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20240607Application.pdf
_ ROCKY MOUNTAIN 1407 W.North Temple,Suite 330 POWER. Salt Lake City,UT 84116 A DIVISION OF PACIFICORP RECEIVED Friday, June 7, 2024 11:32:29 AM June 7, 2024 IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION VIA ELECTRONIC DELIVERY Commission Secretary Idaho Public Utilities Commission 11331 W. Chinden Blvd Building 8 Suite 201A Boise, ID 83714 RE: CASE NO.PAC-E-24-09 IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION OF ROCKY MOUNTAIN POWER REQUESTING APPROVAL OF THE 2024 IDAHO WILDFIRE MITIGATION PLAN Attention: Commission Secretary Please find Rocky Mountain Power's Application along with the 2024 Idaho Wildfire Mitigation Plan included as Attachment A in the above referenced matter. Informal inquiries may be directed to Mark Alder, Idaho Regulatory Manager at(801) 220-2313. Very truly yours, Joe Steward at--) Senior Vice President, Regulation Joe Dallas (ISB# 10330) PacifiCorp, Senior Attorney 825 NE Multnomah Street, Suite 2000 Portland, OR 97232 Email:joseph.dallaskpacificorp.com Attorney for Rocky Mountain Power BEFORE THE IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION ) CASE NO. PAC-E-24-09 OF ROCKY MOUNTAIN POWER ) REQUESTING APPROVAL OF THE 2024 ) APPLICATION OF IDAHO WILDFIRE MITIGATION PLAN ) ROCKY MOUNTAIN POWER Rocky Mountain Power, a division of PacifiCorp ("Company" or "Rocky Mountain Power"),in accordance with Idaho Code§61-503 and RP 052, respectfully submits this application ("Application") to the Idaho Public Utilities Commission ("Commission") requesting the Commission issue an order approving its 2024-26 Idaho Wildfire Mitigation Plan("2024 WMP") included with this Application as Attachment A. On August 21, 2023, the Company applied for authority to defer incremental costs associated with the Company's commercial insurance coverage.' On December 29, 2023, the Commission issued an order approving the deferral of Idaho's allocated incremental liability insurance premiums that exceed the amount already in base rates.2 Order No. 36045 required the to Company to submit as a separate filing a final copy of its wildfire mitigation plan for Idaho within 30 days of its completion but no later than April 15, 2024.3 On April 15, 2024, the Company submitted its 2024 WMP, in compliance with the Order No. 36045 in Case No. PAC-E-23-18. The Company now comes before the Commission and respectfully requests the Commission issue an order approving the Company's 2024 WMP. 'In the Matter of Rocky Mountain Power's Application for a Deferred Accounting Order Related to Insurance Costs, Case No.PAC-E-23-18(Aug.21,2023). 2 Id.,Order No. 36045(Dec.29,2023). 3 Id. Page 1 In support of its Application, the Company states as follows: 1. Rocky Mountain Power is a division of PacifiCorp, an Oregon corporation, which provides electric service to retail customers through its Rocky Mountain Power division in the states of Idaho,Wyoming, and Utah.Rocky Mountain Power is a public utility in the state of Idaho and is subject to the Commission's jurisdiction with respect to its prices and terms of electric service to retail customers in Idaho pursuant to Idaho Code §61-129. Rocky Mountain Power is authorized to do business in the state of Idaho providing retail electric service to approximately 91,000 customers in the state. I. SUMMARY OF THE 2024 WILDFIRE MITIGATION PLAN 2. PacifiCorp's service areas have historically included wildfire risk, including in Idaho. This risk is inherent to operating an electric utility and is elevated for utilities in the Western United States where climates are and year-long in some areas, or seasonally in others. However, the frequency, severity, and costs of catastrophic wildfires are increasing across the West. Recent experiences with catastrophic and tragic wildfires have resulted in an even greater focus on wildfire risk mitigation by public utilities in the region. The Company is committed to making long-term investments to reduce wildfire risk and the 2024 WMP describes the investments to construct, maintain, and operate electrical lines and equipment in a manner that will minimize the risk of wildfire. The 2024 WMP includes the following sections: Baseline Risk Analysis PacifiCorp's baseline risk analysis framework consists of four main components: data collection and analysis, risk evaluation, risk treatment, and risk monitoring and review. PacifiCorp's wildfire mitigation risk analysis reviews fire history, the recorded causes of the fires, the acreage impact of the fires, and when in the year the fires typically occur. Using that information, the risk analysis identifies the logic for a risk-informed method to strategically address utility wildfire risks. Page 2 Inspection and Correction Rocky Mountain Power performs inspections on a routine basis and also completes supplemental visual patrols ahead of elevated fire risk conditions. In addition, areas classified as Fire High Consequence Area ("FHCA") are subject to additional inspection program elements. The risk models used during the baseline risk analysis did not identify any geographic areas in Idaho for inclusion in an FHCA at this time; however, the Company will continue to evaluate the Idaho geographical area for areas of possible future inclusion into an FHCA. Vegetation Management By reducing vegetation contact with power lines, PacifiCorp's vegetation management program reduces the potential of an ignition originating from electrical facilities. The Company has two vegetation management programs: regular cycle maintenance and enhanced vegetation maintenance. Regular cycle maintenance involves pruning tall vegetation to maintain safe distances from power lines, and removing dead or high-risk trees that pose a threat of falling onto electrical facilities. The enhanced vegetation management program adds an annual off-cycle inspection to FHCA territories. System Hardening In the context of the Company's wildfire mitigation efforts, system hardening is an engineered response to an identified risk to the electrical system. System hardening includes retrofitting specific devices or components within the system to make it more resilient and may also include the wholesale replacement of legacy equipment when retrofitting is not a viable solution. PacifiCorp's system hardening projects focus on reducing the potential that the power system is the source of ignition by creating a spark during a fault event. Situational Awareness PacifiCorp's approach to situational awareness includes real-time daily simulations, forecasting and assessing the risk of potential or active events, and responding to local conditions. The Company's meteorology department plays a central role in Rocky Mountain Power's situational awareness efforts by leveraging advanced numerical weather prediction models to forecast weather-related system impacts. System Operations Adjustments to power system operations, such as modifying relay settings and re- energization protocols, can mitigate wildfire risk but may increase outage frequency and duration. The Company deploys Elevated Fire Risk settings, performs additional patrols during elevated fire risk periods, and uses fault indicators to expedite restoration, while Page 3 continually evaluating and optimizing these strategies to balance wildfire risk and customer reliability. Field Operations and Work Practices Throughout the year, Rocky Mountain Power takes proactive measures to minimize wildfire risk, both through modified practices and strategic investments in equipment. Measures include deferring nonessential work in high-risk areas, imposing restrictions based on weather conditions, and equipping field personnel with basic firefighting tools, while also employing circuit hardening upgrades and enhanced communication devices like the Company's compact rapid deployable mobile cell tower. Public Safety Power Shutoff Program During periods of extreme wildfire risk Rocky Mountain Power employs proactive de- energization, also known as Public Safety Power Shutoff ("PSPS"), as a temporary measure. This practice, may be initiated based on factors like high wind speeds, low humidity, and dry fuels and aims to supplement existing wildfire mitigation strategies. The 2024 WMP describes the PSPS decision making process, communication to partners, customers, and critical facilities in the event of a PSPS,and the process for re-energization. Public Safety Partner Coordination Strategy The Company's multi-step coordination approach with public safety partners for wildfire mitigation and PSPS preparedness includes outreach, workshops, tabletop exercises, Community Resource Center ("CRC") demonstrations, and functional exercises. These steps aim to increase preparedness through public safety meetings, targeted workshops, annual exercises, public CRC demonstrations, and extensive functional exercises, culminating in enhanced communication and strategic planning for emergency situations. Wildfire Safety & Preparedness Engagement Strategy The 2024 WMP utilizes a comprehensive approach to engage communities and provide timely, clear information on wildfire safety through various channels such as webinars, advertising campaigns, social media, and direct communication. This strategy, which includes multilingual content and flexible tactics based on feedback, aims to ensure widespread accessibility and understanding,while continuously evolving to meet the needs of customers, stakeholders, and regulatory requirements. Industry Collaboration In addition to engaging with communities and public safety partners, the Company also collaborates with industry experts through active participation in workshops, forums, consortiums,and advisory boards,facilitating the exchange of best practices and innovative technologies. Page 4 Plan Monitoring and Implementation In 2021, Rocky Mountain Power established a wildfire safety department, including a program delivery team responsible for developing, implementing, and monitoring the company's wildfire mitigation strategies across the Company's entire service territory including Idaho. The department ensures coordination across various internal departments, compliance with regulatory requirements, and securing grant funding for mitigation initiatives. Plan Summary, Costs and Benefits To implement the investments described above, the Company is currently forecasting an additional investment of $31.40 million through 2026. This investment includes $22.26 million of capital expenses. A breakdown of these expenses is provided on page 90 of the 2024 WMP. Appendices The 2024 WMP includes the following appendices: • Appendix A—Adherence to Requirements • Appendix B—Wildfire Risk Modeling Data Inputs • Appendix C—Encroachment Policy IL CORRESPONDENCE OR COMMUNICATIONS 3. Correspondence and communications regarding this Application should be addressed to: Mark Alder Idaho Regulatory Affairs Manager Rocky Mountain Power 1407 West North Temple, Suite 330 Salt Lake City, Utah 84116 Telephone: (801) 220-2313 Email: mark.alderkpacificorp.com Joe Dallas (ISB# 10330) PacifiCorp, Senior Attorney 825 NE Multnomah Street, Suite 2000 Portland, OR 97232 Email: joseph.dallas(&,pacificorp.com Page 5 In addition, Rocky Mountain Power requests that all data requests regarding this Application be sent in Microsoft Word to the following: By email (preferred): datarequest&pacificorp.com By regular mail: Data Request Response Center PacifiCorp 825 NE Multnomah St., Suite 2000 Portland, Oregon 97232 Informal questions may be directed to Mark Alder, Idaho Regulatory Affairs Manager at (801) 220-2313. III. MODIFIED PROCEDURE 4. The Company believes that consideration of the proposals contained in this Application do not require an evidentiary proceeding, and accordingly requests that this Application be processed under modified procedure pursuant to Rules 201-204, which allows for consideration of these issues by written submissions rather than by an evidentiary hearing. Rocky Mountain Power respectfully requests that the Commission issue an Order authorizing that this proceeding be processed under modified procedure. IV. REQUEST FOR RELIEF 1. WHEREFORE,Rocky Mountain Power respectfully requests that the Commission issue an order approving the 2024 WMP. Page 6 DATED this 7th day of June, 2024. Respectfully submitted, ROCKY MOUNTAIN POWER Joe Dallas (ISB# 10330) PacifiCorp, Senior Attorney 825 NE Multnomah Street, Suite 2000 Portland, OR 97232 Email: joseph.dallas(&,pacificorp.com Attorney for Rocky Mountain Power Page 7 ATTACHMENT A IDAHO WILDFIRE MITIGATION PLAN a r� � i 7Y .l IDAHO WILDFIRE MITIGATION PLAN 2024-2026 - ROCKY MOUNTAIN NPOWER. POWERING YOUR GREATNESS TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Baseline Risk Analysis..........................................................................................................................8 2. Inspection and Correction..............................................................................................................22 3. Vegetation Management..................................................................................................................28 4. System Hardening............................................................................................................................. 33 5. Situational Awareness......................................................................................................................38 6. System Operations...........................................................................................................................53 7. Field Operations And Work Practices.........................................................................................57 8. Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) Program.............................................................................62 9. Public Safety Partner Coordination Strategy..............................................................................73 10. Wildfire Safety & Preparedness Engagement Strategy.............................................................77 11. Industry Collaboration.....................................................................................................................86 12. Plan Monitoring And Implementation..........................................................................................87 13. Plan Summary, Costs, And Benefits..............................................................................................88 Appendix A —Adherence To Requirements...........................................................................................94 Appendix B — Wildfire Risk Modeling Data Inputs................................................................................95 Appendix C — Encroachment policy..........................................................................................................98 Page 12 _IST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Rocky Mountain Power's Baseline Risk Assessment Framework........................................................8 Figure 2: Historic Ignition Risk Drivers During Fire Season.................................................................................11 Figure 3: Historic Ignition Risk Drivers During Non-Fire Season.......................................................................11 Figure 4: Overall FireSight Model for Risk Estimates.............................................................................................14 Figure 5: Composite Risk Consideration Wind-Driven and Fuel/Terrain-Driven Events.............................16 Figure 6: Inputs and Weightings for Composite Risk Calculation.......................................................................16 Figure 7: Comparison of Fuel/Terrain-Driven Composite Risk to Wind-Driven Composite Risk Near BaldyKnoll, ID..................................................................................................................................................................17 Figure 8: Comparison of Wind-Driven Composite Risk to Fuel/Terrain Composite Risk in Goshen Junction, ID.......................................................................................................................................................................17 Figure 9: Calculation of Wind-Driven and Fuel/Terrain-Driven Composite Risk............................................18 Figure 10: Combined Composite Risk Score Calculation.....................................................................................18 Figure11: 2024 Areas of Interest................................................................................................................................19 Figure 12: High Level Program and Project Selection Process.............................................................................20 Figure 13: Fire Threat Condition Identification .......................................................................................................24 Figure 14: Hazard Tree Removal.................................................................................................................................28 Figure15: High-Risk Tree Removal.............................................................................................................................29 Figure16: Pole Clearing Strategy.................................................................................................................................32 Figure 17: Pole Clearing at Pole Base.........................................................................................................................32 Figure 18: Covered Conductor Compared (left) to Bare Conductor (right) Images from VW Wire and CableProduct List...........................................................................................................................................................34 Figure 19: Distribution Fiberglass Poles.....................................................................................................................36 Figure 20: Overview of Situational Awareness.........................................................................................................38 Figure 21: Meteorology Daily Process........................................................................................................................39 Figure 22: General Weather Station Siting Methodology......................................................................................42 Figure 23: Publicly Available Situational Awareness Information from a Weather Station West of Idaho Falls, ID...............................................................................................................................................................................43 Figure 24: Example of FireCast Output near Spencer, ID,July 2023.................................................................45 Figure 25: FireSim Output (left) and Report (right) near Spencer, ID,July 2023............................................46 Page 13 Figure 26: Fire Potential Index Scale...........................................................................................................................47 Figure 27: Correlation of Utility Ignitions to Modified Hot Dry Windy (MHDW) Index and Wind Gust Percentiles to Determine Risk Levels........................................................................................................................49 Figure 28: Example System Impacts Forecast...........................................................................................................51 Figure 29: Example of Distribution Circuit with Multiple Reclosers..................................................................53 Figure 30: General Fault Indicator Configuration....................................................................................................55 Figure31: 2023 EFR Setting Impact............................................................................................................................56 Figure 32: Line Workers Performing Work.............................................................................................................57 Figure 33: Rapidly Deployable Cell-on-Wheels (COW)........................................................................................60 Figure34: PSPS Overview.............................................................................................................................................62 Figure 35: PSPS Assessment Methodology................................................................................................................63 Figure 36: Example of a Temporary CRC.................................................................................................................69 Figure 37: General Re-Energization Process.............................................................................................................69 Figure 38: Visual Depiction of Step Restoration......................................................................................................70 Figure 39 : PSPS Preparedness Strategy.....................................................................................................................73 Figure40: Sample YouTube Content.........................................................................................................................78 Figure41: Sample Support Collateral.........................................................................................................................79 Figure 42: Sample Email Communication - Modified Operational Settings.......................................................80 Figure 43: Wildfire Mitigation Program Infographic................................................................................................81 Figure 44: Sample Webpage Content - Spanish.......................................................................................................81 Figure 45: Wildfire Safety Webpage Content..........................................................................................................82 Figure 46: Public Safety Power Shutoff Webpage...................................................................................................83 Figure 47: Sample Email Communication..................................................................................................................84 Figure 48: Wildfire Communications and Outreach Plan Timeline.....................................................................85 Page 14 Table 1: Outage Causes with Possible Correlation to Ignition Potential..........................................................10 Table 2: Comparison of General Characteristics of Wind-Driven and Fuel/Terrain-Driven Wildfires.....16 Table 3: Risk Driver Mapping to Potential Mitigation Program(s) ......................................................................21 Table 4: Energy Release Risk Conditions...................................................................................................................25 Table 5: Planned Inspection Frequency......................................................................................................................26 Table 6: Planned Correction Timeframes for Fire Threat Conditions in the FHCA......................................27 Table 7: Normal Distribution Minimum Post-Work Vegetation Clearance Distances..................................29 Table 8: Transmission Minimum Vegetation Clearance (in Feet) by Line Voltage..........................................30 Table 9: Weather Station Build Out Plan..................................................................................................................42 Table 10: Additional Considerations for District Fire Risk...................................................................................50 Table 11: PSPS Notification Timeline for Customers............................................................................................68 Table 12: Summary of PSPS Experiences...................................................................................................................72 Table 13: 2023 Completed Workshops and Exercises..........................................................................................75 Table 14: 2024 Tentative Workshop and Exercise Plan........................................................................................76 Table 15: 2024 Tentative Workshop and Exercise Plan........................................................................................77 Table 16: Summary of 2023 Program Results and 2024 Objectives...................................................................88 Table 17: Planned Incremental Capital Investment by Category ($millions) ....................................................90 Table 18: Planned Incremental Expense by Category ($millions)........................................................................90 Table19: Co-benefit Objectives..................................................................................................................................92 Page 15 INTRODUCTION Wildfire threats have been growing in the United States and Rocky Mountain Power has developed a comprehensive plan describing its wildfire mitigation efforts. The 2024 Wildfire Mitigation Plan (WMP) guides the mitigation strategies that are, or will be, deployed in Idaho. These efforts are designed to reduce the risk of utility-related wildfires, and proactively mitigate damage to Rocky Mountain Power facilities because of wildfire. Wildfire has long been an issue of notable public concern. Electric utilities have always needed to be concerned with the potential of a fire starting because of sparks that could be emitted from an electrical facility, typically during a fault condition. The growth of wildfire size and intensity have magnified these concerns. Regardless of the causes, or political debates surrounding the issue, the reality is stark. Despite effective fire suppression agencies and increased suppression budgets, wildfires have grown in number, size, and intensity. Increased human development in the wildland-urban interface, the area where people (and their structures) are intermixed with, or located near, substantial wildland vegetation has increased the probability and the costs of wildfire damage in terms of both harm to people and property damage. A wildfire in an undeveloped area can have ecological consequences — some positive, some negative — but a wildfire in an undeveloped area will not typically have a direct effect on many people. A wildfire engulfing a developed area, on the other hand, can have significant consequences for people and