Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Grid Deployment Office, is launching a multi-year technical assistance (TA) program to support utilities in strengthening wildfire risk management, preparedness, and resilience. This initiative is designed for electric cooperatives, public utility districts, Tribal utilities, municipal utilities, and investor-owned utilities.
The program will roll out in two phases. Phase one, beginning in the summer of 2025, will pilot key offerings with select utilities. Phase two will scale up the full program in 2026 based on lessons learned and utility input.
The TA program will cover a wide range of wildfire-related topics including mitigation, preparedness, response, recovery, and prevention. Support may take many forms—such as capacity building, consultations, workshops, webinars, resource development, deep-dive technical analysis, benchmarking, modeling, and data assessments. Utilities are encouraged to propose areas where they need support; the program is designed to be flexible and responsive.
Example areas of assistance include:
- Developing technical material to support effective wildfire mitigation plans
- Supporting public safety power shutoffs planning and operational risk assessments
- Providing wildfire mapping and fuelscape analyses
- Analyzing load or customers for risk factors in disrupted energy supply
- Developing county-level landscape analysis
- Assisting with post-wildfire recovery planning activities
- Assisting in developing resilient rebuilding strategies for wildfire-affected areas.
Timeline
The phase 1 process is as follows:
Eligibility
Technical assistance is open to all electric utilities including cooperatives, public utility districts, Tribal utilities, and investor-owned utilities.
Apply
Please complete this interest form if you’d like to be considered in the pilot program. In addition to your contact and organization's information, the form will ask you to provide brief narrative responses to the following questions:
- What is the wildfire risk related challenge or issue for which you are seeking support?
- How does your organization currently address this challenge?
- What is your role in addressing the wildfire risk issue/challenge?
- Are there timing considerations for your request?
- Explain what you want to accomplish through the requested technical assistance.
Informational Webinar
Interested participants are invited to participate in a webinar on Tuesday, August 5, 2025 at 8:30 am PT. The project team will describe the TA program, eligibility criteria and how to apply, and will be available to answer participant questions. The webinar will be recorded.
There will be additional opportunities to participate in technical assistance in the future. If you would like to be notified of upcoming opportunities, email irena.netik@pnnl.gov.