About the Topic

To maintain safe and reliable operation of transmission and distribution (T&D) grids, utilities have increasingly invested in enhancing grid resilience to climate-based hazards, from major storms and floods to deep freezes and sea level rise. As reviewed in a prior Darcy Partners study, Incorporating Climate Impacts and Resilience into Grid Planning with Rhizome, plenty of progress has been made to improving resilience planning processes (especially in the context of rapidly changing risks and technologies to address them).

As noted by a recent report by Lawrence Berkeley Labs, Current Practices in Distribution Utility Resilience Planning for Wildfires, wildfire stands out among the rest of these risk, noting that "wildfire resilience plans are advanced compared to utility resilience plans for other hazards," likely as "a response to the role power system equipment can play as a source of ignition."

Map chart: FEMA Expected Annual Loss (EAL) for the U.S.10 EAL is a relative measure of risk that estimates the average economic loss in dollars resulting from natural hazards each year.

This event will feature an update on Darcy's perspective on utility wildfire mitigation planning and emerging detection technology solutions, including how fire and risk modeling helps utilities develop more precise, data-driven wildfire mitigation strategies by identifying high-risk assets, predicting potential ignition points, and optimizing resource allocation for prevention efforts.

About the Audience

This event is best suited for grid infrastructure planners, risk management professionals, and operational teams responsible for transmission and distribution systems in wildfire-prone regions. It will particularly benefit professionals tasked with developing or implementing wildfire mitigation strategies, capital planning for resilience investments, and regulatory compliance related to wildfire risk. Decision-makers from utilities with assets in the high-risk areas highlighted in FEMA's Expected Annual Loss map will find particular value in the discussion of Darcy's perspective on evolving mitigation planning approaches and emerging technology solutions that address the unique challenges posed by wildfire risks to power system equipment.

About the Innovators

Pyrologix: Pyrologix provides wildfire hazard and risk assessment services, utilizing modeling tools like WildEST and FSim to support utilities, communities, and land managers in wildfire mitigation planning.

Neara: Neara's solution ingests existing data to auto-generate a cloud-based digital twin of a users power grid. With this 3D model, utilities are able to simulate events to pinpoint vulnerabilities in the network.