When extreme weather knocks out power and building systems fail, rural communities need a range of solutions that can keep essential services running until disruptions resolve.

Vermont has learned this the hard way. Catastrophic flooding in recent years has repeatedly devastated rural towns, leaving households in uninhabitable conditions while government aid took weeks to arrive. In those gaps, it was local community members who organized cleanup, provided support, and reopened essential facilities. VEIC, a nonprofit energy organization with decades of work in the state, is building on that experience with a project designed to give rural community hubs the energy resilience they need to keep functioning when it matters most.

The centerpiece of the project is a concept VEIC calls a Resilient System Support Pod: a mobile, weather-resistant unit capable of maintaining essential building services — space conditioning, ventilation, hot water, and device charging — when a facility’s own mechanical systems fail. Unlike fixed solar-plus-storage installations, which are vulnerable to storm damage and dependent on functioning building infrastructure, the pod is designed to operate independently and to be shared across multiple communities, reducing costs and allowing deployment wherever it is needed most.

VEIC will approach this project in three phases: a literature review and community needs assessment, a comparative technical analysis of candidate energy system models, and a detailed prototype design developed in collaboration with University of Vermont engineering students. The work will conclude with a comprehensive report and white paper intended to support future pilot testing and broader replication. Throughout, VEIC will engage municipal leaders, emergency managers, and residents to ensure the design reflects operational realities on the ground.

This is explicitly a first phase of a longer-term project. Subsequent work would be needed to field-test the prototype, engage manufacturers and contractors, and build awareness through demonstration projects and community engagement. The goal is a replicable model applicable to rural communities facing similar challenges across the country.

CO2 Foundation is interested to see how this intervention evolves. Rural communities are uniquely exposed to extreme weather and among the least resourced to respond, and practical, community-centered infrastructure solutions are a critical part of building resilience that reaches everyone.