SACRAMENTO – The Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety (Energy Safety) today issued its draft approval of PacifiCorp’s 2026-2028 Wildfire Mitigation Base Plan (WMP). Release of the draft initiates a 30-day public comment period.
PacifiCorp is making an important advancement by implementing the first version of its investment planning model. This will enable PacifiCorp to identify the assets most at-risk from wildfires, assess the cost efficiency of its grid hardening activities, and map its High Fire Risk Areas. Additionally, PacifiCorp is running power simulation models on de-energized transmission lines to learn of its induction risk and mitigations for coupled transmission lines. While PacifiCorp took the initiative to evaluate induction risk, Energy Safety has required an induction risk assessment of all the electrical corporations in their WMPs. PacifiCorp has established risk remediation timelines for its vegetation management efforts, that if followed, will reduce wildfire risk.
There are areas where PacificCorp needs to improve that include prioritizing mitigations based upon an understanding of all risks. Further, PacifiCorp must overcome its grid hardening management challenges so risk reduction may be realized. Additionally, PacifiCorp must complete implementation of its enhanced safety settings to maximize the potential of the program. Progress in all these areas must be demonstrated in PacificCorp’s future WMPs.