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Preparation Is Key
EEI Hosts Annual Wildfire Technology Summit
EEI Hosts Annual Wildfire Technology Summit
March 2024
In late February, EEI convened member company executives, thought leaders, industry stakeholders, and government partners for the annual Wildfire Technology Summit, held this year in San Diego. The two-day summit allowed attendees to discuss best practices and opportunities for collaboration, while panelists showcased the latest cutting-edge technologies that are being used to mitigate wildfire risk.
“Getting to net zero requires deploying more efficient technologies that will make the grid stronger and more reliable. And wildfire technologies are a big piece of that,” said Eric Holdsworth, EEI managing director of clean energy and environmental policy and executive director of the Institute for the Energy Transition.
Topics discussed included risk assessment strategies, the importance of weather-driven decision-making, vegetation management, grid hardening investments, the integration of advanced grid sensing and detection technologies, and the development and implementation of public safety power shutoff (PSPS) programs, among others. EEI member company representatives later convened to review scalable technology solutions for wildfire risk mitigation and to continue the PSPS discussion.
“Wildfire risk is an issue that increasingly is resonating with regulators, stakeholders, and people in this space across the country,” said Riaz Mohammed, EEI senior director of resiliency and environmental policy. “We are getting questions about this from people who are not in traditionally high-risk areas, and we want to highlight how proactive this industry is and has been.”
Representatives from EPRI and the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Labs also were in attendance to discuss public-private partnerships and opportunities for industry-government collaboration to mitigate wildfire risk.
A full summary of the Wildfire Technology Summit will appear in the Q2 issue of Electric Perspectives magazine. Learn how EEI’s member companies are investing in resilience—and undertaking year-round power restoration and business continuity planning to prepare for all types of emergencies on eei.org.