property. For all these reasons, Rocky Mountain Power is committed to making long-term investments to reduce the risk of wildfire. The measures in this WMP describe those investments to construct, maintain and operate electrical lines and equipment in a manner that will minimize the risk of wildfire. In evaluating which engineering, construction, and operational strategies to deploy, Rocky Mountain Power was guided by the following core principles: • Systems that facilitate situational awareness and operational readiness are central to mitigating fire risk and its impacts. • When a fault event does occur,the impact of the event can be minimized using equipment and personnel to shorten the duration to isolate the fault event. • Frequency of ignition events related to electric facilities can be reduced by engineering more resilient systems that experience fewer fault events. A successful plan must also consider the impact on Idaho customers and Idaho communities, and balance costs, benefits, operational impacts, and risk mitigation in the overall imperative to provide safe, reliable, and affordable electric service. Page 16 In 2023, Idaho wildfire mitigation strategies, included: • Completed additional vegetation management practices on 67 circuit segments. • Expanded situational awareness through installation of ten weather stations and procurement of new risk modelling tools, datasets, and software. • Implemented modified operational settings and re-energization practices. • Launched the Public Safety Partner portal. Rocky Mountain Power's 2024 WMP incorporates the company's 2023 experience as well as feedback and recommendations from stakeholders, and communities. As a result, in 2024 the company is forecasting an additional investment of$31.40 million in Idaho through 2026. Section 13, Plan Summary, Costs, and Benefits includes a summary of all plan elements, forecasted costs, and anticipated benefits. Rocky Mountain Power's wildfire mitigation efforts in Idaho are centered on certain operating practices, informed by ongoing wildfire risk analysis. Rocky Mountain Power has the capability to enact specific operational protocols service territory wide, in response to situational awareness monitoring. Situational awareness monitoring is service territory wide and year-round, directing alternative operating practices such as advanced control systems and incremental patrols which can lead to expedited corrections and vegetation clearing. All of these programs are designed to target work in the areas of wildfire risk. Many wildfire mitigation efforts, especially those driven long-term and sustained risk factors, are focused in the defined geographic area of highest wildfire risk called the Fire High Consequence Area (FHCA), as explained in greater detail in Section 2.2. To date, the wildfire risk assessment conducted by Rocky Mountain Power has not identified any FHCA in Rocky Mountain Power's Idaho service territory. Nonetheless, baseline risk analysis is re-evaluated regularly, and Rocky Mountain Power may designate FHCA in Idaho at some point in the future. Therefore, this plan describes FHCA programs for informational purposes. Page 17 1. BASELINE RISK ANALYSIS Rocky Mountain Power's baseline risk analysis framework consists of four main components as depicted in Figure 1 below. The framework is a cycle consisting of data collection and analysis, risk evaluation, risk treatment, and risk monitoring and review. a ta Monitoring • . • • Review Analysis Risk Risk Treatment FValLlation L -.0gagA Figure 9:Rocky Mountain Power's Baseline Risk Assessment Fiamewcwk 1.1 DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS Data Collection and Analysis provides enhanced data collection and analytics for incident tracking, trend analysis and measurement of mitigation effectiveness. This capability is discussed in the Advanced Data Analytics Tool improvements below.The following types of data are continuously collected, organized, and analyzed to support development of risk assessment tools and evaluation and inform Rocky Mountain Power's understanding of the wildfire risk. Additional details regarding the specific types of data collected can be found in Appendix C. RISK DRIVER ANALYSIS Rocky Mountain Power analyzes the components of risk associated with utility facilities. In particular, an understanding of risk drivers informs specific mitigation tactics or strategies that can be used to reduce the total amount of risk associated with utility operations. For example, if a risk of utility-related-wildfire exists due potential equipment failure, an increase in inspections or maintenance activities might help to mitigate the risk. If a risk exists due to potential contact between power lines and third-party objects, installing conductor more resilient to contact with objects might help to mitigate that particular risk. Page 18 Risk Evaluation includes the development of tools and models to supports location-specific risk identification to inform mitigation programs. These risk evaluation tools and models include the delineation of geographic areas of heightened risk of wildfire designated as the Fire High Consequence Area (FHCA), as described and shown in Section 2.2, as well as the asset-specific risk modeling tool, FireSight, explained in Section 1.2. Risk Treatment involves the development and implementation of mitigation programs informed by the data analysis and risk evaluation. Finally, Risk Monitoring and Review supports evaluation of the effectiveness of mitigation strategies using a consistent framework and process. The framework in Figure 1 is represented as a cycle to depict a process geared to make continuous improvement. For example, data collection and analysis support inputs to risk evaluation in a repeatable and transparent way to identify areas of risk. This in turn supports development and updates to risk evaluation tools, such as mapping of the FHCA, to inform risk mitigation programs such as Vegetation Management and asset inspections. Finally, risk is monitored, and programs are evaluated to enable Continuous Improvement. In determining the potential risk drivers, Rocky Mountain Power employs a data driven approach that references certain categories of historical outage records as a proxy for risk events. Outage data is the best available data to correlate an identifiable event on the electrical network.to the risk of a utility-related-wildfire. There is a logical physical relationship: if a fault creates a spark, there is a risk of fire. An unplanned outage —which is when a line is unintentionally de-energized — is most often rooted in a fault. Accordingly, outage records were organized into categories to understand the cause of each outage with the potential for an ignition as shown in below. The outage categories in the table align with potential correlation to an ignition.' 1 These outage categories are not the same as the outage classifications traditionally used for reliability reporting.For example,certain outage categories,such as loss of upstream transmission supply,planned outage,or not an outage(misclassification),do not correlate to the potential for an ignition and were excluded from the data set used for risk driver analysis. Page 19 Table 1:atage Causes with Passible Ca7vlatia7 to/gnitian Potential Risk Driver to cause Outages Risk Driver Description Animals Animals make unwanted direct contact with energized assets. Environment Exposure to environmental factors,such as contamination Equipment Damaged Broken equipment from car hit-poles,vandalism,or other non-lightening weather-related factors. Failure of energized equipment due to normal deterioration and wear, such as a cross arm Equipment Failure that has become cracked or the incorrect operation of a recloser,circuit breaker,relay,or switch Lightning Outage event directly caused by lightning striking either(i)energized utility assets or(ii) nearby vegetation or equipment that,as a result,contacts energized utility assets Other External Interference External factors not relating to damaged equipment such as mylar balloons,hay or other interference resulting in a potential ignition source Not Classifiable Outage event with unknown cause or multiple potential probable causes identified Operational Unplanned outage resulting from operations Tree-Within Right-of-Way(ROW) Outage attributed to vegetation contact with vegetation located within the power line right-of- way Tree-Outside Right-of-Way(ROW) Outage attributed to vegetation contact with vegetation from outside the right-of-way Rocky Mountain Power compiled an outage history from the past ten years grouped by these ten outage categories, both inside of fire season (June 1 through October 1) and outside of fire season. Because "wire down" events represent situations with heightened ground fuel ignition correlation, wire down event data is also assessed. This data is overlaid in and below. Page 110 Idaho Annual Cumulative Ignition Risk Drivers and Total Period Wire Down Events -During Fire Season 3,000 2,500 2,000 1,500 1,000 500 0 Wire-to- Object Equipment Contaminati Vandalismrt Wire-to- contact failure on Lightrring Utility work heft win: Unknown Other Contact ■2023 215 216 14 83 0 0 4 193 141 ■2022 230 183 6 59 0 0 1 179 154 ■2021 197 206 12 89 1 1 3 139 123 ■2020 329 232 17 47 0 1 6 138 345 ■2019 283 260 26 84 0 0 9 147 61 ■2018 319 258 10 49 0 1 26 131 67 ■2017 303 285 10 82 0 1 13 149 63 ■2016 279 218 11 60 2 0 8 166 49 ■2015 273 357 16 129 2 0 18 216 116 ■2014 305 328 25 186 3 2 13 194 41 ■ Total Wire 214 168 4 73 2 2 13 189 146 Down Events Figure 2:Histaic Ignition Risk Drivers During Fire Season Idaho Annual Cumulative Ignition Risk Drivers and Total Period Wire Down Events - During Non-Fire Season 4,500 4,000 - 3,500 3,000 2,500 ,000 1,500 1,000 500 0 Object Equipment Contamina Vandalism/ Wire-to- contact failure tan Lightning Utility work Iheft wire Unknown Other Contact ■2023 223 281 14 32 2 0 9 189 313 ■2022 169 314 27 8 2 0 7 175 412 ■2021 222 348 29 17 2 0 12 160 414 ■2020 238 337 24 15 4 0 16 119 185 ■2019 180 374 30 33 0 0 13 161 154 ■2018 238 398 1 28 53 1 0 22 1 148 177 ■2017 244 488 11 16 1 1 24 230 232 ■2016 229 441 24 66 0 0 15 221 167 ■2015 265 523 39 59 1 1 16 212 125 2014 272 566 61 26 2 0 21 247 1 208 ■ Total Wire 222 318 22 16 0 0 25 228 284 Down Events Figure 3:Histaic Ignition Risk Drivers Dunng Alan-Fire Seasa7 Page 11 The analysis of risk drivers incorporates outage data collected through the company's normal outage response systems. As Rocky Mountain Power's risk modeling efforts evolve, there may be opportunities to gather more detailed data regarding outages, which may further refine the analysis of such data to support the modeling and correlations between outages, risk events and ignition probabilities. FIRE INCIDENT HISTORY Rocky Mountain Power tracks fires potentially originating from Rocky Mountain Power equipment, as well as other fires that impact Rocky Mountain Power's facilities. An initial report of a fire can be obtained through a variety of sources. It is common for an initial report to come via a call to Rocky Mountain Power's system operations center from an emergency response agency or local government. Other times, Rocky Mountain Power field personnel may observe a fire or fire damage while performing work in the field. After receiving an initial report of a fire incident, Rocky Mountain Power records the incident in a fire incident tracking database. Rocky Mountain Power gathers other information, as available, to record in the database. Fields maintained in this database include fire start date and time; location,with a latitude and longitude reference; land use in the area;fire size; suppression agency; facility identification; voltage; associated equipment; outage information; and the suspected initiating event. Data fields are organized to align with regulatory reporting requirements. Information is often estimated, based on known available information. For example, a recorded fire start time may be the time when the fire is first observed or when a report of fire is first received; but the precise time that the fire ignited may not be known. Fields are sometimes populated as "unknown"when there is insufficient available information. Fire incidents have been tracked since 2020, and the data is an input to the risk model. ASSET INFORMATION Information on transmission and distribution equipment, including type of equipment, location, installation date, and material is captured and used during analysis, where available. 1.2 RISK EVALUATION AND TOOLS Rocky Mountain Power's baseline risk evaluation process employs the general concept that risk. is the product of the likelihood of a specific risk event multiplied by the impact of the event, also referred to as risk consequence. The likelihood, or probability, of an event is an estimate of a particular event occurring within a given timeframe. The impact of an event is an estimate of the effect to people and property when an event occurs. Impact can be evaluated using a variety of factors, including considerations centered on health and safety, the environment, customer satisfaction, system reliability, the company's image and reputation, and financial implications. Rocky Mountain Power uses modelling tools to evaluate both likelihood and impact. Page 112 FIRESIGHT To perform risk evaluation, Rocky Mountain Power strives to combine utility and public data to analyze the components of risk associated with utility facilities in a consistent, repeatable way. Rocky Mountain Power procured and is currently implementing FireSight, a commercially available module in a broader software suite from Technosylva referred to as Wildfire Analyst (WFA-E). Technosylva has provided advanced wildfire products and services to utilities throughout the United States since 1997 and other modules in WFA-E are used by state agencies such as the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire). With in-house fire and data scientists, Technosylva partners with key providers in fire planning, advanced data modeling, and wildland fire research and development to enhance the models used in their software. Technosylva has also published studies in scientific journals and wildfire industry publications such as Current Opinion in Environmental Health and Science' and International Journal of Wildland Fire.' FireSight specifically builds upon the quantitative risk model developed by Technosylva that associates wildfire hazards with the location of electric overhead assets. FireSight is used to forecast the consequence or impact of a wildfire from a given ignition point in Rocky Mountain Power's service territory based on the potential spread of a wildfire, should it occur. Rocky Mountain Power chose to implement FireSight based on Technosylva's experience with other utilities and their partnerships with experts in wildfire risk modeling and fire data science. The FireSight model, which is depicted in below, combines the utility asset information and data described in Section 1.2 with public data regarding community characteristics, terrain, vegetation, and weather information, to provide ignition risk scores at points along a circuit. Specific to this model, Technosylva sources information on climate, historic weather conditions, terrain, fuels, population, and the built environment (buildings and roads) from public sources. A complete list of inputs, with source and frequency of update, is provided in Appendix C — Wildfire Risk Modeling Data Inputs. 2 Cardil, Adrian,Santiago Monedero,Gavin Schag,Sergio de Miguel,Mario Tapia,Cathelijne R.Stoof,Carlos A.Silva,Midhun Mohan,Alba Cardil,and Joaquin Ramirez,"Fire behavior modeling for operational decision-making."Current Opinion in Environmental Health and Science,Volume 23.October 202 3 Cardil,Adrian,Santiago Monedero,Phillip SeLegue, Miguel Angel Navarrete,Sergio de-Miguel,Scott Purdy,Geoff Marshall,Tim Chavez,Kristen Allison,Raul Quilez,Macarena Ortega,Carlos A.Silva,and Joaquin Ramirez,"Performance of operational fire spread models in California,"International journal of Wildland Fire, July 7,2023,Sourced November 2,2023 Page 113 Risk Associated with Asset Location Risk Associated with Value Exposure Wildfire risk associated with ignitions from utility Locational risk calculated from all surrounding assets, assets environmental characteristics.and demographics. Lines Trardomners �• Poles fficulty Population Transmission Density Structures Roads Arrestors Social Capacitors Vulnembility Capecitor Ban Fire Stations Line Fuses 1—il Populational S—eptibil buildings at risk over Irre 6,,wth Flame Length an 8-hrur and 24- Crown Fire hour period Acres Inputs In s Asset Data Demographics Outage History Built Ignition History Environment Population Terrain Built Environment Fuels Historical Historical Weather Weather Figure 4:Overall FiraSight Mode/for Risk Estimates The FireSight model has two primary parts- Risk Associated with Ignition Location (RAIL) and Risk Associated with Value Exposure (RAVE). RAIL, depicted on the left side of Figure 4, represents the risk presented by the asset based on its characteristics, including age and materials. RAIL assesses the risk by associating the ignition impact over an eight-hour and 24- hour period to a specific asset. The eight-hour period is the typical period used by utilities to model risk, but there is growing interest in 24-hour modeling risk to understand how that changes the risk profile.4 Therefore, Rocky Mountain Power is modeling both to better understand if there are significant differences in the results that may impact mitigation efforts. Factors considered in RAIL calculations include: • Surface and canopy fuels outlook in 2030, including consideration of climate change impacts in the modeling. • Topography. • Wind speed and direction. • Historical fire occurrence identifying time of data, typical weather conditions, and duration. 4 California Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety."Standardized Wildfire Risk Type Classifications and in Situ Wildfire Risk Assessment"Risk Modeling Working Group.October 11,2023. Page 114 Outputs from RAIL include: • Ignition risk from overhead transmission and distribution assets. • Potential fire characteristics: Fire size, rate of spread, potential for crown fire, flame length. • Population at risk. • Number of buildings at risk. Risk Associated with Value Exposure (RAVE), depicted on the right side of Figure 4, assesses the characteristics of the area that is under risk of ignition. Community demographics, geography, and the built environment influence how risky or resilient a community is to wildfire. RAVE is independent of the asset risk calculated in RAIL and considers the risk associated with additional factors: • Population density. • Socially vulnerable populations such as the elderly, people with a disability, or people at or below the poverty level. • Infrastructure: Major and minor road density and building density. • Suppression difficulty: Terrain, fuels, and fire station locations all impact how quickly firefighters can respond to a fire in the initial attack. • Crown fire crowning acres: the amount the fire can spread through crowning in trees. • RAVE Outputs: • Community impacts: How vulnerable a community is to wildfire and the potential consequences. • Fire intensity: How a fire is expected to behave and what area may be impacted from the point of ignition. COMPOSITE RISK SCORE The composite risk score is a combination of the RAIL and RAVE, and reflects three components: • Where is the predicted impact. This is the measure of the population and buildings if there is an ignition. • How destructive could the fire be. This is the expected fire behavior over the forecast fire area. • How resilient is the community. This is affected by the difficulty of suppression and population characteristics. Rocky Mountain Power models and calculates separate composite risk scores for wind-driven and fuel/terrain-driven wildfires to account for the unique characteristics of its service territory that spans both steep forested areas as well as high desert areas. Table 2 below shows the unique characteristics of each wildfire type modeled. Page 115 Table 2.Canpanson of Genera aaractenstics of Wind-Driven and Fuel/Terrain Driven Wildfires Category Wind-Driven Wildfires Fuel/Terrain-Driven Wildfires Locational Risk More likely in areas subject to PSPS Confined to areas of complex fuels and terrain with (Public Safety Power Shutoff) difficult access Frequency Some years have none;others several Annually during peak fire season Event Duration 1-3 days per event Can persist several weeks or months Outage Risk Wind-driven and somewhat predictable Difficult to predict Consequence Immediately catastrophic May be catastrophic over time Calculating the risk separately and then combining them into a single composite risk, as shown in below, provides a robust risk calculation and identification of the risk driver at a location to apply the appropriate mitigation. A� 1` Wind-Driven J+ I Fuel/Terrain-Driven = Composite Score Figure 5. Canpcisite Risk Ccnsideratiar Wind-Driven and Fuel/Terrain-Driven Events Figure 6 below shows the inputs and weightings for the composite risk for wind-driven and fuel/terrain-driven wildfires. On the left side of the table are the RAIL inputs with the selected input for the type of wildfire, the percentile selected and the weighting for each variable. On the right side of the table are the RAVE inputs with the weightings for each variable, there are no percentiles for these inputs as they are relatively static values, i.e., the number of fire stations the number of disabled people in geographic area. Risk Associated with Ignition Location(RAIL) Risk Associated with Value Exposure(RAVE) Component:60% Component:40% Fuel/Terrain RAIL Inputs Percentile Weight(%) RAVE Inputs Percentile Weight[%) Fire Behavior Index 95 20% Terrain Difficulty Index N/A 25% ©` Fire Size Potential 95 20% + Fire Station Density N/A 10% Flame Length 95 20% Fuel Model Majority N/A 5% Risk Associated with Ignition Location(RAIL) Risk Associated with Value Exposure(RAVE) Wind Component:80% Component:20% RAIL Inputs Percentile Weight(%) RAVE Inputs Percentile Weight[%) Rate of Spread 95 30% Terrain Difficulty Index N/A 10% Population Impacted 95 25% + Disability Population N/A 5% Buildings Destroyed 95 25% Poverty Population N/A 5% Figure 6:Inputs and Weightings fa-Ccrnpasite Risk Calculada7 Page 16 The inputs and percentages above were selected based on inputs from internal subject matter experts and reviews of other utilities risk models. A sensitivity analysis was performed on the selected inputs and weightings to validate that the selected percentiles and weightings identified circuits expected to be higher risk. for fuels or terrain driven wildfires based on subject matter expertise. Figure 7 below is an example of the difference in the Fuel/Terrain-Driven and Wind-Driven Composite Risk Score on a Rocky Mountain Power circuit. The terrain here is steeper and has more fuels, which is reflected in an average Fuel/Terrain Driven Composite Risk score of 0.71 compared to an average Wind-Driven Composite Risk score of 0.26. Fuel/Terrain-Driven Risk—Circuit CNY21 Wind-Driven Risk—Circuit CNY21 u Composite Score 0.0-0.1 ow r� } Vq 0.1-0.2 Risk 0.2-0.3 —0.3-0.4-Y —0.4-0.5 CNY21 CNY21 _. —0.5-0.6 —0.6-0.7 I � —0.7-0.8 �- —0.8-0.9 Risk 0.26 Figure 7. Canpansaa of FuellTelmin-Dnven Cornpasite Risk to Wind-DI•iven Compasite Risk Akar Baldy Knoll, /P below is an example of the difference in the Fuel/Terrain-Driven and Wind-Driven Composite Risk. Score on a Rocky Mountain Power circuit. Here the terrain is flatter, and the Wind-Driven Composite Risk is significantly higher than the Fuel/Terrain-Driven Composite Risk score. Wind-Driven Risk—Circuit GSH12 Fuel/Terrain-Driven Risk—Circuit GSH12 Composite Score ® O.0-0.1 ow ® GSH12 0.1-0-3 Risk GSH22 — 0.2-0.3 — 1 —0.3-0.4 —0.4-0.5 _ 0.5-0.6 - -0.6-0.7 C j 0.82 —0.7-0.8 l'r-t —0.8-0.9 Risk figure 8: Canpansa7 of Wind-Driven Composite Risk to Fuel/Termin%.ampas1te Risk in Gashen/unctiou A As seen in and above, the composite risk scores can vary along a circuit due to changes in fuels, terrain, build environment, assets and community demographics that affect the risk score inputs. This variation is seen below in the change in composite risk score for a circuit segment as well as visually in the change in color along the circuits. The composite score is calculated for each Page 117 circuit segment using an equation that calculates a wind-driven and terrain-driven risk as shown in below. Risk Associated with Ignition Location(RAIL)Component Risk Associated with Value Exposure(RAVE)Component (Variable 1(Weight;%))+(Variable 2(Weight;%))+(Variable 3(Weight;%)) + (Variable 1(Weight;%))+(Variable 2(Weight;%))+(Variable 3(weight;%)) Figure 9:Calculation of Wind-Dt7ven and Fue//Terrain-Dnven Composite Risk The calculation for the combined risk score for each circuit segment is shown in Figure 10 below. Each composite score is on a scale of 0-1. Wind Driven Composite Risk+Terrain Driven Composite Risk Largest Composite Score All Circuits Figum 10:Combined Composite Risk Scorn Calculation The FireSight tool, together with composite and combined composite risk score methodology described above, were leveraged to create two, parallel evaluations. First, assuming a fixed, equal probability, the wind-driven and fuel/terrain-driven composite risk scores were calculated and compiled to inform an evaluation of baseline wildfire risk. FIRE HIGH CONSEQUENCE AREA (FHCA) Rocky Mountain Power has identified areas of heighted risk of wildfire,with delineated geographic areas referred to as the Fire High Consequence Area or "FHCA." The FHCA sets geographic boundaries for wildfire mitigation programs including asset management and vegetation management discussed in Section 2.2 and Section 3.2 respectively. Rocky Mountain Power leveraged FireSight to model risk scores for wind-driven and fuel/terrain- driven risk on each circuit assuming a probability factor of 1 as described in the Composite Risk Score section above to focus on the consequence of potential ignitions. Expressed as percentiles, the FHCA reflects areas with FireSight model risk scores in the 85th-100th percentile. Based on this approach and, specifically, the FireSight model risk scores, Rocky Mountain Power has not identified any geographic areas in Idaho for inclusion in an FHCA. AREAS OF INTEREST Rocky Mountain Power continues to study other geographic areas for wildfire risk, even if FireSight model risk scores did not warrant inclusion of such areas in the FHCA at this time. The FireSight model risk scores reflect the reality that there is a spectrum of wildfire risk. Not surprisingly, certain areas, such as wooded forests have more wildfire risk than other areas, such as irrigated agricultural areas. Along those same lines, certain areas have FireSight model risk scores which approach the scores resulting in FHCA treatment. Rocky Mountain Power will continue to evaluate those areas, including for possible future expansion of the FHCA. To that Page 118 end, Rocky Mountain Power has identified additional "Areas of Interest,"which reflect geographic areas with above average FireSight model risk scores. The Areas of Interest are grouped in two parts: Area of Interest I refers to areas with risk scores closest to the risk scores used to demarcate the FHCA, while Area of Interest 11 refers to areas with risk scores lower than Area of Interest 1. Expressed as percentiles, the FHCA reflects areas with FireSight model risk scores in the 85`h-100`h percentile; Area of Interest I reflects areas in the 65th-85`h percentile; and Area of Interest 11 reflects areas in the 45th-65th percentile. The Areas of Interest are shown in below. I.