impact on the environment in which they operate. Far beyond the environmental and social obligations that local legislation may impose, the adoption of good practices in this area can contribute to increasing non-discrimination, transparency and socio-environmental responsibility, social participation of the community in which they operate and improving their governance, in addition to being able to encourage a virtuous cycle of sustainable development in the projects they carry out. 

In many regions, the utility may be the only agent with the technical and economic capacity to promote social and sustainable development in the region. Thus, it is important that the utility include in its scope of action policies to promote equality and non-discrimination, improving access for all people, including the poor and disadvantaged, to services and benefits such as education, health, social protection, infrastructure, affordable energy, employment, finance, services, and productive assets. This can also encompass actions to remove barriers against those who are often excluded from the development process, such as women, children, people with disabilities, youth, and minorities. 

This activity of environmental, social aspects, and safeguards in the utilities is currently under development and will be incorporated soon. 

For utilities, some consequences are direct and in several places in the world can already be observed, such as: 

* Deterioration of electrical assets, leading to reduced reliability and increased maintenance cost 

* Damage to coastal power infrastructure caused by rising sea levels 

* Damage and destabilization of power infrastructure due to storms and flooding 

* Increased energy demand for cooling purposes due to global warming 

* Increased energy demand for agriculture due to energy intensive methods 

* Increased incidents of power outages due to damage from high-impact storms and flooding 

* Energy efficiency losses of power plants due to high temperatures 

* Reduced energy production due to warmer cooling water 

As defined by IEA (International Energy Agency) “Resilience of the energy sector refers to the capacity of the energy system or its components to cope with a hazardous event or trend, responding in ways that maintain their essential function, identity and structure while also maintaining the capacity for adaptation, learning and transformation”. Also, according to the IEA, the adaptation in the context of the energy sector is characterized by the following components: 

* Robustness: the ability of an energy system to withstand extreme weather events as well as gradual changes (e.g., sea level rise) and continue operating

* Resourcefulness: the ability to effectively manage operations during extreme weather events. 

* Recovery: the ability to restore operations to desired performance levels following a disruption. 

For the electricity distribution sector, in general, the analyses are related to reliability, such as SAIDI and SAIFI values, but these indicators are not able to adequately measure the sector's resilience in more critical emergencies. However, it is important to highlight the differences between the sector's approach to reliability and resilience, which in a recent DOE (U.S. Department of Energy) publication was defined in the table below. 

This activity of resilience and emergency planning in the utilities is currently under development and will be incorporated soon.