The WMP’s main objective is to implement an actionable plan to:
- Create increased reliability and safety
- Prevent, mitigate, respond/assist, and recover from wildfires
- Comply with the National Electric Safety Code (NESC) regulations and guidelines
- Comply with the requirements of HB1032 for customer-owned electric utilities (COU) to prepare a wildfire mitigation plan by October 31, 2024, and every 3 years thereafter
- Reduce liability
- Continually improve the plan
4.1 Minimizing Sources of Ignition
The proposed wildfire mitigation strategies can be categorized into 5 main mechanisms that align with OKPUD’s best practices. Together, the 5 components create a comprehensive wildfire preparedness and response plan with a principal focus on stringent construction standards, fire mitigation through system design, proactive operations, and maintenance programs, and specialized procedures, and staff training.
- Design & Construction: OKPUD’s design and construction consists of system, equipment, infrastructure design, and technical upgrades. These practices aim to improve system hardening to prevent contact between infrastructure and fuel sources to minimize the risk of OKPUD’s systems becoming a source of ignition.
- Inspection & Maintenance: OKPUD’s inspection and maintenance strategies consist of diagnostic activities as well as various methods of maintaining and ensuring all equipment and infrastructure is in proper working condition.
- Operational Practices: Comprised of proactive day-to-day actions taken to mitigate wildfire risks and to ensure preparedness in high-risk situations, such as dry and windy climatological conditions.
- Situational & Conditional Awareness: This component consists of methods to improve system visualization and awareness of environmental conditions. The practices in this category aim to provide tools to improve the other components of the plan.
- Response & Recovery: This strategy consists of OKPUD’s procedures in response to wildfire, de-energization, and other emergency events. This component aims to formalize protocols for these situations for thorough and efficient communications, emergency response, and recovery.
4.2 Resiliency of the Electric Grid
Considering that approximately 75% of the utility’s assets are overhead, wood pole construction located across a dry and fire prone landscape, OKPUD’s distribution grid is very susceptible to wildfire.
The electric grid is quite expansive with vast distances and indirect routes for utility crews to travel in response to outages. During or immediately after a wildfire, restoration, and recovery time is highly dependent on a wildfire response agency’s ability to contain and extinguish any fires. The forested areas, without active forest management, tend to grow thick with heavy underbrush making navigation difficult.
The local distribution grid is radial with some open-looped circuits, with no microgrids. Some of the transmission system is looped. Segments that experience wildfire-related outages at circuit extremities would remain de-energized until the feeders can be repaired or, where possible, manually switched to an alternate feed.