`, r, o HO Blackfoot 2 I ° Fort Pocatello Hall _ o Rupert Service Territory ti .Aal: _ � Areas of interest l Areas of Interest II • -c_ Figure 11:2024 Aveas of Interest Rocky Mountain Power plans to provide information on the risk modeling approach to the following utilities with assets in close proximity to the Areas of Interest: • Bonneville Power Administration • City of Idaho Falls • City of Soda Springs • Fall River Rural Electric Cooperative • Idaho Power Company Page 119 Finally, Rocky Mountain Power also intends to continue evaluating the FHCA on an annual basis to incorporate new data, modeling techniques, and stakeholder input. As part of that process, Rocky Mountain Power plans to confer with state and local agencies, such as Idaho Department of Lands, and possibly other private stakeholders, such as the Southern Idaho Timber Association. RISK TREATMENT - PROGRAM SELECTION AND PRIORITIZATION For the FHCA, Rocky Mountain Power applies a high-level decision-making process that aligns with many other utilities to develop specific projects or programs, not including compliance driven system wide programs. The high-level process, represented by Figure 12, includes four key phases: (1) risk modeling and assessment, (2) program identification and planning, (3) project evaluation and selection, and (4) implementation and monitoring. While not specifically shown in the general framework, part of the process allows for a program or project to be moved back to a previous step if needed. r4tsk:4 in Pr gram Identification Project Evaluation& implementation& As sliment and Planning Selection Monitoring General Step/Task Project delivery,risk mitigation and Impactedbym selected effectiveness 14 mitigation evaluation projects to Commercially include in plan viable options to mitigate identified risks ` Identification of high-risk an asset and drivers ■ Detailed Scopng 'I'� Regulatory Requirements Potential Mitigation Construction Strategies Planning 011I aphis Risk Pilot Projects/ Cost Evaluation Deployment& Areas(FHCA) Research Implementation Firelight Risk Evaluation of Feasibility Score Commercial Evaluation onitorng Options Figure 12:High Leve/Program and Prcyect Selection Process Table 3 below generally maps Rocky Mountain Power's key risk drivers to the primary programs, demonstrating what elements impact a group or groups of risk drivers. It is important to note that elements may not eliminate a risk driver but are designed to mitigate the risk associated with that driver. For many risk drivers, risk is mitigated through a combination of programs and there is not always a 1:1 relationship between a risk driver category and a mitigation program. All elements and programs in the plan work together to collectively mitigate wildfire risk. Page 120 Tab/e 3:Risk Diver Mapping to Potential Mitigation Programs) Potential Mitigation Program Categories Significant Key Risk Driver Contributor to Wire Down Asset Vegetation System Field System Events Inspections Management Hardening Operations Operations Object Contact ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Other ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Equipment Failure ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Unknown ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Wire-to-wire contact ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Contamination ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Utility Work ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Vandalism/Theft ✓ ✓ ✓ Lightning ✓ As program scoping identifies potential mitigations, it is designed to make sure the ignition risk driver is addressed and considers other programs to avoid duplicate efforts. Page 121 INSPECTION AND CORRECTION Inspection and correction programs are the cornerstone of a resilient system. These programs are tailored to identify conditions that could result in failure or potential fault scenarios. These scenarios can arise when the infrastructure may no longer be able to operate per code or engineered design, or may become susceptible to external factors, such as weather conditions. Rocky Mountain Power performs inspections on a routine basis as dictated by company policies and completes supplemental visual patrols ahead of elevated fire risk conditions (Section 6.1). Areas classified as FCHA are subject to additional inspection program elements. At this time, Idaho does not have FHCA, so all assets will be subject to the standard inspection program. When an inspection is performed on an asset, inspectors use a predetermined list of condition codes and priority levels (defined below) to describe any noteworthy observations or potential noncompliance discovered during the inspection. Once recorded, the condition codes are used to establish the scope of and timeline for corrective action to maintain conformance with National Electric Safety Code (NESC) requirements and company policies. This process is designed to correct conditions while reducing impact to normal operations. Key terms associated with the inspection and correction programs are defined as follows: • Visual Assurance Inspection: A brief visual inspection performed by viewing each facility from a vantage point allowing reasonable viewing access, which is intended to identify clearance violations, damage or defects to the transmission and distribution system, or other potential hazards or right-of-way-encroachments that may endanger the public or adversely affect the integrity of the electric system, including items that could potentially cause a spark. • Detailed Inspection: A careful visual inspection accomplished by visiting each structure, as well as inspecting spans between structures. This inspection is intended to identify potential nonconformance with the NESC or company standards, infringement by other utilities or individuals, defects, potential safety hazards, and deterioration of the facilities that need to be corrected to maintain reliable and safe service. • Sound and Bore: An inspection performed by sounding the pole to locate external and internal decay pockets. The pole is tapped with a metal hammer to identify potential soft spots or hollow-sounding areas. If decay is suspected, inspection holes are drilled to determine the extent of the internal decay. • Pole Test & Treat: An inspection of wood poles to identify decay, wear, or damage. Inspections may include pole-sounding, inspection hole drilling, and excavation to assess the pole condition at groundline to identify the need for any repair or replacement. When applicable, preservative treatment is also applied as part of this inspection. • Enhanced Inspection: A supplemental inspection performed that exceeds the requirements of normal detailed or visual inspections; typically, a capture of infrared data. Page 122 • Patrols: Patrols are visual inspections performed in addition to scheduled inspection cycles during elevated fire risk conditions. Patrols can be performed prior or during significant weather events and are usually performed prior to re-energization of lines in FHCA during fire season. Patrolling can result in conditions being identified and corrected similar-to scheduled inspections. More details on patrolling activities are described in Section 6.2. • Condition: The state of an asset regarding appearance, quality, or working order that can sometimes be used to identify potential impact to normal system operation or clearance, which is typically identified by an inspection. • Energy Release Risk Condition: A type of condition that, under certain circumstances, can correlate to increase the risk of a fault event and potential release of energy at the location of the condition. • Condition Codes: Predetermined list of codes for use by inspectors to efficiently capture and communicate observations and inform the scope of and timeline for potential corrective action. • Correction: Scope of work required to remove a condition within a specified timeframe. • Priority Level: The level of risk assigned to the condition observed, as follows: ■ Imminent— imminent risk to safety or reliability ■ Priority A— risk of high potential impact to safety or reliability ■ Priority B— low or moderate risk to safety or reliability 2-1 STANDARD INSPECTION AND CORRECTION PROGRAMS Rocky Mountain Power's asset inspection programs involve four primary types of inspections: (1) visual assurance inspection; (2) detailed inspection, (3) sound and bore, and (4) pole test & treat. Inspection cycles, which dictate the frequency of inspections, are set by Rocky Mountain Power asset management department. In general, visual assurance inspections are conducted more frequently, to quickly identify any obvious damage or defects that could affect safety or reliability. Detailed inspections have a more comprehensive scope of work, so they are performed less frequently than visual assurance inspections. Pole test and treat (including sound and bore inspections) are more intrusive and in aims of finding internal decay. The frequency of these intrusive inspections is based on the age of wood poles, and such inspections are typically scheduled in conjunction with detailed inspections. Regardless of the inspection type, any identified conditions are entered into Rocky Mountain Power's facility point inspection system database for tracking purposes. For any condition identified, the inspector conducting the inspection will assign a condition code and the associated priority level. Corrections are then scheduled and completed within the correction timeframes established by internal company policies, as discussed below. While the same condition codes are used throughout Rocky Mountain Power's service territory, the timeframe for corrective action varies depending on location, wildfire risk area, and if the condition has the potential to release energy. In all cases, the timeline for corrections considers the priority level of any identified condition. Page 123 2.2 FHCA INSPECTION AND CORRECTION PROGRAMS The existing inspection and correction programs are effective at maintaining regulatory compliance and managing routine operational risk. They also mitigate wildfire risk by identifying and correcting conditions which, if uncorrected, could potentially ignite a fire. While Idaho does not have a designated FHCA today,the enhanced FHCA programs described in this section could be implemented in the future, should FHCA be identified in Idaho. Recognizing the growing risk of wildfires, Rocky Mountain Power is continuing to supplement its existing programs within the FHCA areas as defined in Section 1 to further mitigate the growing wildfire specific operational risks and create greater resiliency against wildfires. There are three primary elements that have been implemented: (1) creating a fire threat classification for specific condition codes which correlate to a heightened risk of fire ignition; (2) performing inspections more often in the FHCA and (3) expediting the correction of any fire threat conditions identified within the FHCA. FIRE THREAT CONDITIONS Certain conditions are classified as energy release risk conditions. As the name suggests, this category includes conditions which, under certain circumstances, can increase the risk of a fault event and potential release of energy at the location of the condition. Certain condition codes are categorically designated as an energy release risk. If a condition is designated as an energy release risk and the condition is located within the FHCA, the condition is designated as a fire threat condition, which means that the condition is treated as a type which corresponds to a heightened risk. of fire ignition; see Figure 13. _ Service Territory • a`00 P\` 000Energy • Release Fire • Threat FHCA Risk •� Conditions Figure 13:Fire Threat Condition Identification Condition codes reflecting an appreciable risk of energy release are designated as energy release risk conditions. For example, a damaged or frayed primary conductor has a condition code CONDFRAY,which is designated as an energy release risk condition because the condition could eventually result in a release of energy under certain circumstances. CONDFRAY conditions identified within the FHCA are then designated as a fire threat condition because, due to Page 124 escalation and environmental factors, the condition could eventually result in an ignition. In contrast, the observation of a missing or broken guy marker would result in the condition code GUYMARK, which is not designated as an energy release risk condition or a fire threat condition. Table 4:EneiigyyRelease Risk Conditions Condition Type Description A pole identified for replacement as a result of intrusive testing or Pole Replacement visual inspection that does not meet strength requirements/ safety factors Frayed or Damaged Conductor A conductor identified with damage/fraying on conductor strands because of visual or detail inspection A connection, bolt,or hardware component identified that is loose Loose Connections/Bolts/Hardware or missing from equipment or framing on the pole during visual or detail inspections Loose/Broken Anchors and Guys Loose or broken anchor and guying identified on the pole as a result visual or detail inspections Loose/Damaged Equipment Loose or damaged equipment(capacitors,regulators, reclosers, etc.)identified on the pole during visual or detail inspections Primary and secondary conductor clearances from the pole, Primary And Secondary Conductor Clearances buildings,or ground that do not meet minimum clearance requirements specified in the NESC identified during visual or detail inspections Vegetation clearances from the pole,primary/secondary Vegetation Clearances conductor,and climbing space that do not meet minimum clearance requirements specified in the NESC identified during visual or detail inspections Loose/Broken Communication Lashing Wires One or more lashing wires(Telco,CATV, Fiber)that are broken or loose identified during visual or detail inspections Broken/Missing Grounds Broken or missing ground on a pole or equipment identified during visual or detail inspections. Components or equipment that has a temperature rise that Infrared exceeds thresholds in company policy identified during enhanced inspection. Unstable Soils Soil or backfill on a pole that is unstable or insufficient identified during visual or detail inspections. describes the general types of energy release risk conditions designated by Rocky Mountain Power that, if located within the FHCA, correlate to a heightened risk, of fire ignition, and are then designated fire threats. INSPECTION FREQUENCY Consistent with industry best practices, inspections are the company's preferred mechanism to identify conditions. Also consistent with industry best practices, standard inspection frequencies are designed to identify a condition within a reasonable amount of time after the condition emerges. In the areas of greatest wildfire risk, the FHCA, Rocky Mountain Power also believes Page 125 that having more frequent inspections is a good mitigation strategy because more regular inspections should identify a certain percentage of conditions at an earlier stage than otherwise. If conditions are identified at an earlier date, they will be corrected sooner. If a particular condition exists for a shorter amount of time, that condition is then less likely to cause a fault event or release energy, which could lead to a wildfire ignition. Inspection frequencies for Idaho asset types are summarized in Table 5 under the standard inspection frequency heading. Table S.Planned lnspecticn Frequency Inspection Type" Standard Inspection Frequency FHCA Inspection Frequency Years Years Overhead Distribution(Less than 46 kV) Visual 2 1 Detailed 10 5 Pole Sound and Bore 10 10 Pole Test and Treat" - 10 Overhead Local Transmission(Greater than 46 kV and less than 200 kV) Visual 2 1 Detailed 10 5 Pole Sound and Bore 10 10 Pole Test and Treat 10 10 Overhead Main Grid(Greater than 200kV) Visual 1 1 Detailed 2 2 Pole Sound and Bore 10 10 Pole Test and Treat 10 10 lnspecdcr7s with same inspection frequencyare performed at the same time. **Treatment may not be applied if the pole is scheduled fa-mpla cement through the line rebuild program. EXPEDITED CORRECTION TIME PERIODS Rocky Mountain Power further mitigates wildfire risk in the areas of greatest risk by reducing the time for correction of fire threat conditions, which by definition are located in FHCA. As expressed above, certain types of conditions have been identified as having characteristics associated with a heightened risk of wildfire potential. Identified violations, recorded as fire threat conditions, are on an accelerated correction schedule within the FHCA, as they are considered a heightened risk to safety. The accelerated timeframe reduces the correction timeframe by half for A conditions from the 120 days to 60 days. Additionally, the conditions classified as an Page 126 imminent energy release risk within the FHCA are corrected immediately. Correction timeframes for fire threat conditions in Table 6. Table 6:Planned Car-ecticn Timeframes fa-Fite 777reat Ccnditioos in the FHCA Condition Priority Correction Timeframes A-Imminent Energy Release Risk in FHCA Immediate A—Energy Release Risk in FHCA 60 Days B—Energy Release Risk in FHCA 12 Months 2.3 ENHANCED INSPECTIONS Rocky Mountain Power's enhanced inspection programs use alternate technologies such as infrared or drone imagery to supplement visual inspections, identify hot spots, equipment degradation, and potentially substandard connections. The infrared inspection program is performed on transmission lines that are interconnected with the FHCA. The identified lines are grouped by peak loading intervals for the inspections to be performed. The infrared data is used to identify thermal rises in equipment which could be a potential issue not visible through other inspection programs. Drone inspections are performed using an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), referred to as a drone. A drone can provide enhanced imagery, alternate perspectives, and the ability to package new technology (LiDAR, IR, detailed imagery) to view assets and assess conditions. Page 127 3. VEGETATION MANAGEMENT Rocky Mountain Power's vegetation management program is designed to reduce the potential of vegetation contact with power lines, which reduces the potential of an ignition originating from electrical facilities. While it is impossible to eliminate all vegetation contact, at least without radically altering the landscape near power lines, a primary objective of the vegetation management program is to minimize contact by addressing both grow-in and fall-in risks. Rocky Mountain Power manages a comprehensive vegetation management program throughout Rocky Mountain Power's territory. All the work performed in the core program provides wildfire mitigation, because the core program is designed to minimize the risk of vegetation contact. Currently, Idaho does not have FHCA, so all routine vegetation management work in Idaho is done consistent with the regular vegetation management program. In addition, Rocky Mountain Power's vegetation management department may perform specific incremental activities to address wildfire risk in Idaho, when a near-term risk is identified through increased situational awareness efforts, discussed in greater detail in Section 5. 3.1 REGULAR VEGETATION MANAGEMENT PROGRAM Tall growing vegetation is pruned to maintain a safe distance between vegetation and power lines. Dead, dying, diseased, or otherwise impacted trees or vegetation, which are at an elevated risk of falling into a power line, are removed. Like other utilities, Rocky Mountain Power contracts with vegetation management service providers to �. . perform the pruning and tree removal work for both transmission and distribution lines. DISTRIBUTION 4 Vegetation near distribution facilities is pruned to maintain a clearance between conductors and vegetation. Vegetation work is performed on a regular cycle, which, in Idaho, is a »�r three-year cycle. When cycle work is planned, the circuit is inspected to identify vegetation that needs to be pruned because it may grow too close to power lines before the next Figure 94:Hazard Tree Remora/ scheduled cycle work.When vegetation is identified for pruning, it is pruned to achieve minimum post-work clearance distances, designed to maintain a sufficient clearance until the next scheduled cycle work. Tree growth rates influence the minimum post-work clearance distance. For example, faster growing trees need a greater minimum post-work clearance to maintain required clearance throughout the cycle. Rocky Mountain Power also integrates spatial concepts to distinguish between side clearances, under clearances, and overhang clearances. The distances for the minimum post-work clearances used for normal cycle maintenance are listed in Table 7. Page 128 Table 7.•Namal Distributim Minimum Past-Wale Vegetatim Oearance Distances Slow Growing Moderate Growing Fast Growing (<1 ft/yr.) (1-3 ft/yr.) (>3 ft./yr.) Side Clearance 8 ft. 10 ft. 12 ft. Under Clearance 10 ft. 12 ft. 14 ft. Overhang Clearance 12 ft. 12 ft. 12 ft. Rocky Mountain Power also removes high-risk trees as part of distribution cycle work, to minimize fall-in risk. High-risk trees are dead, dying, diseased, deformed, or t X` unstable trees which have a high probability of falling and contacting a substation, distribution conductor, ?,' '• transmission conductor, structure, guys, or other electric facility. High-risk trees pose a safety and reliability risk and are, therefore, removed. High-risk trees are identified for removal in any vegetation inspection. To identify high-risk trees, the inspector applies the best management practices set forth in ANSI A300 (Part 9). Distribution cycle work also includes work designed to reduce future work volumes. Volunteer saplings, or small trees that were not intentionally planted, are typically removed if they Figure 15.High-Rlsk Tree Removal could eventually grow into a power line. From a long- term perspective, reducing unplanned vegetation growth helps mitigate wildfire risk by eliminating a potential vegetation contact long before it could ever occur. TRANSMISSION Vegetation management on transmission lines is also focused on maintaining clearances between vegetation and electrical facilities, which vary according to the voltage of the transmission line. At all times, Rocky Mountain Power must maintain the required minimum clearances set forth in FAC-003-04,5 are referred to as the "Minimum Vegetation Clearance Distance" (MVCD). To 5 See Table 2 of FAC-003-04,at https://www.nerc.com/pa/Stand/Reliability%20Standards/FAC-003-4.pdf Page 129 determine whether work is needed, an action threshold distance is applied, meaning that work is required if vegetation has grown within the action threshold distance. When work is completed, vegetation is cleared, at a minimum, to a minimum post-work clearance distance. The applicable distances for various voltages of transmission lines are shown in Table 8. Table 8. Transmissiav Minimum Vegetaticn Oearance(in Feet)by Line Vo✓tage Minimum 500 kV 345 kV 230 kV 161 kV 138 kV 115 kV 69 kV 45 kV Clearance Type Minimum Vegetation 8.5 5.3 5.0 3.4 2.9 2.4 1.4 N/A Clearance Distance(MVCD) Action Thresholds 18.5 15.5 15.0 13.5 13.0 12.5 10.5 5 Minimum Clearances 50 40 30 30 30 30 25 20 Following Work In some circumstances, when local conditions and property rights allow, Rocky Mountain Power may use "Integrated Vegetation Management" (IVM) practices to prevent vegetation growth from violating clearances by proactively managing the species of trees and other vegetation growing in the right-of-way. Under such an approach, Rocky Mountain Power may remove tree species that could potentially threaten clearance requirements, while encouraging low-growing cover vegetation, which would never bring about clearance issues. Main grid transmission lines are inspected annually. Other transmission lines ("local" transmission) are inspected as needed. Vegetation work is scheduled dependent on several local factors, consistent with industry standards and best management practices. When transmission lines are overbuilt, meaning they are located on the same poles as distribution lines, vegetation management work is completed on the normal distribution cycle schedule. POST-WORK AUDITS After work is completed on distribution cycle maintenance Rocky Mountain Power conducts post-audits (quality control reviews) to compare completed work against required specifications. Post-audits are conducted after the vegetation management work is completed at a location, typically as soon as reasonably practicable to arrange for prompt corrective work if any exceptions are identified. Rocky Mountain Power targets to perform a full post-work audit on distribution cycle and correction work associated with the distribution annual vegetation inspection program. Page 130 3.2 ENHANCED VEGETATION MANAGEMENT Vegetation management programs can be targeted to achieve long term wildfire risk reduction or can be a rapid response to dynamic situational awareness which can occur anywhere in the service territory and is described further in Section 3.2. OFF-CYCLE VEGETATION INSPECTION As discussed above, normal vegetation management work on the distribution system is performed on a three-year cycle. In areas of elevated fire risk, however, Rocky Mountain Power may schedule an off-cycle vegetation inspection. In the FHCA, an off-cycle vegetation inspection is typically scheduled on an annual basis (meaning every year except those years where the circuit is already scheduled for regular maintenance). In Idaho, outside the FHCA, an off-cycle vegetation inspection may be scheduled as needed, typically in conjunction with other wildfire