California’s wildfire season is only weeks old, but already PG&E has utilized the new Public Safety Power Shutoff capabilities included in mitigation plans. Looking ahead, regulators say they need to develop tools that can help determine whether or not the plans have actually reduced the risk of catastrophic fires.
Phase 2 of regulatory proceedings will focus on developing a process to evaluate whether wildfire mitigation plans were successful, and templates for reporting data consistently. Utilities must propose metrics to assess whether the plans have reduced or will reduce the risk of wildfires, and suggest new areas of data collection that could assist assessments.
