Current through Register Vol. 63, No. 9, September 1, 2024
(1) The
Public Utility must include in its Wildfire Mitigation Plan risk analysis that
describes wildfire risk within the Public Utility's service territory and
outside the service territory of the Public Utility but within the Public
Utility's right of way for generation and transmission assets. The risk
analysis must include, at a minimum:
(a)
Defined categories of overall wildfire risk and an adequate discussion of how
the Public Utility categorizes wildfire risk. Categories of risk must include,
at a minimum:
(A) Baseline wildfire risk,
which include elements of wildfire risk that are expected to remain fixed for
multiple years. Examples include topography, vegetation, utility equipment in
place, and climate;
(B) Seasonal
wildfire risk, which include elements of wildfire risk that are expected to
remain fixed for multiple months but may be dynamic throughout the year or from
year to year; Examples include cumulative precipitation, seasonal weather
conditions, current drought status, and fuel moisture content;
(C) Risks to residential areas served by the
Public Utility; and
(D) Risks to
substation or powerline owned by the Public Utility.
(b) a narrative description of how the Public
Utility determines areas of heightened risk of wildfire using the most updated
data it has available from reputable sources.
(c) a narrative description of all data
sources the Public Utility uses to model topographical and meteorological
components of its wildfire risk as well as any wildfire risk related to the
Public Utility's equipment.
(A) The Public
Utility must make clear the frequency with which each source of data is
updated; and
(B) The Public Utility
must make clear how it plans to keep its data sources as up to date as is
practicable.
(d) The
Public Utility's risk analysis must include a narrative description of how the
Public Utility's wildfire risk models are used to make decisions concerning the
following items:
(A) Public Safety Power
Shutoffs
(B) Vegetation Management;
(C) System Hardening;
(D) Investment decisions; and
(E) Operational decisions.
(e) For updated Wildfire Mitigation
Plans, the Public Utility must include a narrative description of any changes
to its baseline wildfire risk that were made relative to the previous plan
submitted by the utility, including the Public Utility's response to changes in
baseline wildfire risk, seasonal wildfire risk, and Near-term Wildfire Risk.
(2) To the extent
practicable, the Public Utility must confer with other state agencies when
evaluating the risk analysis included in the Public Utility's Wildfire
Mitigation Plan.