mitigation activities (as discussed in Section 3.2). An off-cycle inspection is typically scheduled with the goal to complete the inspection prior to the height of fire season. An off-cycle inspection is geared to identify any high-risk trees which may have emerged since the last inspection. An inspector conducting an annual inspection will also identify vegetation likely to exceed minimum clearance requirements prior to the next scheduled inspection. After an annual inspection is completed, vegetation management work is promptly completed as reasonably practicable, including removal of any high-risk trees. EXTENDED CLEARANCES In the FHCA, Rocky Mountain Power uses increased minimum post-work clearance specifications distances for any distribution cycle work in the FHCA. In summary, the minimum post-work clearance distances applicable to the FHCA require pruning even slow-growing trees to at least 12 feet in all directions. Page 131 POLE CLEARING Rocky Mountain Power vegetation management performs pole clearing on subject equipment poles located in the FHCA. Pole clearing involves removing all vegetation within a ten-foot radius cylinder (up to eight feet vertically) of clear space around a subject pole and applying herbicides and/or soil sterilant to prevent any vegetation regrowth (unless prohibited by law or the property owner), as illustrated in Figure 16. I I I I I �I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I From 0-8 feet above ground level:remove flammable trash.debris or other materials. grass,herbaceous and blush vegetation and Ground level: limbs and foliage of living trees up to a height remove flammable materials/ \ Of B feet. Ground level—base of cylindrical space Outer circumference of pole or tower Figure 16:Pole Gearing Strategy This strategy is distinct from the clearance and removal activities discussed above because it is not designed to prevent contact between vegetation and a power line. Instead, pole clearing is designed to remove fuels at the base of equipment poles, to reduce the risk of fire ignition if sparks are emitted from electrical equipment. Pole clearing will be performed on wildland vegetation in the FHCA around poles that have fuses, air switches, clamps, or other devices that could create sparks. Figure 17:Pole Gearing at Pole Base Page 132 4. SYSTEM HARDENING Rocky Mountain Power's electrical infrastructure is engineered, designed, and operated in a manner consistent with utilities best practice, enabling the delivery of safe, reliable power to all customers. When installing new assets as a part of corrective maintenance or growth projects, Rocky Mountain Power incorporates the latest technology and engineered solutions that have been assessed and proven to be effective. When conditions warrant, Rocky Mountain Power engages in strategic system hardening, like replacing or modifying existing assets and/ or utilizing a new design or technology to make the asset more resilient. With the growing risk of wildfires, the company supplements existing asset replacement projects with system hardening programs designed to mitigate operational risks associated with wildfire. The areas assessed for system hardening are usually within the FHCA as defined by the risk modeling described in Section 1, however hardening work could also occur in response to situational awareness inputs. System hardening work that occurs as a result of near-term risk, are typically not planned across multiple years but are smaller projects to address a more immediate resiliency need. Currently Idaho does not have a defined FHCA but may be updated with future iterations of the risk model. System hardening programs are designed in reference to the equipment on the electrical network that could be involved in the ignition of a wildfire or be subject to an existing wildfire event. In general, system hardening programs attempt to reduce the occurrence of events involving the emission of sparks (or other forms of heat) from electrical facilities or reduce the impact of an existing wildfire on utility infrastructure. System hardening programs represent the greatest long- term mitigation tool available for use by electric utilities. The phasing and prioritization of such programs, as described in Section 4, will utilize risk modeling and assessments for program identification which will be evaluated for implementation as a strategic hardening initiative. No single system hardening program mitigates all wildfire risk related to all types of equipment. Individual programs address several factors, different circumstances, and different geographic areas. Each program described below, however, shares the common objective of reducing overall wildfire risk associated with the design and type of equipment used to construct electrical facilities. In prioritizing a particular design or equipment elements, these programs can also consider environmental factors impacting the magnitude of a wildfire. Extreme weather conditions such as dry and windy conditions, present an increased risk of wildfire ignitions and spread. Consequently, system hardening programs may specifically attempt to reduce the potential of an ignition event when it is dry and windy, by utilizing equipment that is less likely to release energy if failure or contact with foreign objects occur. It must be emphasized, however, that system hardening cannot prevent all ignitions, no matter how much is invested in the electrical network. Equipment does not always work perfectly and, even when manufactured and maintained properly, can fail; in addition, there are external forces and factors impacting equipment, including from third parties and natural conditions. Therefore, Rocky Mountain Power cannot guarantee that a spark or heat coming from equipment owned and operated by the company will never ignite a wildfire. Instead, the system hardening efforts Page 133 seek to reduce the potential of an ignition associated with any electrical equipment by making investments with targeted system hardening programs. INE REBUILD PROGRAM Circuits within the FHCA and constructed with bare overhead are evaluated for potential system hardening work.As a part of this program, certain overhead lines may either be moved, removed, retrofitted with more resilient materials such as covered conductor or non-wooden poles, or converted to underground. After completion of system hardening, such lines will be more tolerant to incidental contact, thereby reducing the risk of wildfire. COVERED CONDUCTOR Historically, most distribution power lines in the United States—and in Rocky Mountain Power's service territory — were installed with bare overhead conductor. As the name "bare" suggests, the wire surface is uninsulated and exposed to the elements. For purposes of wildfire mitigation, covered conductor which can also be called tree wire or aerial spacer cable, has been installed to provide an insulating layer around the conductor. The dominant characteristic of covered conductor is manufactured with multiple high-impact resistant extruded layers forming an insulation around stranded hard drawn conductor. The inherent design provides insulation for the energized metal conductor. To be clear, covered conductor is not insulated enough for people to directly handle an energized high voltage power Covered Conductor Bare Conductor line (as discussed below). The insulating layers reduce the risk of wildfire by minimizing the potential g of vegetation or round contact g with the conductor. Variations in covered conductor products have been used in the Figure 18. Covered CaiductorCanpared(left)to Bare Cavducta-(nght)Images industry for decades. Due to many fran VW Wire and Cable Product List operating constraints, however, use of covered conductor tended to be limited to locations with extremely dense vegetation where traditional vegetation management was not feasible or efficient. Recent technological developments have improved covered conductor products, reducing the operating constraints historically associated with the design. These advances have improved the durability of the product and reduced the impact of conductor thermal constraints. There are still logistical challenges with covered conductor. The wire is heavier, especially during heavy snow/ice loading, meaning that more and/or stronger poles may be required to support covered conductor. The wildfire mitigation benefits of covered conductor are significant. As discussed in the risk assessment in Section 1, a disruption on the electrical network, a fault, can result in emission of Page 134 a spark or heat that could be a potential source of ignition. Covered conductor reduces the potential of many kinds of faults. For example, contact from an object is a major category of real- world faults which can cause a spark. Whether it is a tree branch falling into a line and pushing two phases together or a Mylar balloon carried by the wind drifting into a line, contact with energized bare conductor can cause the emission of sparks. If those same objects contact covered conductor, the wire is insulated enough that there are no sparks. Likewise, many equipment failures are a wildfire risk because the equipment failure then allows a bare conductor to contact a grounded object. Consequently, covered conductor reduces the risk of ignition associated with most types of equipment failure. For example, if a cross arm breaks, the wire held up by the cross arm often falls to the ground (or low and out of position, so that the wire might be contacting vegetation on the ground or the pole itself). In those circumstances, a bare conductor can emit sparks (or heat) that can cause an ignition. The use of covered conductor, in those exact same circumstances, would almost certainly not lead to an ignition, because the insulation around the wire is sufficient to prevent any sparks and limit energy flow, even when there is contact with an object. Covered conductor is especially well-suited to reduce the occurrence of faults linked with the worst wildfire events. Dry and windy conditions increase the wildfire risks. Wind is the primary driving force behind wildfire spread. At the same time, wind has distinct and negative impacts on a power line. The wind blows objects into lines; a strong wind can cause equipment failure; and even parallel lines slapping in the wind can cause sparks. Covered conductor specifically reduces the potential of an ignition event, because covered conductor is especially effective at limiting the kinds of faults that occur when it is windy. Taken together, these substantial benefits warrant the use of covered conductor in areas with a high wildfire risk. UNDERGROUND Rocky Mountain Power also continues to evaluate the potential to convert overhead lines to underground lines for the rebuild projects. The potential wildfire mitigation benefits are undeniable.While an underground design does not eliminate every ignition potential (i.e., because of above-ground junctions), it is the most effective design to reduce the risk of a utility-related ignition. Currently,the cost and operational constraints of underground construction often make it difficult to apply on a widespread basis. Nonetheless, some electric utilities are planning to employ an underground strategy more broadly. Currently, Rocky Mountain Power is continuing to evaluate the use of underground design as part of the rebuild program on a project-by-project basis; and it uses under-grounding where practical. Through the design process, every rebuild project is assessed to determine whether sections of the rebuild should be completed with underground construction. Some communities and landowners may prefer, for aesthetic reasons, to pursue a higher cost underground alternative. Consistent with electric service regulations and company design standards, Rocky Mountain Power will collaborate with communities or individual landowners who are willing to Page 135 pay the incremental cost and obtain the necessary legal entitlements for underground construction. NON-WOODEN POLES Traditionally, overhead poles are replaced or reinforced within the service territory consistent with the NESC, company policies, and prudent utility practice. When a pole is identified for replacement, typically through routine inspections and testing, major weather events, or joint use accommodation projects, a new pole consistent with engineering specifications suitable for the intended use and design is installed in its place. Engineering specifications typically reflect the use of wooden poles which is consistent with prudent utility practice as they are considered safe and structurally a, sufficient to support overhead electrical facilities during standard operating conditions. However, the use of alternate non-wooden construction, such as steel or fiberglass, can provide additional structural resilience in high-risk locations during wildfire events and, therefore, aid in restoration efforts. For example, as a part of covered _ conductor installation, the strength of existing poles is evaluated. In many cases,the strength of existing poles may not be sufficient to accommodate the additional weight of covered conductor. In these instances, the existing wooden pole is upgraded to support the increased strength requirements and replaced with a non-wooden Figure 19.D mbution fiberglass Pdes solution for added resilience. 4.2 ADVANCED SYSTEM PROTECTION AND CONTROL Rocky Mountain Power is continuing to replace and upgrade electro-mechanical relays with microprocessor relays. Microprocessor relays provide multiple wildfire mitigation benefits. They can exercise programmed functions much faster than an electro-mechanical relay and, most importantly, the faster relay limits the length and magnitude of fault events. After a fault occurs, energy is released, posing a risk of ignition, until the fault is cleared. Reducing the duration of a fault event reduces the risk that the fault might result in a fire. Additionally, microprocessor relays also allow for greater customization to address environmental conditions through a variety of settings and are better able to incorporate complex logic to execute specific operations. These functional features allow for the company to use more refined settings for application during periods of greater wildfire risk,to be discussed in Section 6. As part of replacing an electro-mechanical relay, the associated circuit breaker or Page 136 other line equipment may also be replaced, as appropriate to facilitate the functionality of a microprocessor relay. 4.3 EXPULSION FUSE REPLACEMENT Overhead expulsion fuses serve as one of the primary system protection devices on the overhead system. A typical expulsion fuse has a small metal element within the fuse body that is designed to melt when excessive current passes through the fuse body, interrupting the flow of electricity to the downstream distribution system. Under certain conditions, the melting action and interruption technique will expel an arc out of the bottom of the fuse tab.To reduce the potential for ignition because of fuse operation, Rocky Mountain Power uses alternate equipment that does not expel an arc. The company's standards for expulsion equipment replacement are based on Cal Fire's Power Line Fire Prevention Field Guide (2021 Edition). ,.,4 FAULT INDICATORS As described above, Rocky Mountain Power is continuing to replace and upgrade electro- mechanical relays with microprocessor relays to enable the use of more refined settings for application during periods of greater wildfire risk, discussed in detail in Section 6. To supplement these programs and mitigate the potential impacts to customers of these types of wildfire mitigation strategies to the greatest extent possible, Rocky Mountain Power may install communicating fault indicators across the Idaho service territory on where EFR settings are most likely to be implemented. Page 137 S. SITUATIONAL AWARENESS As described in Section 1, Rocky Mountain Power uses the Fire High Consequence Area (FHCA), the company's baseline risk map, layered with a risk driver analysis to inform longer term strategic investment and modifications to asset inspections and vegetation maintenance practices. However, as climate and weather patterns change, extreme weather events are predicted to become more frequent, and the potential exists for seasonal, dynamic, and/or isolated risk events to occur that compound or deviate from this baseline risk. Therefore, having an additional sophisticated, dynamic risk model grounded in situational awareness is pertinent to ensure electric utilities know when, where, how, and why to take additional action to mitigate the risk of wildfire in the shorter term. Rocky Mountain Power's approach to situational awareness includes the acquisition of data to forecast, model, and assess the risk of potential or active events to inform operational strategies, response to local conditions, and decision making. These key components, as described below and illustrated in Figure 20, rely on a core team of utility meteorologists to guide, execute, and continuously evolve. Real-time Weather Conditions System Operations Weather Forecast Dynamic 0 Work Practices Modeling- Risk °�° O O 0 Assessment Forecasting \1 O ®—® Wildfire Risk)WFA-E) PSPS Implementation r V`V, i Other Available Data i SITUATIONAL AWARENESS Figure 10:G1lerviewof Situat1onal Awareness Page 38 5.1 METEOROLOGY As described above,the ability to gather, interpret, and translate data into an assessment of utility specific risk and informed decision making is a key component of Rocky Mountain Power's situational awareness capability. To support this effort, Rocky Mountain Power developed a meteorology department that consists of four full-time meteorologists, one data scientist, and one manager. The team's experience includes decades of fire weather forecasting for various government agencies such as the National Weather Service (NWS) and Geographic Area Coordination Center (GACC). The objectives of this department are to supplement the company's longer term risk analysis capabilities by: • Implementing a real-time risk assessment and forecasting tool, • Identifying and closing any forecasting data gaps, • Managing day-to-day threats and risks, and • Providing information to operations to inform and recommend changes to operational protocols during periods of elevated risk, as depicted below. METEOROLOGY INTERPRETATION Analyze Rocky Analyze Public Data Mountain Power Review Weather Model Data Observational Data Seasonal Fire Risk Model Meteorology — Interpretation Generate Report Figure 21:Metea-o%gy Daily Process Rocky Mountain Power's meteorology department also coordinates with government agencies that provide weather warnings. For instance, during high-risk weather events, the company's meteorologists participate as a represented partner in daily coordination calls hosted by the National Weather Service (NWS) and/or the Geographic Area Coordination Center (GACC). In these calls, they ingest information and updates, and may provide additional pertinent information to the GACC. Additionally, the NWS may host briefings during high-risk weather events that are geared toward an emergency management audience. The company's meteorology department also participates in these calls to ensure that forecasting discrepancies are Page 139 understood and that there is alignment and/or clarity regarding external messages from a utility or the NWS. 5.2 NUMERICAL WEATHER PREDICTION The creation of an impacts-based forecasting system consisting of an operational Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model and a complimentary 30-year WRF reanalysis across the company's entire service territory forms the foundation of Rocky Mountain Power's meteorology program. Using the WRF reanalysis and other training data, the company plans to continue building and training machine learning models to improve its operational thresholds and convert its weather forecasts into predictions of system impacts. To assess confidence in the calculated values, forecasts are actively monitored to assess trends and potential convergence or divergence between forecasts and actuals during period(s) of elevated risk. As the time of observation nears the forecast period, confidence in the forecasted values increases. OPERATIONAL WRF MODEL Rocky Mountain Power's meteorology department uses a twice daily, two-kilometer-resolution, hourly WRF model. It produces a comprehensive forecast of atmospheric, fire weather, and National Fire Danger Rating System (NFDRS) parameters out to a timescale of 96 hours (four days). The model's high resolution gives a much more complete picture of finer scale atmospheric features than what is available with most public four-day ahead timescale models. In addition, the WRF data is overlayed on overhead distribution circuits and transmission lines, along with other relevant utility asset data, for further analysis. 30-YEAR WRF REANALYSIS Rocky Mountain Power's meteorology department developed a 30-year, two-kilometer resolution, hourly WRF reanalysis. The 30-year WRF reanalysis uses the same configuration and contains the same weather, fire weather, and NFDRS parameters as the company's operational WRF to minimize any potential forecast biases between the two datasets. This reanalysis data was correlated with historic outage data and wildfire events using statistical and machine learning techniques to improve the company's weather-related outage and wildfire risk thresholds. Output from Rocky Mountain Power's operational WRF model is then ingested by the company's machine-learning models and GIS tools to convert the daily forecast into potential circuit-level system impacts and to map the intersection of fire weather and outage related risks across its service territory. The 30-year WRF re-analysis also provides a daily circuit-level look at the severity of fire weather conditions relative to the past 30 years and, based on that historic data, an assessment of whether the forecast weather event would historically have resulted in an outage on that circuit. CONTINUAL IMPROVEMENT The Rocky Mountain Power WRF domain covers the entirety of PacifiCorp's six-state service territory. From 2021 to 2022, Rocky Mountain Power invested in the procurement of two High Page 140 Performance Computing Clusters (HPCCs) to provide the computational resources needed to run an operational WRF model that large. Currently, the two systems provide a high resolution, four-day forecast of the WRF domain twice daily through a single, deterministic model. This single, deterministic WRF model has allowed Rocky Mountain Power to take meaningful action in advance of severe weather to reduce restoration times and increase reliability. However, it does not account for multiple weather scenarios, which makes it more difficult to forecast the types of low probability, high-impact weather events that are becoming both more common and more impactful. To address this issue, Rocky Mountain Power plans to implement a multi-member WRF ensemble forecasting system. This new forecasting system will enable analysis of multiple weather scenarios simultaneously, thereby improving the accuracy of the company's forecasts and its ability to respond to severe weather in advance. Additionally, the company also plans to increase the computational capacity of its forecast system by purchasing 3 new HPCCs. These new supercomputers will add the compute power needed to implement the new forecasting system and, at the same time, allow for full system redundancy, which can be critical during severe weather events. 