Devastating wildfires have become a common occurrence in recent years. When new wildfires are sparked, electric utilities are often blamed, and face lawsuits and settlements in the millions of dollars as a result. Electric utilities must work to reduce the risk of their lines igniting wildfires through strategic risk assessment and reduction strategies.

This webinar introduces concepts that are important for electric utilities to consider when evaluating the risk of power lines igniting wildfires in their service area. While traditional vegetation management practices keep nearby vegetation at bay, recent wildfires show that simple vegetation removal cannot eliminate the risk of wildfires.

It is essential that electric utilities consider other factors in their wildfire risk evaluation models, including ambient temperature, environmental conditions, vegetation properties, and fault duration. Wildfire ignition risk reduction focuses on minimizing energy transfer from power lines to nearby vegetation through enhanced protective relay settings and automatic reclosing options.