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, and investor-owned utilities.

The program will roll out in two phases. Phase one, beginning in 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.

Additional details and participation opportunities will be available in late spring 2025. If you would like to be notified of upcoming opportunities, email irena.netik@pnnl.gov.