5.3 ONGOING DATA ACQUISITION AND INPUTS Ongoing data acquisition and inputs, from both internal and external sources, is another key component of Rocky Mountain Power's situational awareness model. WEATHER STATION NETWORK Public weather data has been available for many years for reference. However, relying only on publicly available data can have limitations. When using publicly available weather data the utility does not have visibility into the maintenance and calibration records or standards used to maintain the weather station collecting the data. Additionally, the frequency of data collection may not match the requisite intervals for performing real time risk assessments and dynamic modeling. Finally, publicly available data may have geographic coverage gaps within the utility's service territory. When weather stations are owned by the utility, the calibration date and usability of the data is known, the data reporting intervals can be adjusted to report more frequently, and the data can be used to inform real time operations. Additionally, weather stations can be installed and adjusted to pinpoint specific locations needed to inform utility risk assessment. For all these reasons Rocky Mountain Power is continuing to invest in a utility-owned and operated weather station network within the company's service territory. Currently, Rocky Mountain Power has a network of 21 weather stations in Idaho installed directly on utility infrastructure. Additionally, the company also has portable weather stations that it can deploy as needed, for example, during extreme weather events. As shown in Figure 22 below, data gaps are a key consideration in siting weather stations. These can include a lack of data granularity, as well as the absence of any data altogether. Additionally, Page 141 as part of its weather station siting methodology, the company accounts for geographic gaps in publicly available weather data from within its service territory, to include factors like data resolution, and consistency. Climate Modeling Review wildfire risk Elevated Risk Smart Devices on Lines (U Meteorology Exception Review weather •• � station locations L A, +r Circuit Segment Weather Station U Site Location CU ' Special circumstances FF �- Low Risk Gaps in data? Figure 22:General WeatherStaticn Siting Methcddogy Weather station data is used to create a model of routine weather patterns in specific areas. This weather data is then leveraged alongside the operational WRF, its companion 30-year weather data reanalysis, and Technosylva's Wildfire Analyst-Enterprise (WFA-E) software (described in Section 5.4 below), to model potential impacts to infrastructure associated with forecasted weather events and inform operational protocols and decision making, such as when and where to stage resources and how to prioritize restoration times. This improved modeling allows for better anticipation of impactful weather events and is a key component of situational awareness. Table 9 below depicts the plan and annual phasing of Rocky Mountain Power's weather station installation work. Table 9: Wea ther Sta tion Build at Plan 2023 Actuals 2024 Plan 2025 Areas to Evaluate Total New Weather Stations 10 10 7 Total Idaho Fleet 25 35 42 42 Page 142 In 2024, Rocky Mountain Power plans to install 10 additional weather stations, evaluate additional locations for installation in 2025, and depending on data gaps and risk, grow the weather station fleet to approximation 42 stations by 2026. To ensure the weather stations are operating appropriately, they are calibrated on an annual basis. Rocky Mountain Power's meteorology department will continue to evaluate the benefits of installing additional weather stations. PUBLICLY AVAILABLE SITUATIONAL AWARENESS DATA Rocky Mountain Power's weather stations and WRF model generate a considerable amount of data each day. The company makes this data available to its employees, customers, and public safety partners through a Situational Awareness website, pacificorpweather.com, alongside weather station observations and forecast data from other trusted government sources, including the National Weather Service. Combining weather station observations with forecast data allows Rocky Mountain Power to compare real-time weather observations with forecast data. Further, the wind climatology of each weather station is considered, with real-time and forecast wind conditions color-coded based on station-specific statistics like 95`h and 99`h percentile values. All the above data are automatically updated on the website as new data is available and can be viewed in maps, tables, and meteograms. Figure 23 below includes sample material from the company's public situational awareness website. VACIFICORP $townGeo WEATHER AWARENESS SYSTEM '.II Stauon5 F ilterby State �RegionlAll . Company)All Service ArealAll - Station Type All Station Region Wind Gust Direction Temp Humidity Spencer ID-North of Pocatello 19 mph 27 mph NNW 287 62% Gem valley Kettle Butte HWY-20 Weather Station Slats Station Type:Transportation Max Wind Gust;69.6 mph Kettle Butte HWY-20 Service Territory:Rocky Mountain Power 99 Percentile Wind Gust:53 mph Service Area:Northern UT/ID Wires 95 Percentile Wind Gust:43.7 mph Soda Spring East Region:ID-North of Pocatello Years of Data:1161 LaC 43.5544,Lon:-112.4183 Elevation:5112 ft Rine Observations WRF Ec NRM HRRR Ensemble Map 75M { 3 yo,58�R�8acP`re'`d'- o'S € S o° P a1oc8�8�8 8`d cP 8 e`8�<P,scP.YortP�8�8 8`o°rP< eP 8 •WRr F—i Gush —ob—W Gush Figure 23:Publicly Available Situational Awareness Information from a Weather Radon West of Idaho Falls,ID This data is also ingested into an internal dashboard used for situational awareness during periods of elevated risk, like during a PSPS. The dashboard is also customizable based on the scale of the event and includes station alert speeds and/or other decision points. For example, in September 2022, the wind forecasts indicated that there was potential for wind-related power outages at a Page 143 time when wildfire danger was high. The data plots on the forecasts also provided the approximate timing of outage-producing winds at multiple weather stations across the service territory, thereby supporting operational decision-making around targeted de-energization(s). In 2024, Rocky Mountain Power plans to incorporate additional information into the internal dashboard to support its situational awareness and implement improved website functionality. SA WILDFIRE RISK MODELS AND TOOLS Rocky Mountain Power leverages a variety of models and tools to assess dynamic wildfire risk, which are described in the subsections below. FIRECAST AND FIRESIM As discussed in Section 1.2, in reference to the FireSight tool, Rocky Mountain Power procured and implemented Wildfire Analyst Enterprise (WFA-E), the broad suite of wildfire risk modeling tools from Technosylva. WFA-E includes two seasona/wildfire models, FireCast and FireSim, and is used by the company to forecast the risk of wildfire and the potential behavior of a wildfire, should it occur. As described in Appendix C—Wildfire Risk Modeling Data Inputs, the inputs for the various WFA-E models are similar. They are, however, used for different purposes. FireCast performs simulations daily to assess wildfire risk more broadly, while FireSim is used to simulate growth and spread of specific and unique fire events. FireCast: FireCast performs millions of wildfire simulations daily across the company's service territory to provide a 96-hour look ahead that identifies the risk of wildfire (both of ignition and impact) in particular locations. This output is then joined with overhead distribution and transmission asset location data to provide location-specific wildfire risk and consequence forecasts. It is important to note that the asset location data does not assess the probability of a utility asset causing an ignition but, instead, is used to inform operational decision-making, as discussed in Sections 5.5 and 8. FireCast outputs include the following information: • An assessment of the potential for a wildfire given fuel, weather, and other conditions. • A simulation of how a wildfire would behave in the event of an ignition. This would include, for instance, the forecasted rate of spread, size, and flame length. • Data on the population threatened and potential impact to assets (e.g., identification of buildings that would be threatened in the event of a wildfire). Figure 24 is an example of FireCast output from July 2023. It shows the potential acreage burned should an ignition occur near a circuit. The areas around the circuits highlighted in blue are not forecasted to be impacted by wildfire spread. In contrast,the areas around the circuits highlighted in yellow are forecast to be within 100 acres of wildfire spread. The line graphs to the right depict variables like wind speed and fuel moisture for the forecast period. This information is then used to inform operational practices like whether to de-energize proactively or, if time allows, take Page 144 measures to protect utility assets and communities that could be in the path of a wildfire. This example does not make any assumptions about the effectiveness of the initial or extended attack that may impact the forecast of acres burned. I- 1Cd1 IA- •i� '_y • �� � III � N R - • Figure 24.Example cf FireC'ast CLtput near Spencer,Q July 2023 FireSim: FireSim runs simulations that forecast potential fire behavior and spread from a 1 to 96-hour period and assess the potential impact on populations, buildings, utility assets, and other resources in the field. FireSim's model assumes no suppression efforts to slow the fire's spread and considers the following elements: • Initial Attack Assessment. Assessment of how difficult initial attack could be for first responders and the probability of stopping the fire within the first operating period. An operational period is "The period of time scheduled for execution of a given set of tactical actions116 and varies from incident to incident. • Population at Risk. Projection of the number of people in the path of the fire and the timing of when the fire is likely to arrive. • Assets at Risk. Physical assets like utility equipment, residential and commercial structures, barns, outbuildings, other structures, and the timing of when the fire is likely to arrive. 6 Federal Emergency Management Agency.FEMA Operational Planning Manual FEMA P-1017.June 2014. Sourced November 6,2023. Page 145 • Places at Risk. These are locations identified on the maps that may not be physical assets but have other significance. These could include parks, reservoirs, cultural sites, campgrounds, or other locations. • Weather and fuels conditions: Wind speed, direction, fuel moisture content. Figure 25 below includes an example of both FireSim outputs and reports from a simulated event near Spencer, ID in July 2023. r �.. r Initial Attack Aa an nt Fire Behavior Index Simulation Image(8hr) Flame Length(ft) Its •is a� Simulation Results&Weather Conditions(FORECAST) o 03N+ru1•+QID 0.5 O6 0 0 ,0 sw Y t6 9: ow+a•nuo 1 u 1,s 0 0 •z, sw zs ,+6 w is . U 62 0 0 'SA SW K „6 92 OL0,126•,1d0 S 61 160 0 0 ,11 Sw .• +,6 92 01A,21•+600 6 ss 1" 01N1r26.1— 1 U. ns 0 0 11) SW :6 ttb 1: Figure 25.FireSim Qitput(left)and Repaz(right)near Spencer Q July 2023 The shaded area in the graphic on the left shows the forecasted spread of the simulated fire over a period of 12 hours. In the companion FireSim report to the right, the rating of the Initial Attack Index difficulty and Fire Behavior Index are highly influenced by fuels models and forecasted weather conditions. The image on the left shows the forecasted direction of the fire and the image on the right shows the forecasted flame length. Below the images is a table showing a time- based impact analysis of forecasted acres burned, population and buildings at risk and weather and fuel conditions. In sum, FireSim modeling is used to assess potential fire growth, spread, and damage to inform response efforts and decision-making by Rocky Mountain Power operations. FIRE POTENTIAL INDEX Prior to the start of the 2023 fire season, Technosylva developed a complementary metric called the Fire Potential Index (FPI) for Rocky Mountain Power. The FPI is a supplementary metric that quantifies the potential for large or consequential wildfires based on weather, fuels, and terrain. In combination with the Modified Hot Dry Windy (MHDW) Index, the FPI is used to guide operational decision-making as it relates to wildfire risk and spread. Page 146 The following three inputs contribute to the final FPI score: • A Fuel Model Complex that assesses the type of fuels and the time elapsed since the last fire to quantify how the fuels may affect fire behavior, type, and suppression difficulty. The model considers fire history, fuel growth, and fuel dryness over time in response to weather conditions to support accurate wildfire modeling. • Weather Conditions that consist of a combination of wind gusts, temperatures, and fuel conditions. For wind driven risk events in particular, Rocky Mountain Power has identified some geographically driven patterns that correlate to higher risk. • Terrain Difficulty Index which represents the level of geographical complexity to access an area. For instance, regarding fuels and terrain driven risk events, large areas of contiguous complex fuel and terrain in areas of limited or difficult access present the greatest risk when fuels are dry, and weather is hot and dry. The scores from these inputs are then correlated to a level of fire risk in Figure 26 below which shows the FPI scoring scale and percentiles. An FPI value or FPI percentile can then be used to determine the FPI risk level. For instance, FPI values >37.5 or percentiles >99% indicate that fire risk is extremely high. In contrast, an FPI value <5 or percentile <60 indicate that fire risk is low. FPI Category FPI Values FPI Percentiles Moderate 10-13.5 OR 80-85 Wfgh 13.5-23 85-95, Very High 23-37.5 95- Figure 26:Fire Porenda/Index Scale MODIFIED HOT DRY WINDY INDEX In 2023, Rocky Mountain Power analyzed over 2,000 wildfires between 1991-2021 across the western United States that were known to be or widely suspected of being caused by power lines.' Based on its analysis of the ignitions, which included fire size and consequence, the company identified a correlation between utility ignition and a measure of fire weather based on temperature, relative humidity, wind, and fuels conditions. As a result, Rocky Mountain Power created an index called Modified Hot Dry Windy (MHDW) Index. The Modified Hot Dry Windy 7 States included in the analysis were Utah,Arizona,California,Colorado,Idaho,Montana,Nevada,New Mexico,Oregon,Washington,and Wyoming. Page 147 (MHDW) Index combines the Energy Release Component (ERC) from fuels with weather data from the surface and low levels of the atmosphere from the Hot Dry Windy (HDW)$ Index to help determine what days are more likely to have conditions that could result in consequential wildfires. Based on this analysis, levels of risk (non-fire season, low, elevated, significant, and extreme) were assigned to certain combinations of environmental conditions that can be used to inform decision-making. Figure 27 visually depicts the historic analysis, correlation of utility ignitions to the Modified Hot Dry Windy (MHDW) Index and wind gust percentiles and assigned levels of risk expressed using a five color-code scheme where a higher percentile of wind gusts and Modified Hot Dry Windy (MHDW) Index correlated to a higher level of risk. In terms of the historic analysis, circles in blue reflect fire events where no structure damage or injuries occurred. The circles in red reflect events where one or more structure was damaged, or one or more injury occurred. As depicted in Figure 27, the events in red, where structure damage or injuries occurred, correspond to significant or extreme risk levels. 8 United States Forest Service""A Brief Introduction to the Hot Dry Windy Index." Page 148 100% O O 95% O .3 00 O G _ o O O O O 0 v �w v Yi O O 00 O °o p O v O 90° O 00 `v O dO� O 0 [�j a oO 0. o " -O V O O � c O O O p 3 O °c'%p O O 0 O Op 0% Modified Hot Dry Windy Index(Percentile) so% j 5ro 100 WNon-Fire Season Elevated Fire Risk Extreme Fire Risk 0 Low Fire Risk Significant Fire Risk Figure 27"Carelatian cf Utility Ignitions to Modified Hot Dry Windy(MHDVV Index and Wind Gust Percentiles to Determine Rlsk Levels 5.5 APPLICATION AND USE Rocky Mountain Power's meteorology team leverages the various analysis, model outputs, and indices described above to produce a district-based, weather-related system impact forecast. ASSESSING DISTRICT FIRE RISK Meteorology combines the Fire Potential Index (FPI), the Modified Hot Dry Windy (MHDW) Index, and an analysis of the state of grass curing to produce a daily district-based, weather- related system impacts forecast that guides operational decision-making. Additionally, when moving into elevated, significant, or extreme wildfire risk, meteorology also performs an additional review of fuels and fire weather forecasts and observations by using some or all the metrics and methods identified in Table 10 below. Page 149 Table 10:Additia7a/Ca7sider2tions fcrDistrict Fire Risk Additional Considerations District Fire Risk Current or Recent Wildfire Activity Current or recent wildfire activity is an indication that the weather and fuels conditions will contribute to fire occurrence and spread. Geographic Area Coordination Center(GACC)Products Seven-Day Significant Wildfire Potential, Fuels&Fire Behavior Advisories,and other outlooks or discussion products. National Weather Service Watches or Warnings Fire Weather Watches, Red Flag Warnings, High Wind Warnings, and other products issued by the National Weather Service Evaporative Demand Drought Index(EDDI) EDDI identifies anomalous atmospheric evaporative demand and provides an early warning of increased wildfire risk. Fire High Consequence Areas are pre-identified areas of Fire High Consequence Areas(FHCA) elevated risk based on historical fires,climatology,geography, and populations Fire Potential Index(FPI) FPI quantifies the potential for large or consequential wildfires based on weather,fuels,and terrain. Observations of the local fuel conditions including 1, 10, 100,and Fuels Conditions(Grasses,Live Fuels,&Dead Fuels) 1000-hour dead fuel moisture,herbaceous and woody live fuel moisture,tree mortality,Energy Release Component,etc. Rocky Mountain Power's two-kilometer WRF model produces a High Resolution Fire Weather Forecasts(WRF) twice daily territory-wide forecast of fire weather and National Fire Danger Rating System(NFDRS)outputs across a 96-hour time horizon. Publicly available index that uses two United States National Fire Severe Fire Danger Index Danger Rating System indices that are related to fire intensity and spread potential. Vapor Pressure Deficit is a measure of the atmospheric demand Vapor Pressure Deficit(VPD)one month running average (thirst)for water.Values above the 941h percentile have been associated with large wildfires. Millions of wildfire simulations are performed daily to map out Wildfire Consequence Modeling(WFA-E) potential wildfire risk and consequence across the service territory. If the forecast indicates that a significant fire weather event is possible within the forecast period, the meteorology team may leverage more resources to analyze concerns such as timing, strength, areas potentially impacted, and forecast confidence. These resources include tools like wildfire consequence modeling and high-resolution models to identify localized areas of greatest risk. Additionally, the meteorology team may collaborate with the local National Weather Service office and/or the regional Geographic Area Coordination Center (GACC) office if there is significant or extreme wildfire risk. Significant fire potential forecasts issued by the GACC are also used as supplemental criteria to the Modified Hot Dry Windy (MHDW) Index, an output of PacifiCorp's WRF model. In addition to the GACC forecast, the meteorology team closely monitors fuel and Energy Release Component (ERC) charts that are published by regional GACC coordination centers. Wildfire and traffic cameras are also used to assess fuel conditions. Additionally, the on-duty meteorologist also reviews the most recent publicly available weather forecast model trends and Page 150 National Weather Service products (forecast discussions, watches, warnings, advisories, etc.) to complete a more comprehensive analysis. The risk level for each district is then determined by the on-duty meteorologist's evaluation of all the information gathered relative to the criteria listed in Figure 27 above. In addition to the system impact forecast matrix shown below, a written weather summary is prepared in which the on-duty meteorologist provides key forecast takeaways and additional detail regarding the strength and timing of any weather threats. This analysis is then combined with the team's district-based fire risk forecast to produce a complementary system impacts forecast that is used to support decision-making related to implementation of the operational, short term risk mitigation programs and measures that will be discussed in Section 6, Section 7, and Section 8. An example of a district-based fire risk forecast is shown in Figure 28 below. ROCKY •UNTAIN POWER SYSTEM IMPACTS FORECAST Z/"(Tlw) s/s(In) W 1W NS(SDn) s/a IM-1 WV0hMGVRTd 'Al F CIRC CYST Ra W. F AY F M F M F S.R.b w W Cape�aR csWr w w■ w ■ w■ ■ ta4 Aiu w■ W ■ ■ ■ 0a4wM Oo s'a. w w■ W ■ W■ ■ n>^... w■ wR■ *R■ ■ 6r'selke ram- W■ wR■ �■ ■ WsweAw la.a-e w■ w ■ ■ ■ Mere Arm at Mir. W■ "'R■ 'A'R■ ■ /wF V Me Rar.-a w■ w ■ w■ ■ R.a-a area lame• w■ W ■ ■ ■ l.,a-es W■ MI ■ ■ ■ N-•So.V. Rs S_-F W■ w ■ *R■ ■ News l•ea 7hemopM: ■ w■ W ■ ■ ■ w w kARIMOM UTAM AAO IRAIID1A16 na✓`e eo...A..a wroa_ W w ua-oe are, -- ■ ■ Wew WS wR $ 4rr/Rr wp1■ *A■ S OUTAG(FOTFNTIM w S N'*W"d P.te{e,_dn Eaee�n..= W- W I. .w OIA4- Rreman Aao RMe/ ■ ■ 1 SCKbred O.da(et WA■ *A■ 1 =70 No Outage: RAeIr. wn $.e.rg 4aa , ■ ■ Reim W/1■ 1 ■ WRAMRR"T(DMATMDS 9AM A_ s"seR1' WAN S ■ 1 llllrwlrftornn S..e,A.le h— lwvulelC' W■ w/S■ S !17r (lagrNftlg,Ma.',W.d) � I-F W6%PAW T•e.e•tr Aea Tnn.ss w w,z s =23 W- Wind and loe CMIM MAR wla /tea �ay S•Snaw iR•ts+vsur Ana bwr v>M w Mtl1 y 1 F i- flcwAilyl �G T' la,a..Are 'w+e' '"■ "'K■ s ■ Su MNa A_ su RIePe w■ w/s■ s r.a.r Aro raw w wA s lee.ern!W Wrre RM sKMk*M WRlea kwk fb v W VAWf%a 1b,k low wRa1Re WA Non-F..Season Figure 28 Example System Impacts Faecast Page 51 In sum, Rocky Mountain Power's meteorology team leverages a considerable number of resources to produce its forecast reports. These include internal and external data sources and metrics, like the company's Weather Research Forecast (WRF) model, Modified Hot Dry Windy (MHDW) Index, Fire Potential Index (FPI), Geographic Area Coordination Center (GACC) forecast reports, and publicly available weather trends. The company recognizes that under certain conditions, wildfires can occur anywhere there is sufficient wildland vegetation that is dry and flammable, even in historically low-risk areas; therefore, the system impacts forecast covers the company's entire service territory. Typically, the forecast reports are produced on business days; however, during periods of extreme weather or wildfire risk, a forecast is generated every day, including weekends and holidays. Page 152 SYSTEM OPERATIONS Adjustments to power system operations can help mitigate wildfire risk. System operations adjustments may include the modification of relay settings for protective devices on distribution lines or changes to line re-energization testing protocols. Adjustments beneficial to wildfire mitigation are not universally applied to power system operations, however, because there are certain disadvantages in their use, primarily an increase in outage frequency and duration experienced by customers. In other words, a balance is required to provide customers with reliable power while still mitigating wildfire risk. To help balance these concerns, Rocky Mountain Power is deploying technologies such as fault indicators and assessing outages to inform short term mitigation projects which are also discussed in the subsections below. ELEVATED FIRE RISK SETTINGS Line protective devices, such as line reclosers, are currently deployed on various transmission and distribution lines throughout Rocky Mountain Power's service territory. When a line trip opens due to fault activity, reclosers can be programmed to momentarily open, allow the fault to dissipate, then reclose to assess whether the fault is temporary. The reclosing function gives the ability to restore service on a line that has tripped while maintaining the option to open again if the fault persists. If the fault is permanent, the recloser will operate and stay open (known as the "lock out" state) until the line has been deemed ready for re-energization. Figure 29 below generally depicts one potential configuration of a distribution circuit with multiple line reclosers installed. l�prwrnWDun Optlarr. LFLJ ClstrtDutlon BuDsa7on ttodoser Clrwtt ErNkef IJU- Figure 29:Example cfDstributiao Grcuit with Multiple Reclosers In general, recloser operation is beneficial because it reduces the number of sustained outages and improves customer reliability. The reclosing function, however, implicates some degree of ignition risk because additional energy can be released if a fault persists. When a fault is detected on the line, a recloser will trip and reclose to re-energize the line based on predetermined settings. If the fault is temporary in nature and is no longer present upon the reclose operation, the line will re-energize resulting in limited impact to customers. If the fault persists, however, reclosing can, depending on the circumstances, potentially result in arcing or an emission of Page 153 sparks. Accordingly, a strategic balance between customer reliability and wildfire mitigation goals is required. Rocky Mountain Power is implementing additional strategies on the distribution network, including the use of modified and more sensitive protection and control schemes, referred to as Elevated Fire Risk (EFR) settings. Such applications on the distribution network, however, can have a greater impact on customer reliability and Rocky Mountain Power is exploring different strategic combinations to find the right balance. The daily risk assessment process and situational awareness reports described in Section 5.5 are used to support a risk-based approach for the deployment of EFR settings. For example, when meteorological conditions of increased wildfire risk occur, an alternative operating mode may sometimes be used to clear detected faults faster, reduce the number of reclose attempts, increase the open interval time between trip and reclose operations, or set the recloser to lock out upon a single trip event. Rocky Mountain Power plans to continue evaluating situational awareness, customer outages and other information to further optimize the settings and implement EFR settings as needed. ADDITIONAL PATROLS When district fire risk indicates elevated fire risks, a pro-active, targeted, patrol may be performed. These patrols target obvious defective equipment and conditions that could lead to increased ignition risk. Targeted patrols allow for expedited correction of any serious conditions. They also provide valuable reports of the situation "on the ground" by subject-matter-expert, field personnel. Additionally, vegetation management may patrol lines, targeting conditions subject to severe weather conditions, especially hazard trees. As conditions are found, they are promptly pruned or removed. Overall, these additional, responsive patrols aim to provide Rocky Mountain Power, with additional situational awareness of on the ground conditions before a weather event and expedited corrections of targeted equipment conditions and hazardous vegetation. These targeted patrols do not replace standard programs (described on Sections 2 and 3 above); instead, they supplement them. 6.3 RE-ENERGIZATION PRACTICES In addition to enabling EFR settings as described above, Rocky Mountain Power may also modify re-energization practices, which can include patrols and line testing. Line testing involves closing an open circuit at a protective device to again allow the flow of electricity past the device. If a fault condition persists, the protective device will open again, and additional work will be necessary to clear the fault condition. If the line holds, however, the line is re-energized and can be returned to a normal operating state. Line testing can be an efficient tool to maintain customer reliability, like the use of reclosing, as described in the previous section. At the same time, line Page 154 testing can potentially result in arcing or an emission of sparks if a fault has not yet cleared when the line is evaluated. To mitigate this risk (depending on local circumstances), an enhanced patrol that includes a patrol and step restoration of the entire circuit prior to line testing, may be required under certain conditions. This often results in an increase to restoration time and costs. 6.4 FAULT INDICATORS TO MITIGATE IMPACTS The time it takes to patrol a line and the impact to customers can be significantly reduced when a fault location can be determined. Therefore, as described in Section 4.4 and depicted in Figure 30, the utility has installed fault indicators across its service territory on circuits where EFR settings are more likely to be implemented, such as the FHCA and surrounding areas. When an outage occurs, regional operators and field personnel use these tools to narrow down potential fault locations, optimize the deployment of resources, and expedite restoration. PeDiDuUon SibMtwbnn :�Ik Figure 30.