Companies Submit Wildfire Mitigation Plan Applications
Kootenai Electric Cooperative, Inc. and Rocky Mountain Power have recently submitted applications to the Idaho Public Utilities Commission seeking approval of their 2026-2028 wildfire mitigation plan (WMP).
The plans include information on vegetation management, efforts to reduce wildfire risk and operational protocols during elevated fire risk conditions, among other items.
Electric utilities file the plans with the Commission pursuant to the Wildfire Standard of Care Act (WSCA). The WSCA requires the Commission to annually approve wildfire mitigation plans for investor-owned utilities. Municipal and cooperative electric utilities that are not regulated by the Commission may also submit plans for the Commission’s review.
Under the WSCA, if a wildfire results in a lawsuit against an electric utility, there is a presumption that the utility acted without negligence if it reasonably implemented a Commission-approved mitigation plan.
Each utility’s plan includes identifying areas where the utility has infrastructure or equipment that it considers may be subject to heightened risk of wildfire at the time the mitigation plan is finalized by the utility. It also includes actions and programs the utility will take to reduce wildfire risk, community outreach and public awareness efforts the utility will use before, during and after wildfire season to inform the public of relevant wildfire risk, as well as efforts to notify the public of wildfire-related outages, among other items.
Kootenai Electric Cooperative’s WMP uses a three-year planning horizon. The plan includes a vegetation management implementation plan, construction work implementation plan and system inspection implementation plan that forecast the vegetation management, construction and system inspection work for the next three years.
Commission staff, Kootenai Electric Cooperative and intervenors to the case will start the process of creating a record that, once completed, will be submitted to the Commission for its consideration. Intervenors are allowed to participate in the proceedings for applications filed with the Commission.
Rocky Mountain Power said it is forecasting an additional $13.9 million in wildfire mitigation investments through 2028, including $8.1 million in capital expenditures.
Additional information about Kootenai Electric Cooperative is available at: puc.idaho.gov/case/Details/7682. To learn more about Rocky Mountain Power, go to puc.idaho.gov/case/Details/7672.