Oregon PUC Approves 3 Utility Wildfire Mitigation Plans
Image courtesy of Cameron Strandberg courtesy of Flickr under creative commons license, resized to 700 x 391 pixels.
The Oregon PUC has approved the 2022 wildfire mitigation plans (WMPs) of the 3 investor-owned utilities within the state – PacifiCorp, Portland General Electric (PGE), and Idaho Power. The utilities were required to file their WMPs by the end of 2021, and the PUC took about 4 months to review and approve them.
Background of the Oregon PUC WMP Requirements
The 3 WMPs were the first to be filed in Oregon since the passing in 2021 of Senate Bill 762. Although some of the state’s electric utilities had been informally submitting WMPs to the Oregon PUC for several years prior, this is the first-time formal filings have been required.
The Bill requires each utility to (1) identify the high-risk areas within its territory, (2) outline its selected tactics to reduce the risks (and the rationale for selecting those particular tactics), and (3) provide details on the processes involved in the execution of public safety power shutoffs (i.e., planned outages).
Of the 3 WMPs submitted to the Oregon PUC, the plans from PacifiCorp and PGE were approved unconditionally. Idaho Power’s WMP received conditional approval, but the company is required to submit an updated WMP by 6/28/22. The updates are to include their cost/risk mitigation assumptions, additional details relating to the identified high-risk areas within the service territory, and more details on certain projects the company plans to implement within the state.
Like California, Oregon is leading the charge when it comes to requiring WMP submissions. This makes sense given that the largest wildfire risk in the U.S. is out west. That said, the “proof in the pudding” will come from the effectiveness with which these plans are implemented.
It seems like the Oregon utilities have the submittal portion down pat, but only time will tell if they are able to effectively and efficiently execute their plans. Luckily, I’m confident that the Oregon PUC – as well as other industry stakeholders – will monitor progress closely to ensure ongoing success.