•General Fault/ndica ta-Ca7figuratio7 EFR settings will continue to be implemented to reduce the wildfire risk associated with prolonged fault events while being strategic in the EFR implementation to balance the reliability impacts to customers. Rocky Mountain Power will also continue to assess the need for and install additional fault indictors as described in Section 4.4. 6.5 2023 EFR EXPERIENCE In 2023, Rocky Mountain Power implemented its EFR program across the company's service territory based on dynamic risk assessment forecasts and tracked outages with EFR settings enabled. EFR settings, as discussed above, leverage a faster isolation scheme to reduce the amount of energy that may be released during an event, which can lead to more frequent outages. Page 155 Each outage that correlates to a device having EFR settings enabled is considered an event where risk was mitigated through the refined settings as the settings limit the amount of energy that may be released. The correlation between EFR settings being enabled and an outage being recorded does not mean the settings caused an outage. Outages can be caused by a variety of factors, not limited to, planned work and/or environmental factors. Figure 31 below depicts the number of outages with and without EFR enabled each month in 2023 compared to a five-year average. 2023 Idaho EFR Setting Program Impacts 450 400 350 300 250 J 5 Year Outage AVG (2019-2023) 200 ■2023 Outages with EFR Settings 0 150 ■2023 Outages Non-EFR Settings L 100 E Z 50 0 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Figure 31:2023 EFR Setting Impact As shown above, Rocky Mountain Power experienced approximately 90 EFR outages between July and August in 2023 during periods of elevated fire risk. This represents approximately 2.5% of the total outages experienced in 2023 and 12% of outages experienced from July to August 2023. The EFR outages may be reviewed in conjunction with seasonal risk experienced in 2023 to identify and prioritize short term mitigation projects for completion to reduce wildfire risk and mitigate potential reliability impacts to customers associated with the EFR program. Examples of prioritized projects include upgrading cutouts, fuses, crossarms, and insulators on circuits that experienced EFR outages in 2023. Additionally in 2023, Rocky Mountain Power implemented alternate re-energization practices that required incremental or augmented patrols after system faults, which led to increased restoration times. While these strategies mitigate wildfire risk, Rocky Mountain Power recognizes the disruption on customers and communities when there are additional and longer duration outages. Page 156 7. FIELD OPERATIONS AND WORK PRACTICES During fire season, Rocky Mountain Power modifies field operations and work practices to further mitigate wildfire risk. Additionally, investments are made in tools and equipment to mitigate wildfire risk. 7.1 MODIFIED PRACTICES AND WORK RESTRICTIONS As a part of the situational awareness reports and briefings prepared by the meteorology department, the operations department within Rocky Mountain Power considers the local weather and geographic conditions that may create an elevated risk of wildfire. The intent behind implementation of this practice is to reduce the potential of direct or indirect causes of ignition during planned work activities, fault response, and outage restoration. Personnel working in the field during fire season mitigate wildfire risk through a variety of tactics. Routine work, such as condition correction and outage response, poses some degree of ignition risk, and, in certain circumstances, crews modify their work practices and equipment to decrease this risk. In the extremely unlikely event that a fire ignition occurs while ' field crews or other Rocky Mountain it t • Power personnel are working in the field (collectively "field personnel"), such field personnel are equipped with basic tools to extinguish small fires. Some wildfire risk can be mitigated by managing the way that field work is scheduled and performed. To effectively manage work during fire season, area managers regularly review local fire conditions and the Figure 32:Line Wa*ers Perfaming Wcrk weather forecasts provided to them as part of the situational awareness program, as discussed in Section 5 of this document. During fire season, operations managers are encouraged to defer any nonessential work at locations with dense and dry wildland vegetation, especially during periods of heightened fire weather conditions. If essential work needs to be performed in areas with appreciable wildfire risk, certain restrictions may apply, including: Hot Work Restrictions. Evaluating whether field personnel should perform work during a planned interruption, rather than while a line is energized. Time of Day Restrictions. Considering using alternate work hours to accommodate evening and night work when there may be less risk of ignition. Page 157 Wind Restrictions. Deferring work, if feasible, when there are windy conditions at a particular work site. Driving Restrictions. Keeping vehicles on designated roads whenever operationally feasible. Worksite Preparation. Removing wildland vegetation that poses an ignition risk from a worksite if the work to be performed involves the potential emission of sparks from electrical equipment, and only where it is allowed in accordance with land management/agency permit requirements. In addition to clearing work, water truck resources, discussed below, are strategically assigned to accompany field personnel working in wildland areas during fire season. Depending on local conditions, dry vegetation in the immediate vicinity may be sprayed with water before conducting work as a preventative measure. As noted above, whether to implement these restrictions is evaluated based on the daily reports and briefings provided by meteorology. As Rocky Mountain Power is continuously improving and evolving its plan and programs, the process below is subject to change and is managed by internal company policies and procedures. In general, whenever wildfire risk potential is minimal to none, work may be conducted using normal operating practices. However, when meteorology forecasts wildfire risk conditions that are elevated, significant, or extreme, local operations may modify operating practices. For example, the personal protective equipment and basic firefighting tools described above are required for any field work conducted during periods of elevated fire risk. Local area management will also evaluate, after considering multiple factors regarding the local circumstances of a particular circuit,whether any hot work modifications should be made. If wildfire risk is significant or extreme, local area management will also consider whether any additional work is appropriate. Section 5 of this document provides an in-depth discussion of how meteorology forecasts impact field operations and work practices. ADDITIONAL LABOR RESOURCES To implement some of the wildfire mitigation programs described above and at greater length in Section 6 of this document, incremental labor resources and field personnel time is often required to: (1) support system operations in assessing localized risk and administering EFR settings and (2) respond to outages during fire season with additional patrols and coordination. Under normal operating procedures, system operators and field personnel work together daily to manage the electrical network and there are many situations where system operators depend on field personnel to gather information and assess local conditions. As discussed in Section 6, there are system operations procedures during wildfire season for implementing EFR settings and limiting line-testing. Consequently, system operators need field personnel to gather information and assess local conditions during fire season more often than what is required under normal operating procedures. The requests from system operators may be varied, ranging from Page 158 a simple phone call to confirm that it is raining in a particular area,to a much more time-intensive request, such as a full line patrol on a circuit. Depending on current conditions at the work site and the duration of the restoration work, field personnel may also spend incremental time when responding to an outage during fire season. As discussed in Section 6.2, Re-Energization Practices, a heightened risk exists with traditional restoration practices. To mitigate this risk, field operations may perform line patrol on certain de-energized sections of circuits, most notably during fire season. Depending on the circumstances, this extra patrol might be done just before or just after re-energizing the line. Typically, this type of line patrol does not involve a close inspection of a particular facility; instead, it is a quick visual assessment specifically targeted to identify damaged equipment or obvious foreign objects that may have fallen into the line during restoration work. ACTIVE WILDFIRE RESPONSE Rocky Mountain Power monitors and may support the response of active wildfires in or near assets and service territory. While Rocky Mountain Power employees may carry small fire suppression equipment, they are not professionally trained fire fighters; therefore, when they encounter a fire of any appreciable magnitude, Rocky Mountain Power employees will call 9-1-1. For known active wildfires, Rocky Mountain Power will monitor the situation and may contact the appropriate incident management team to support efforts needed which can include de- energization of lines. 7.2 FIELD OPERATIONS CIRCUIT HARDENING As a result of modified work practices, additional patrols performed, and experiences from times of elevated risk, circuits may be identified on a case-by-case basis for system hardening upgrades. System hardening initiatives include but are not limited to the hardening programs identified in Section 4 such as relay or recloser upgrades, replacement of wooden poles, installation of fault indicators, or replacement of fuses. 7.3 EQUIPMENT AND TOOL PURCHASES In addition to changes in work practices, Rocky Mountain Power invests in tools and equipment to mitigate wildfire risk. These investments include (1) mobile communication devices, (2) vehicles, (3) personal suppression equipment, and (4) water trucks or trailers. MOBILE COMMUNICATION DEVICES Rocky Mountain Power operates and serves customers in very rural locations, some of which have limited to no cellular connectivity back to the local district office and/or the control center. During large disasters, like wildfire events, Rocky Mountain Power field personnel need to be able to communicate quickly and effectively to maintain safe operation of its system and support emergency response and restoration activities. Therefore, in 2022 Rocky Mountain Power procured a compact rapid deployable cell tower, this device is also known as Cell-On-Wheels Page 159 (COW). This equipment, as shown on the right,generates an area of FirstNet cellular and Wi-Fi coverage, to improve communications when cell coverage is unavailable. These devices will be strategically staged at service ,,, ,, centers throughout Idaho for use during a major event, such as a wildfire emergency, to improve communication capabilities into the control center, base camp, and/or ,,.. management. This equipment will also enable = " communication when there is a loss of it due to infrastructure failure for SCADA access, WAN, and portable radios. In addition to the COW device, Rocky Figure 33:Rapidly Deployable all-on-Wheels(QOVV Mountain Power is currently considering other, emergency communication alternatives, such as Starlink devices, to help mitigate wildfire risk in locations where there is no cellular coverage. The Starlinl.device would provide a Wi-Fi hot spot connection to allow communication with the local district office and the control center. Overall, the communication equipment will improve emergency restoration activities and mitigate impacts to customers. VEHICLES Vehicles can be a source of ignition. As discussed above, operations personnel are instructed to stay on designated roads during fire season, as feasible, and to avoid vegetation which could contact the undercarriage of parked vehicle. To further mitigate any wildfire risk associated with the use of vehicles, Rocky Mountain Power plans to convert, over time, the vehicle exhaust configuration of work trucks. Long term, when new vehicles are purchased, Rocky Mountain Power plans to purchase trucks with a vehicle exhaust configuration which minimizes ignition risk. BASIC PERSONAL SUPPRESSION EQUIPMENT Personal safety is Rocky Mountain Power's priority, and the company's field personnel are encouraged to evacuate and call 911 if necessary. Field personnel working in fire risk areas maintain the capability to extinguish a small fire that ignited while they are working in the field. Field personnel should attempt suppression only if the fire is small enough so that one person can effectively fight the fire while maintaining their personal safety. All field personnel working in the FHCA during fire season will have basic suppression equipment available onsite, because field utility trucks typically carry the following equipment: (1) fire extinguisher; (2) shovel; (3) Pulaski; (4) water container; and (5) dust mask. The water container should hold at least five gallons and may be a pressurized container or a backpack with a manual pump (or other). Page 160 WATER TRAILER RESOURCES Rocky Mountain Power has water trucks or trailers that field operations use to mitigate against wildfire risk. For clarity, these resources are not dispatched to reported fires (i.e., like a fire truck). Instead, Rocky Mountain Power resources are strategically assigned to accompany field personnel if conditions warrant. For example, if it is necessary to perform work during a period in which there is a Red Flag Warning, Rocky Mountain Power field operations may schedule a water trailer to join field personnel working in the field. As discussed above, the water trailer can be used to help prep the site for work. By watering down dry vegetation in the work area, any chance of an ignition can be minimized. In the extremely unlikely event there was an ignition, the water trailer could be used to assist in the suppression of a small fire. Page 161 8. PUBLIC SAFETY POWER SHUTOFF (PSPS) PROGRAM Rocky Mountain Power may de-energize power lines as a temporary, preventative measure during periods of the greatest wildfire risk. This practice is referred to as "proactive de- energization" or is more commonly known as a "Public Safety Power Shutoff' or "PSPS." The decision to implement a PSPS is based on extreme weather and area conditions, including high wind speeds, low humidity, and critically dry fuels. The Company may also de-energize power lines in response to an active wildfire that is within a defined distance of the lines (described in Section 8.5 below). A PSPS event is implemented as a last resort and is intended to supplement — not replace — existing wildfire mitigation strategies. The general process is depicted below in Figure 34. T Acornmunication De-energize a Forecasted Protocols Risk �• Reduction ECC I` Begin PSPS � Restoration ■eM Director Watch LApp�g Continuously � f*e8tDrM on ' Monitor Monitor v Monitor Rl—T-T Conditions CM Conditions ry through through t Situational situational preparation `� 4-- Restoration Awareness I-1 Awareness Figure 34:PSPS aerWew The following subsections describe Rocky Mountain Power's PSPS program in greater detail. Many of the program elements revolve around the successful execution of a PSPS event, while other elements bolster decision-making, mitigate the potential impact of a PSPS event, or help to avoid use of the tool altogether. u.i INITIATIOP,. As discussed in Section 5, situational awareness reports are generated daily during business days by the meteorology department to aid in decision making during periods of elevated risk. During periods of extreme risk like during PSPS assessment and activation, these reports are generated daily, including weekends. They identify where fuels (dead and live vegetation) are critically dry, where and when critical fire weather conditions are expected (gusty winds and low humidity), and where and when the weather is forecast to negatively impact system performance and reliability. It is the intersection of these triggers that result in the potential for a PSPS event, as shown below in Figure 35. Page 162 PSPS Risk 1 Outage Risk Fire Risk Figure 35.P5P5 Assessment Methodology 8.2 ASSESSING THE POTENTIAL FOR A PSPS As discussed in Section 5, meteorology generates a daily weather briefing that includes a system impact forecast matrix for Rocky Mountain Power's entire service territory. This matrix includes a district-level forecast of weather-related outage potential and fire risk as described in detail in Section 5 of this document. When the district fire risk is significant or extreme, meteorology will use a combination of its Weather Research Forecast (WRF) and outage models, Technosylva's Wildfire Analyst Enterprise (WFA-E) software, and subject matter expertise (as described in Section 5.4) to identify circuits of concern. Emergency management will also schedule a coordination meeting to discuss circuits of concern and to determine the appropriate operational response, up to and including PSPS. A PSPS is typically discussed and/or considered when the forecast matrix indicates a combination of wind-related outage potential and extreme wildfire risk in the same district. 8.3 DE-ENERGIZATION WATCH PROTOCOL Rocky Mountain Power actively monitors real-time weather conditions. When real-time observations and weather forecasts indicate extreme risk, a de-energization watch protocol is initiated that includes: • Activation of an Emergency Coordination Center (ECC). • Communication with local public safety partners. • Implementation of additional monitoring activities. The ECC is staffed by a specialty group of company representatives who assemble during the de- energization warning through completion of the event to provide critical support to operational resources. The ECC makes decisions to maintain the safety and reliability of the transmission and distribution system and helps facilitate cross-organization coordination. The ECC is led by an Incident Command and has the support of a safety officer, a joint information team, emergency management, meteorology, and operational stakeholders representing field operations, system operations, vegetation management, engineering, and other specialties. Page 163 Upon activation of the ECC, Rocky Mountain Power emergency management gathers input from public safety partners to properly characterize and consider impacts to local communities. The ECC also sends advance notifications to the operators of pre-identified critical facilities, partner utilities, and adjacent local public safety partners. The company's customer service team then coordinates through the ECC to confirm customer lists for the subject area to develop a communication plan for customers that may be impacted. Local assessments of lines may occur during a PSPS watch by way of various methods depending on the accessibility of locations, the reliability of the line, area conditions and other factors. The ECC reviews various factors and may deploy crews to perform these assessments in the field or remotely monitor from the coordination center. PSPS is a temporary mitigation measure. Consistent with existing regulations and the general mandate to operate the electrical system safely, the ECC has discretion to determine when (or if) a PSPS is appropriate. Given the potential impacts to customers and communities,the Incident Command will consider all available information, including real-time feedback and other considerations from other ECC participants, public safety partners, and field observers, to determine whether a PSPS should be executed. Additionally, the Incident Command may decide to further refine the PSPS areas identified. 8.4 DE-ENERGIZATION PROTOCOL When a PSPS event is initiated, an action plan is prepared to include affected location details, event timing and projected event duration. Once approved by the Incident Command, an internal notification is sent to initiate appropriate communications to customers, critical facilities, public safety partners, regulatory organizations, large industrial customers, and required field and system operations team members. Preparations also begin for the opening of community resource centers (CRCs) and, if needed, additional field resources may be deployed or staged accordingly. Conditions are continually monitored; when they no longer meet the requirement for a PSPS, the lines are patrolled and assessed for damage to begin the process of re-energization. 8.5 ACTIVE WILDFIRE DE-ENERGIZATION Wildfires can spread rapidly and behave unpredictably. Rocky Mountain Power will sometimes de-energize power lines when there is an active wildfire threatening the lines. For example, fire suppression authorities may request de-energization of lines to protect firefighters working in the area; most often, Rocky Mountain Power always accommodates those requests.Additionally, Rocky Mountain Power may initiate a de-energization after receiving information about an advancing wildfire,to reduce the risk of energized electrical equipment contributing to fire spread or endangering fire suppression personnel. Consistent with an established procedure for this scenario, Rocky Mountain Power will de-energize power lines when a wildfire is within defined distance of the lines, with a sufficient buffer to guard against the potential spread, as described in the Appendix C. To help evaluate a fire's location and probable spread, Rocky Mountain Power uses the fire modelling software and other situational awareness tools described in Section 5. Page 164 8.6 COMMUNICATION PROTOCOL Rocky Mountain Power recognizes that adequate and clear communication is a key component to the successful implementation of a PSPS event, and the company will always strive to provide as much notice as practical to impacted parties. Nonetheless, PSPS decisions are made based on weather forecasts, and weather can change quickly or dramatically with little forewarning. This requires some degree of balancing in communication protocols and, accordingly, advanced notice may not always be possible. PUBLIC SAFETY PARTNERS AND CRITICAL FACILITIES Public safety partners, like emergency dispatch centers, state, regional and local emergency management, fire agencies, and law enforcement agencies, are an essential component to any communication plan during an event. They provide essential insight into the geographic and cultural demographics of affected areas to advise on protocols that address limited broadband access, languages, medical needs, and vision or hearing impairment. Rocky Mountain Power's initial communication with local public safety agencies starts as early as possible when weather forecasts indicate a PSPS event is possible. Proactive communication to public safety partners allows them to prepare for anticipated operational impacts internally and mitigate any community-wide impacts that may occur because of de-energization. Collaboration with these agencies also supports impact reduction of de-energization and communication of information regarding the impacted areas and expected event duration. Upon activation of the ECC, emergency management resources coordinate, as appropriate, with local, county, tribal, and state emergency management to provide information through the assigned representative of the agency. A full list of public safety partners is provided in Appendix C; however, it is important to note that public safety partners will only be contacted if it is appropriate for the situation and location. ECC-assigned staff provide event details including estimated timing and event duration, potential customer impacts, and GIS shapefiles that include PSPS boundaries for areas subject to de-energization. Throughout a PSPS event, Rocky Mountain Power's emergency management group maintains regular communication with its public safety partners and other entities as applicable. The company will also support efforts to send out emergency alerts and status updates, as appropriate, until restoration efforts begin. Critical facilities and infrastructure', are particularly vulnerable to the impact of PSPS events. Rocky Mountain Power emergency management maintains a list of critical facilities within its service territory. Upon activation of an ECC, they work to establish and maintain direct contact 9 Critical facilities and infrastructure are entities that are essential to the public safety and/or that require additional assistance and advance planning to ensure resiliency during de-energization events. These include, but are not limited to, medical, public, and private utility, drinking water or wastewater processing, transportation,chemical processing,food/agriculture,and/or communications facilities. Page 165 with these facilities' emergency points of contact to provide projected PSPS timing, estimated duration, regular status updates, and restoration notifications. Additionally, Rocky Mountain Power will provide, where possible, GIS shapefiles to communications facility operators in potentially impacted areas. During a PSPS event, Rocky Mountain Power recognizes the importance of providing additional geographic details of the affected area and provides them to public safety partners through a secure web-based public safety partner portal. The public safety partner portal is a secure, map- centric application that hosts information regarding critical facilities and infrastructure like GIS files for location, primary/secondary contact information, and known backup generation capabilities. CUSTOMERS The Rocky Mountain Power PSPS webpage10 provides timely and detailed information regarding potential and actual PSPS events for a specific location. The website has the bandwidth to manage site traffic under extreme demand because it has implemented bandwidth capacity to a level that will allow for increased customer access while maintaining site integrity. The PSPS webpage provides webpage visitors with an interactive map where they can input an address to see if a residence or business could be affected by a PSPS. When a potential PSPS is announced, the map is updated to show the geographic boundaries of potentially impacted areas. The boundaries will be colored yellow, or "Watch" prior to de-energization, then red or "Event" once de- energization occurs. The website is easily accessible by mobile device, and a Rocky Mountain Power`app' is available that enables customer access to real-time outage updates and information via their mobile device. Customers with specific language needs can also contact the company's customer care number and request to speak with an agent that speaks their preferred language. Rocky Mountain Power employs Spanish-speaking customer care professionals and contracts with a 24/7 service that provides interpretation in real-time over the phone in multiple languages and dialects. Customer care agents have received training on wildfire safety and preparedness, and PSPS-related information to facilitate conversations between the customer(s) and interpretive service to ensure they receive the wildfire safety and preparedness, or PSPS-related information they are looking for. Additional information on the company's customer wildfire safety and preparedness engagement strategy can be found in Section 10 of this document. Rocky Mountain Power's communications plan also includes procedures that ensure appropriate notifications are given to medically vulnerable customers. The utility leverages insight from its partners and customer records to pre-identify these customers. Upon activation of the ECC, 10 See https://www.pacificpower.net/psps. Page 166 customer care agents will attempt, time and circumstances allowing, to make personal outbound calls to known medically vulnerable customers. The communication plan allows for informational updates to customers using multiple methods of communication. Direct customer notifications are made by way of outbound calls, text messaging, and email notifications. Customers will receive an outbound call, when possible, within: • 48 hours of a potential PSPS event, • 24 hours prior to de-energization, • 1 to 4 hours prior to de-energization, • At the commencement of the event, • At the beginning of the re-energization process, and • Upon the event conclusion. Additional methods of notification include the use of social media sites like Facebook and X (formerly Twitter). Upon activation of the ECC, and following appropriate customer notifications, the public information officer will distribute press releases to news outlets that serve the affected areas. Regular updates across all available channels are distributed as they are available, and the public information officer will manage press inquiries as appropriate. In making the customer notifications described above, Rocky Mountain Power provides a statement with: • The impending PSPS execution, with information about the estimated date, time, and duration of the event. • A 24-hour means of contact for customer inquiries, and links to pertinent PSPS websites. • Event status updates, and re-energization expectation notices. NOTIFICATION TIMING When a potential PSPS event is forecasted, customers and local government representatives will be provided with advanced notice. If feasible, notifications of a potential de-energization event will begin at 72 hours in advance for public safety partners and 48 hours in advance for customers. If this is not possible due to rapidly changing weather conditions or other emerging circumstances, the notification process will begin as soon as possible. Additional notice will be provided as appropriate, as conditions are monitored and depending on the circumstances. There is some degree of balancing required. Customers generally want ample advance notice of any actual de-energization. At the same time, recognizing that weather forecasts are inherently speculative, it is possible to overburden them with notices of potential PSPS events that never materialize, especially given that the company's fundamental business objective is to keep the grid energized except under the most extreme conditions. Table 11 illustrates Rocky Mountain Power's planned PSPS notification timeline for notifications sent to customers. Notifications to public safety partners and critical facilities will take place as appropriate throughout the event. Page 167 Timelines may be reduced if rapidly changing conditions do not allow for advance notification. In these cases, the company will make all notifications as promptly as possible. Table 11:P5P5/uatificatiov Timeline fo-Custaners PSPS Notification Timeline and Summary 48-72 Hours Prior De-energization Warning to Public Safety Partners&Operators of Critical Facilities 24-48 Hours Prior De-energization Warning 1-4 Hours Prior De-energization Imminent/Begins Re-energization Begins Re-energization Begins Re-energization Completed Re-energization Completed Cancellation of Event De-energization Event Canceled (if needed) Status Updates Every 24 hours during event(if needed) 8.7 COMMUNITY RESOURCE CENTERS Rocky Mountain Power is aware of the potential impacts of PSPS events to all customers, businesses, and communities, and plans to provide support to impacted communities through activation of Community Resource Centers (CRCs) as appropriate. By taking advantage of established relationships with community and public safety partners, a CRC may be activated in an impacted area to give community members and businesses access to items that may be affected by interruption of electrical service. The services, which can vary between CRCs, may include: • Potable water • Shelter from hazardous environment • Air conditioning • Seating and tables • Restroom facilities • Refrigeration for medicine and/or baby needs • Interior and area lighting • On-site security • Communications including internet, Wi-Fi, cellular access, and satellite phone. • Television and radio • On-site medical support (where available) • Charging stations for cellular devices, radios, and computers CRCs adhere to all existing local, county, state or federal public health orders and will have personal protective equipment on site and available to customers if needed. Local emergency management and community-based organizations will be notified of CRC activation(s) as appropriate and with advanced notice, generally three days prior to the event, when possible. Page 168 CRC activation timing, protocols, and locations are discussed with area emergency management and community-based organizations during emergency management workshops and tabletop exercises. Depending on the needs of its public safety partners, CRC locations may be pre-identified. However,this is not always the case. For instance, in 2023 Rocky Mountain Power, together with its partners, determined that the need for and location of a CRC should be dependent on a PSPS --- area and community needs. As a result, it was decided that a CRC, if needed, should be activated in close coordination with public safety partners _ during a PSPS event. Rocky Mountain Power intends to continue collaborating with public safety partners to evaluate its approach to CRC - `j _ activation and adapt its practices accordingly. 8.8 RE-ENERGIZATION As described above, local conditions are continually monitored during a PSPS event. Based Figure.36:Example of TempmryCXC on forecasted risk reduction, Rocky Mountain Power may begin staging resources to expedite restoration. Then, when local conditions subside consistent with the forecasted reduction in risk, restoration activities officially begin. The general steps of restoration are depicted below. Monitor Assess Repair » Re-Energize Figure 37:Genera/Re-Energizadon Process Once the local and forecasted conditions are favorable to re-energize and no new risk(s) have been identified, field personnel begin assessing the de-energized circuits through ground or air patrols. Power lines that have been de-energized during a PSPS event have been exposed to strong winds and the potential for damage. In addition, even after the wind has dropped to levels low enough to support a decision to re-energize, fire weather conditions typically remain elevated. Therefore, before re-energizing a line post-event assessments are completed to determine whether any damage has occurred to the line and/ or substation that needs to be corrected prior to re-energization (e.g., line down, broken crossarms, tree through line and/ or tree branches or other items blown into the line). Field personnel report any damage identified to Rocky Mountain Power's facilities to the ECC where it is tracked. If issues are discovered, the necessary repairs are made within an appropriate corrective time-period. Page 169 While all lines and facilities (e.g., substations) de-energized as part of a PSPS event are assessed, a step restoration process is leveraged where possible so that power to customers may be restored as the assessments progress, instead of waiting for the assessment of the entire impacted area to complete. While not to scale or representative of an actual event, this concept is visually depicted in Figure 38 below. Single Restoration a� 0 Ln v a� E 0 tin U o\° Monitor Assess Repair » Re-Energize Step Restoration v 0 a� v E 0 U 0 ® » Repair » Re-Energize ® » Repair » Re-Energize 10 Repair » Re-Energize Repair » Re-Energize ® » Repair » Re-Energize Figure 38. Visual apiction of Step Restc a tior Wherever possible, Rocky Mountain Power also works with emergency and public safety partners to identify critical customers for prioritization. After the line patrol and facility inspection is completed, the impacted circuits or portions of circuits are re-energized, and the date and time of re-energization is logged. Once service is restored to all customers impacted by the PSPS event, the event concludes. Page 170 8.9 EXPERIENCE Rocky Mountain Power plans to continuously improve all aspects of its emergency management practices. From its experience to date, it has identified four key opportunities for improvement to its Public Safety Power Shutoff Program moving forward. These include: • Broaden public outreach and engagement. Rocky Mountain Power plans to expand its communication and overall preparedness as appropriate to ensure adequate public outreach and engagement regarding PSPS and wildfire safety. As noted above, more detailed information on the Rocky Mountain Power's customer wildfire safety and preparedness engagement strategy can be found in this document. • Strategize community resource center locations. One CRC was stood up during a 2022 PSPS event in Cedar City with minimal customer interest. Rocky Mountain Power will continue to emphasize CRC planning during workshops and tabletop exercises. During events, it will work with local public safety partners to better identify the needs of communities impacted. • Streamline GIS and information sources. Due to the dynamic nature of a PSPS event, there may be a need to manually update multiple sources of information and GIS layers among various internal platforms. Rocky Mountain Power has a process in place to streamline and align GIS layers and information sources so it can communicate information quickly. For instance, Rocky Mountain Power has developed a secure, web-based public safety partner portal where critical information can be shared with its partners during a PSPS event. The public safety partner portal is described at greater length in Section 9. • Internal communication and coordination. Most documents, communication protocols, and processes have worked well. Nevertheless, there is still an opportunity to build out new tracking tools, documents, and training within the existing response structure. To that end, a novel tracking tool has been developed and Rocky Mountain Power has begun to look at building out additional situational awareness tools. Page 171 Table 12:Summary of PSPS EVenences Description of Experience Recommended Action Status Multiple points of contact among Implemented. Rocky Mountain Power partners resulted in missed Update documentation and incident action emergency management has established opportunities for communication plan to include a single point of contact for service territories for its emergency with partners. partners. managers to create a single point of contact for partners. Complete implementation of the Public Safety Partner Portal. Implemented.The Public Safety Partner Critical facility(customer) Portal was launched in the first quarter of identification(GIS information). Identify steps for producing shapefiles with 2024. critical customer information and identify who should receive them. Improve documentation consistency. Task Information Management Specialist Implemented.Joint information system Inconsistent documentation (IM)or Joint Information System(JIS)with training has been given to corporate created potential for confusion ensuring that all sources of information communications,Regional Business internally and external partners. match. Managers(RBMs),customer service,and regulatory on the documentation process to Include details on who is responsible for include roles and responsibilities. what information. Feedback from partners. Provide more outreach and training on Expanded PSPS outreach and workshops PSPS to partners. statewide. Page 172 9. PUBLIC SAFETY PARTNER COORDINATION STRATEGY Rocky Mountain Power takes a multi-step approach to coordination with its public safety partners on wildfire mitigation and PSPS preparedness, as shown in below. I Examine or validate �vFunctional coordination, F Exercise(FE) control between various Community Resource Stand up a CRC to demonstrate and educate F I Demonstration on services during PSpS Discussion based exercise j= .. Exercise(TTX) to test or assess plans and/orproceduresMill I Builds upon outreach to _ Workshops develop plans and/or procedures Informal discussion Outreach designed to orient participants to a new concept or procedure Figure.39:PSPS Preparedness Strategy As a part of this strategy, each element builds upon the previous step to increase overall preparedness. They include outreach, workshops, Tabletop Exercises (TTXs), Community Resource Center (CRC) demonstrations, and functional exercises (FEs) as described in more detail in the following subsections. 9.1 GENERAL OUTREACH Rocky Mountain Power participates in multiple public safety partner meetings and workshops throughout the calendar year across its service territory. Meetings include monthly, quarterly, and annual County and State Emergency Management partner meetings, in addition to pre- and post-fire season collaboration meetings with local, state, and federal fire suppression agencies. These informal discussions are designed to orient participants to a new concept or procedure and continue fostering key working relationships. Additionally, Rocky Mountain Power provides an annual customer webinar, described at greater length in Section 10.5, that provides additional information about PSPS practices that is displayed prominently on the wildfire safety and preparedness webpage. 9.2 WORKSHOPS Workshops are more local, targeted discussions that build upon general outreach to further compare and refine plans, streamline processes, and confirm capabilities (such as customer outreach, critical facilities, and CRC locations and operations) with local public safety partners. Page 173 In 2023, the company did not conduct workshops as part of its outreach outside the FHCA. In 2024 and beyond, however, it anticipates targeting workshop locations outside of the FHCA and leveraging them to bring other communities and public safety partners up to speed. 'ABLETOP EXERCISES Rocky Mountain Power facilitates annual discussion-based and functional tabletop exercises to develop awareness of PSPS planning and procedures. These exercises aim to facilitate public and private sector coordination, validate communications protocols, and verify capability to support communities during extreme risk events through mitigation actions such as the deployment of community resource centers. Additionally, the exercises include the collective identification of critical infrastructure at the county level to better inform restoration planning and notifications. Rocky Mountain Power collects after-action reports from exercises and real-world events involving wildfire safety and Public Safety Power Shutoff. The after-action reports request feedback on areas for improvement, potential corrective actions and suggestions for plan or procedure development. The company considers suggestions for inclusion in a comprehensive plan that is subsequently shared with the appropriate public safety partners. 9.4 COMMUNITY RESOURCE CENTER DEMONSTRATIONS Rocky Mountain Power may provide a public demonstration of a Community Resource Center (CRC) prior to the start of wildfire season. This public event provides an opportunity for members of the public, as well as public safety partners, to learn about the type of services offered at a CRC during a PSPS event. 9.5 FUmi TIONAL EXERCISES Functional Exercises (FE) are the last step in PSPS preparedness. Rocky Mountain Power coordinates these exercises to examine or validate coordination, command, and control between various agencies. Unlike TTXs or workshops, which are discussion based, these exercises are larger scale, last much longer (e.g., multiple days), require significantly more planning and coordination, and include deployment of resources to practice protocols and processes. A functional exercise requires that part of the plan be executed. Examples relevant to a PSPS FE might include performing customer calls or updating websites. To be successful, functional exercises require that foundational planning like workshops and TTXs be complete, and formal plans to be in place. Currently, Rocky Mountain Power is not planning to conduct a functional exercise in Idaho in 2024. Rocky Mountain Power does expect to leverage its experience conducting functional exercises in other states with more mature PSPS programs and incorporate functional exercises in Idaho in the future as needed. 9.6 2023 ACTIVITIES In 2023, Rocky Mountain Power conducted outreach and exercises statewide. It held two regional TTXs to improve efficiency and enhance broader coordination and collaboration with public safety partners. Even though both events targeted certain counties, Rocky Mountain Page 174 Power encouraged expanding participation by inviting officials from adjacent counties. Additionally, it held two outreach events and conducted a CRC demo in July 2023. Table 13 below provides a more detailed overview of these activities. Table 13:2023 Campleted Workshops and Exercises Activity General Location" Target Counties12 Planned Complete Date Complete Date Outreach/Conf. Statewide Idaho Statewide February 2023 January 2023 Outreach/Conf. Statewide Idaho Statewide April 2023 April 2023 Tabletop Bear Lake,Caribou, Exercise/CRC demo Southeast Bannock,Oneida,and July 2023 July 2023 Franklin Butte,Clark, Fremont, Tabletop Exercise Southeast Jefferson, Madison, July 2023 July 2023 Bonneville,and Bingham In addition to executing planned activities, Rocky Mountain Power may also participate in various other workshops, conferences, and discussions to ensure coordination and preparedness with public safety partners, state agencies, and other utilities. For example, at an event targeted to Southeastern Idaho wholesale transmission customers on September 28, 2023, emergency management presented the PSPS process to transmission customers in Idaho Falls, Idaho. ,.7 2024 EMERGENCY PREF•RREDNESS AND EXERCISE PLAN In 2024 and beyond, the company plans to continue building upon previous years' experience to engage and coordinate with public safety partners. Based on the company's experience to date, planning, in collaboration with public safety partners, is most effective when completed closer to the start of fire season. Therefore, Rocky Mountain Power intends to solicit input from public safety partners later in the year to firm up the details and schedule of its activities for the current year. Table 14 below provides an overview of emergency management activities for 2024. 11 Rocky Mountain Power identifies general locations and then works with public safety partners to select the most appropriate location and dates for activities. 12 Target counties are informed of the coordination plan and strategy;however,Rocky Mountain Power does not limit participation in the event. Page 175 Table 14:2024 Tentative Wo*shcp and Exercise Plan Activity General Location" Target Counties 14 Planned Complete Date Bear Lake,Caribou, Tabletop Exercise Southeast Bannock,Oneida,and July 2024 Franklin Butte,Clark, Fremont, Tabletop Exercise Southeast Jefferson, Madison, July 2024 Bonneville,and Bingham The company may also participate in workshops, conferences, and discussions, or it may host other activities to ensure coordination and preparedness with public safety partners, state agencies, and other utilities. In sum, the annual activity plan is subject to change depending on public safety partner input and availability. ►.8 PUBLIC SAFETY PARTNER PORTAL During a PSPS event, Rocky Mountain Power recognizes the importance of providing additional geographical details of the affected area. Therefore, in addition to the coordination strategy described above, Rocky Mountain Power launched a secure, web-based portal to share information about critical facilities and infrastructure15 with Public Safety Partners during a PSPS event. It is a secure, map-centric application that hosts GIS files and information regarding critical facilities and infrastructure like primary/secondary contact information and known backup generation capabilities. In addition to enhancing coordination with local public safety partners, the portal also improves Rocky Mountain Power's capabilities to evaluate, communicate with, and prioritize restoration of critical facilities and infrastructure. 13 Rocky Mountain Power identifies general locations and then works with public safety partners to select the most appropriate location and dates for activities. 14 Target counties are informed of the coordination plan and strategy;however,Rocky Mountain Power does not limit participation in the event. Page 176 10. WILDFIRE SAFETY & PREPAREDNESS ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY Rocky Mountain Power employs a multifaceted approach to support community engagement and outreach with the goal of providing clear, actionable, and timely information to customers, community stakeholders and regulators. Over the past several years, the company has engaged customers and the general public throughout its three-state service area on wildfire safety and preparedness through a variety of tactics including webinars, targeted paid advertising campaigns, informational videos featuring company subject matter experts, press engagement, distributed print materials, infographics, social media updates, and direct communication through: bill messages, emails and website content, among other communication channels. The wildfire safety and preparedness community engagement plan will continue to evolve year-over-year as customer and stakeholder feedback and regulatory guidance is incorporated. Rocky Mountain Power maintains an awareness and engagement strategy that is flexible and allows for dynamic tactics, informed by customer survey data, community stakeholder input and community needs. Overall, Rocky Mountain Power's plan includes information that can be heard, watched, and read in a variety of ways with the goal of accessibility and understandability. 10.1 AWARENESS AND ENGAGEMENT CAMPAIGN For the past several years, the company has deployed some form of paid media campaign to raise awareness and action on wildfire safety and preparedness.The 2023 wildfire safety and awareness paid advertising campaign, which launched March 20, 2023, and concluded October 1, 2023, included radio spots, digital over-the-top (OTT) pre-roll video ads (Hulu, Pluto TV, Roku, etc.), digital audio ads (Spotify, Pandora, etc.), display ads (search and web banners), and social media static and video ads (Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube) —each delivered in English and Spanish. Metropolitan Statistical Areas in Idaho, specifically, were targeted through a social media campaign on Facebook, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter). The campaign focused on four main topics: personal preparedness and safety, PSPS, leadership and vision, and investments the company is making to reduce wildfire risk, specifically grid hardening. A breakdown of target area and language are shown in Table 15 below. Table 15:2024 Tentative Wcv*shcp and Exercise Plan Target Area Language Southeast English The call-to-action in each campaign vertical compelled the audience to visit Rocky Mountain Power's wildfire safety and preparedness online resources. In 2023, the company's social media campaign in Idaho received 730,438 impressions and 6,331 clicks to company-hosted wildfire safety and preparedness informational webpages. Pagel 77 Engaging with local and regional a news media outlets is another key component of the awareness and engagement campaign. Each year ROc Moun�ein POWM prior to fire season, Rocky Mountain Power distributes updated wildfire safety information ,M and information on the company's WMP to press outlets across its service area as an additional low- Figure 40:Sample YouTube Content cost outreach method. During the 2023 wildfire season, company wildfire safety and mitigation subject matter experts also provided eight interviews on the topics of PSPS and wildfire mitigation. In addition to paid and earned (news media engagement) awareness and engagement strategies, Rocky Mountain Power also communicates to customers about wildfire safety and preparedness through channels it owns or manages, as shown in Figure 40. Bill messages, website and social media updates, emails, texts, automated phone calls are also an additional low cost means to reach customers. 10.2 SUPPORT COLLATERAL Rocky Mountain Power has developed several print and digital wildfire safety and preparedness collateral pieces including factsheets, flyers, brochures, infographics, and safety checklists. These items are accessible through the company wildfire safety webpages and are utilized at public meetings and community events to describe PSPS (its necessity, considerations and what to expect throughout the event, etc.), and to provide general information on emergency kits/plans and preparation checklists, among other topics. Page 178 Understanding the Public Safety Power Shutoff Safety begins at home. You can take steps now to prepare for emergencies, ' reduce the impact of wildfire and safeguard your home and family. STEP ONE: Update your contact information wilt, A Rocky Mountain Power To make sure the phone number and email are correct on your account.please call _ 1.888.221-7070 If you have an online account or would like to set one up.please visit RockyMountainPower,netlW ildfiresafety Wildfire safety checklist We're your partner in preparedness,with support to help you stay safe and stay informed,year-round.As extreme weather becomes more common.simple steps can help you be ready for potential outages. Use the following checklist to prepare for wildfire season.Make sure you're signed up for critical,timely updates so we can reach you.Sign up for text alerts and update your contact information by signing in at Rock^untainPowerriet. Figure 41:Sample Support Collateral The Rocky Mountain Power communications team updates these materials annually to ensure the information is relevant, accessible, and actionable. Spanish versions of each piece of collateral are also made available. Some examples of support collateral are shown in Figure 41. Page 179 Additionally, the company engages Wildfire safety precautions in place for your area customers as needed via direct Due to elevated wildfire risk in your area,we are taking additional communications like email. For instance, safety precautions Among other measures,we may use beginning in 2023, during periods of protective devices on our lines with more sensitive settings that will de-energize power equipment when there is a short circuit elevated risk, modified operational settings detected. (described in greater detail in Section 6, A power outage is more likely to occur when these settings are System Operations) may be implemented utilized. For the 2023 wildfire season,based on elevated conditions in the region.we are using more sensitive protective in some areas. Customers that are settings in your area As a result,if an outage occurs during the impacted by implementation of these 2023 wildfire season.you may experience a longer-than-typical outage as our field personnel work to confirm that power can be settings are sent a notification via email or safely turned back on.These measures are intended to promote paper letter, depending on their public safety,and we appreciate your patience. communication preferences, when this Our system is built to withstand extreme weather events and occurs. An example of support collateral other unforeseen issues: however,outages can happen. It is important to: for customer notification of • Plan ahead and be prepared year-round. implementation of modified operational • Create a plan with your medical provider for appropriat- settings is included in Figure 42. back-up power if you have medical devices that rely on electricity in your house. • Review your contact information,so we can reach you if Going forward into 2024 and beyond, necessary_ Rocky Mountain Power plans to align its • If an outage does occur.find restoration information on the Pacific Pov:er outage map. communication regarding modified We appreciate your patience and understanding. Providing safe operational settings with its peer utilities. reliable service is our highest priority at Pacific Power. If you have questions.please call us anytime at 1-888-221-7070 or visit PacificPower.net/Ready for emergency preparedness and wildfire safety information. Figure 42:Sample Email Communication-Modified Operational Settings 10.3 CUSTOMER SERVICE TRAINING Customer care agents have received training on wildfire safety and preparedness and PSPS- related information to ensure that customers who call in looking for information about wildfire safety and preparedness or PSPS get information they are looking for. Additionally, customers with specific language needs can also contact the company's customer care number and request to speak with an agent that speaks their preferred language. Rocky Mountain Power employs Spanish-speaking customer care professionals and contracts with a 24/7 service that provides interpretation in real-time over the phone in multiple languages and dialects. In 2022, Rocky Mountain Power established a process to track customer calls regarding wildfire safety, wildfire preparedness, and other wildfire concerns. This process allowed customer care specialists to select the term `wildfire' from a drop-down menu at the conclusion of calls. In 2023, the company received 294 calls from customers regarding wildfire safety. Of those, 233 occurred at the peak of fire season (August). Page 180 10.4 WILDFIRE SAFETY, PREPAREDNESS, AND PSPS WEBPAGES The Rocky Mountain Power website A FUTURE-READY GRID provides robust and comprehensive i;r,J,, eii,i, iy are our top priorities.As eAreme weather conditions and eleyated wildfire risk become more commor,were making important updates across our system,building a hardened,future ready grid. information on company wildfire mitigation programs, general wildfire safety, PSPS information, and more. In PHYSICAL INFRASTRUCTURE 2022, the company launched updated ra wildfire safety webpages to improve customer experience and allow for - improved accessibility to wildfire- related information. The page refreshes include a new infographic depicted in Figure 43 that demonstrates the work in progress to improve the safety and With this layered approach,we're reducing risk and investing in resilience and reliability for the ong term. reliability of the grid. Figure 43: Wildfire Mlagaii Program/nfcgraphic Additionally, the page was updated with embedded videos highlighting the work Rocky Mountain Power will complete to improve the system, increase situational awareness, and prepare for events that may result in outage activity. The wildfire safety webpages were also updated in early 2022 to include a 1-to-1 translated Spanish wildfire safety pages (see Figure 43). This includes a frequently asked questions section, links to public safety power shutoff maps and information, and resources including public safety power shutoff and wildfire preparedness brochures. " ROCKY VI POWER MOUNTAIN APAGONES SEGURIDAD OPCIONES 0, ` SIGN IN Seguridad Seguridad contra incendios forestales Seguridad y confiabilidad Algunas areas a las clue servimos tienen on mayor riesgo de incendios forestales.Puede ser necesario apagar ciertas Ifneas en areas Due experimentan condiciones climaticas peligrosas para garantizar la Seguridad contra incendios forestales Seguridad de so comunidad.Tomamos la decision de cortar la energia con seriedad.y los cortes del suministro el6ctrico por motivos de seguridad publica seran especificos.precisos a informados per datos Propietarics o trabajadores rotates s6lidos y en tiempo real sobre la situaci6n en el terreno. Rr.eorq Bridget-Teton ° Search Mapes leano Faus National Forest p Observe XJF7Nampa ` IDAHO ° Jxkson PINE RIDGE AOvertenCia RESERVATION P«atNto WYOMING[aspe. 0 ° ----- -- - p Evento Grants Pass ( T—Falls ,. A.` Figure 44:Sample Webpage Content-Spanish Page 181 Various resources and tools for community preparedness can be found on the Rocky Mountain Power wildfire mitigation webpage.16 Prompts for customers to update contact information are displayed prominently on the page. Guides and checklists for creating an emergency plan/outage kit are easily accessible. The wildfire safety webpages also include links to the WMP, as well as links to webinars and videos describing key components of the plan. Overall, site visitors have a variety of ways to consume and engage with wildfire safety and preparedness information, as shown below in Figure 45. PUBLIC SAFETY POWER • ` O What you can do Public Safety Power Create an emergency Shutoff plan Get simple tips for how to protect your home and In response to elevated With a simple plan and the prepare an outage kit. fire-risk conditions,we right supplies,yourfamily may proactively turn off can be ready for an power in specific areas. emergency. SEE STEPS YOU CAN TAKE FIND OUT MORE UPDATE YOUR PLAN Figur-e 45: Wildfire Safety Webpage Content Additionally, the Rocky Mountain Power Public Safety Power Shutoff webpage provides educational material on PSPS. It describes why a PSPS would happen, includes details of conditions monitored prior to executing a PSPS, and on how customers can prepare. Information on how customers will be notified, what to expect during an event, and about the service restoration process if a PSPS is deemed necessary are detailed on the webpage. There is also an interactive map of PSPS areas (shown in Figure 46) that provides a visualization of whether the company is considering a PSPS, and which areas might be affected if one is necessary. 16 www.pacificpower.net/wildfiresafety Page 182 �ROCKY MOUNTAINMY ACCOUNT OUTAGES&SAFETY SAVINGS&ENERGY CHOICES Q SIGN IN Outages&Safety Public Safety Power Shutoff <Report outage or check status Back to wildfire safety Streetlight outages 6 Make sure your contact information on your account is up-to-date to receive outage alerts and updates.You can sign in to your account,or call 1-888-221-7070 Storms&emergencies Some areas we serve are at an increased risk of wildfire.Turning power off in areas experiencing hazardous Home&work safety weather conditions may be necessary to ensure the safety of your community.We take the decision to turn off power seriously,and Public Safety Power Shutoffs will be targeted,precise and informed by robust,real- Wildfire safety time data about the situation on the ground. Public Safety Power Shutoff Reliability Tree pruning&planting Public Safety Power Shutoff map Res°urp Bridger Teton O Search Map o°of° idanoralis National Forest status IDAHO o Nampa Jackson PINE RIDGE R0, D Watch oc \ �r PatNlo WYOMING Casper RESERVATION R! Dwarning .. O o Grants Pass - - Twm0Falis D Event Figure 46:Public Safety Power Shutoff Webpage To ensure that the website information is provided in identified prevalent languages, the PSPS webpage has a message in nine languages — Chinese traditional, Chinese simplified, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Mixteco, Zapoteco, Hmong, German, and Spanish - that states "A customer care agent can speak with you about wildfire safety and preparedness Please ca#888-221-7070." The company will continue to work with Public Safety Partners and Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) to determine if additional languages should be included. Additionally, the webpages have the capacity to manage site traffic under extreme demand because the company has implemented the bandwidth to allow for increased customer access without compromising site integrity. 0.5 WEBINARS AND COMMUNITY FORUMS Rocky Mountain Power also hosts an annual webinar that provides an overview of the company's wildfire mitigation program and strategies. Among other items, key mitigation topics addressed in the webinar include situational awareness capabilities, system hardening investments, the PSPS process, and general emergency preparedness. The webinar brings to focus how the company engages with local communities and public safety partners on wildfire safety. It also serves as a forum for customers, community stakeholders, and the public-at-large to ask questions during Page 183 the live stream. In 2025, Rocky Mountain Power plans to host a webinar for Idaho in advance of fire season. The Rocky Mountain Power communications team updates these materials annually to ensure the information is relevant, accessible, and actionable. Spanish versions of each piece of collateral are also made available. Some examples of support collateral are shown in Figure 47. Additionally, the company engages customers as needed via direct communications like email. For instance, beginning in 2023, during periods of elevated Safe and ready during wildfire season risk, modified operational settings (described in greater Safety is a community effort that takes all of us working together. system sating steps anagireducetationedsksbystrengtheningour detail in Section 6, System Operations) may be system.actively managing vegetation.clearing our rights of way and expanding weather monitoring abilities,we also invite you to take the important steps of updating your contact information and implemented in some areas. Customers that are signing up for alerts. impacted by implementation of these settings are sent a Here are some ways to be safe and ready during wildfire season. Prepare an outage kit,create defensible space and plan for notification via email or paper letter, depending on their medical needs. Consider a backup generator if your medical equipment communication preferences, when this occurs. requires electricity. Sseasyn up andor frers Check if emergency Additionally,happens- Additionally, customers are also sent wildfire safety and it's easy and free.Check your local emergency management or public safety website for more information on how to sign up preparedness email at regular intervals and as needed. Visit our wildfire safety resource center for information on what to An example of support collateral for customer expect during a potential Public Safety Pourer Shutoff,along with outage preparafi°n`he`Idists and other helpful tips notification via email is included in Figure 47. Thank you for working together so we can be safe and ready during wildfire season_ Going forward into 2024 and beyond, Rocky Mountain Power plans to align its communication regarding modified operational settings with its peer utilities. I Figum 47.Sample Email Canmunkation 10.6 CAMPAIGN AND ENGAGEMENT EVALUATION Rocky Mountain Power is looking to expand the company's customer survey program in Idaho. The overall objective of this research would be to measure the public's awareness of messaging related to wildfire preparedness and safety to inform the development of the next year's engagement campaign. Page 184 Specific research objectives of the surveys would include: • Measurement of customer awareness of Rocky Mountain Power messages related to wildfire preparedness. • Customer recall of specific message topics. • Customer recall of message channels. • Measurements of customer recall and understanding about Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS). • Identification of sources customers are most likely to turn to for information about PSPS. • Evaluation of the PSPS experience. • Exploration of actions taken by customers to prepare for wildfire season. • Measurement of customer awareness of Rocky Mountain Power's efforts to reduce the risk of wildfires. • Evaluation of PSPS notification perception. • Measurements of customer recall and understanding about Rocky Mountain Power's PSPS mitigation programs. 10.7 2024 WILDFIRE COMMUNICATIONS AND OUTREACH PLAN The company's overall approach to wildfire communications and its outreach plan remains the same year over year, as shown in Figure 48. For example, the company always runs a paid advertising, customer email, and initiative-taking news media engagement campaign. Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Paid Ad Campaign(Radio,Social,Digital,OTT) NOWNWAN6 Figure 48.• Wildfire Canmunicatims and CLtreach Plan Timeline 10.8 BACKUP ELECTRIC POWER REBATE PROGRAM Currently, the company does not offer a backup power rebate program to its Idaho customers. However, it is actively exploring whether to implement a backup power rebate program. Page 185 11. INDUSTRY COLLABORATION Industry collaboration is another component of Rocky Mountain Power's WMP. Through active participation in workshops, international and national forums, consortiums, and advisory boards, Rocky Mountain Power maintains an understanding of existing best practices and collaborates with industry experts regarding emerging technologies and research.17 For example, Rocky Mountain Power is an active member of the International Wildfire Risk Mitigation Consortium (IWRMC),18 an industry-sponsored collaborative designed to facilitate the sharing of wildfire risk mitigation insights and discovery of innovative and unique utility wildfire practices from across the globe. This consortium, with working groups focused in the areas of asset management, operations and protocols, risk management, and vegetation management, facilitates a system of working and networking channels between members of the global utility community to support the ongoing monthly sharing of data, information, technology, and practices. Rocky Mountain Power is participating in the three-year Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) Climate Resilience and Adaptation Initiative (READ) to develop, in collaboration with industry stakeholders and other utilities, a common framework or guideline to assess climate risk, address resiliency and evaluate investments. This common framework includes aligning on a consistent approach to understand climate-related data, application, and climate trends, apply a common set of climate data to perform asset and system vulnerability assessments, and to evaluate investments and grid hardening technologies across power systems. Through these various engagement channels, Rocky Mountain Power aims to maintain industry networks, understand the evolution of technologies, discover broader applications for such advancements, freely share data to enable scientists and academics, collaborate with developers to push the boundaries of existing capabilities, and expand its research network through support of advisory boards or grant funding. Participation in these industry networks is continuing to increase Rocky Mountain Power's confidence in its WMP strategies and program elements. 17 A summary of 2023 industry collaborative forums are provided in Appendix E. 18 See https://www.umsgroup.com/what-we-do/learning-consortia/iwrmc/. Page 186 12. PLAN MONITORING AND IMPLEMENTATION In 2021 Rocky Mountain Power developed a new department, commonly referred to as wildfire safety. The new department consists of multiple groups, including the program delivery team, responsible for overall plan development, implementation, and monitoring. While the broader wildfire safety organization is tasked with supporting all types of wildfire mitigation initiatives and strategies across the company's entire service territory, the key function of wildfire safety program delivery team is to develop, implement, monitor, and improve the company's WMP in Idaho. It is the responsibility of wildfire safety program delivery to coordinate with other internal departments such as asset management, vegetation management, field operations, and emergency management to ensure all aspects of the plan are delivered. Additionally, wildfire safety program delivery regularly evaluates its plan and provides updates as needed and consistent with statutory and regulatory requirements. The wildfire safety and asset management team, specifically the wildfire safety program delivery group, is responsible for developing the wildfire mitigation plan, incorporating enhancements to existing initiatives, and scoping new initiatives. Developing the plan requires internal collaboration across many different departments to establish the lessons learned applied with existing initiatives. The group is also responsible for making sure the elements of the plan meet the regulatory requirements. To further evolve the company's wildfire mitigation capabilities, new initiatives are analyzed, scoped, and pursued; for example, the enhanced technologies used to evaluate risk as described in Section 1 and the increase in computational requirements mentioned in Section 5. In addition to evaluating the plan elements, Rocky Mountain Power is also monitoring potential cost sharing and partnership opportunities to secure federal and state grant funding and offset the potential impacts to customers. Many of the company's wildfire mitigation programs, such as grid hardening,which includes investment in transformational technology, align with the goals and objectives of potential grant funding. Implementation of the plan requires processes in place to ensure each initiative is progressing toward the established plan. Initiative owners are responsible for developing individual project plans to ensure the plan objectives are met. Wildfire safety program delivery ensures that the project plans are aligned with the WMP's objectives, and that key performance metrics are in place to monitor progress. Once the plan is filed it is the wildfire safety team's responsibility to ensure the mitigations are being performed as described in the plan. Monitoring includes verification that initiative owners have plans to deliver projects on time and regular status checks to ensure work is progressing as planned. The regular status checks ensure that risks and issues are being appropriately monitored and prompt action is taken to resolve issues and remove barriers to successful project execution. Page 187 13. PLAN SUMMARY, COSTS, AND BENEFITS 13.1 2023 PROGRAM ACHIEVEMENTS AND 2024 OBJECTIVES Rocky Mountain Power WMP is designed to provide timely and cost-effective wildfire mitigation benefits through a range of programs. While described in more detail through the plan itself, below summarizes the program elements, 2023 achievements, and 2024 program objectives1'. Table 16.•Summary of 2023 Program Results and 2024 Q5jectives Program General Program 2023 2024 Program Category Description Achievements Objectives Risk Modeling Maintain baseline risk ✓ Refreshed FHCA Map I Continued FireSight model &Drivers maps and framework to ✓ Updated Fire Sight composite risk updates. identify areas that are ✓ Improved advanced data analytics Update composite risk. subject to a heightened tools Continued development for FE risk of wildfire and inform advanced data analytics longer term,multi-year investment and programs Inspection& Perform patrols and ✓Completed inspections and ➢ Continue situational risk Correction corrections based on the corrections on 54 distribution informed inspections and m situational risk circuit segments and 13 corrections ttransmission circuit segments. Vegetation Perform vegetation ✓Completed approximately ➢ Continue standard vegetation Management management work based additional vegetation management management programs. on the standard cycle. practices on 55 circuit segments Additional work might be which resulted in the following identified through risk work: informed inspections. ✓—1150 additional trees pruned. ✓—32 hazard trees removed. ✓ 170 brushes removed. System Long term investment to ✓Completed work on 5 fuse savers. ➢ No areas identified for system Hardening mitigate wildfire risk ✓Completed system hardening on 6 hardening based on the risk including line rebuilds, circuits to make the identified assessment. system protection and locations more resilient to wildfire control equipment risk. r� upgrades,and replacement of overhead fuses and adjacent equipment Situational Install and operate a ✓ 10 weather stations installed. ➢ Install 10 additional weather Awareness company owned weather ✓ Developed Modified Hot-Dry- stations. station network, Windy Index ➢ Improve weather forecasting. .' implement a risk ✓Completed 30-yr WRF reanalysis forecasting and impact- and implemented WFA-E software based fire weather model, to model potential impacts based (� and inform key decision on weather events. making and protocols 19 2023 achievements in this table are estimates or end of year forecasts based on document preparation ahead of the filing. Page 188 Program General Program 2023 2024 Program �t Category Description Achievements Objectives v -------------------------------------------- — System Risk-based ! ✓ Risk-based implementation of EFR ➢ Continued risk-based Operations implementation of EFR settings and re-energization implementation of EFR settings settings and re- practices. and re-energization practices energization practices in ✓ Installed 59 CFCIs — a manner that balances risk mitigation with potential impacts to customers ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Field Operations ! Acquire and maintain key i ✓ Risk based work practices. 1 ➢ Purchase 4 Starlink devices. &Work Practices equipment(water trucks, ; ✓Acquired additional 3 water trucks, ➢ Continued implementation of COWs,&personal 1 UTV,and 1 UTV Trailer risk-based work practices suppression equipment) ✓ Purchase 1 COW ➢Assess additional equipment and implement risk-based i ✓ Performed system hardening needs work practices and i upgrades on circuits with EFR resource adjustments settings as described in Section 7. — --------------------------------a----------------------------------------------------------i------------------------------------------------------ PSPS Program Maintain the ability to 1 ✓ Maintain readiness to implement 1 ➢ Maintain readiness to actively monitor PSPS. implement PSPS. conditions,assess risk, and implement a PSPS as a measure of last resort in a manner that limits the impacts to customers and communities consistent with regulatory ---------------------------------d----requirements --------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Public Safety i Develop and implement a ✓ Implement Public Safety Partner ; ➢ Expand engagement with public Partner public safety partner Portal 1 safety partners. Coordination engagement strategy to ✓Completed 2 regional tabletop i ➢ Complete 2 tabletop exercises enhance coordination and exercises. Ole ensure preparedness ✓Completed 2 statewide outreach ,= conferences. L------- ---------------------------------------------a----------------------------------------------------------i----------------------------------------------- Wildfire Safety& Manage a multi-pronged ✓730k impressions and over 6.3k 1 ➢ Continue multi-pronged Preparedness approach to engage and clicks. outreach campaign. Engagement inform the public and ✓Webpage updates for Spanish ➢ Continue to refine information Strategy customers regarding translations for ease of use and access. wildfire safety& ➢ Identify community engagement 0 0 0 0 preparedness 11 'l opportunities with external stakeholders. --------------------------------+--------------------:---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Industry i Participate in ✓ Participated in multi-state industry ➢ Continue multi-state industry Collaboration consortiums,forums,and collaboration. collaboration. advisory boards to collaborate with industry O experts,maintain expertise in leading edge 060 60 technologies and operational practices,and continue to improve and advance the WMP and its + Programs ------------- Plan Monitoring& Leverage a centralized, 1 ✓ Investigated grant funding ! ➢ Complete negotiation of invited Implementation dedicated team to I opportunities. grant funding opportunity develop,monitor, i ✓ Better QA/QC for program tracking ➢ Continue review of QA/QC implement,and processes for program tracking. continuously improve the WMP ------------ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 189 13.2 COSTS Delivering Rocky Mountain Power's multi-year WMP, as summarized above, requires an increase in investment across multiple years. Rocky Mountain Power is currently forecasting an additional investment of $31.40 million through 2026 (across three years), or $22.26 million capital and $9.14 million expenses. Some programs, as understood today, require finite investment with a planned end date. Other programs, such as enhanced inspections or vegetation management, are expected to be on-going and annual in nature. Furthermore, not all programs require spend of each type in each year. The following tables describe Rocky Mountain Power's three-year estimate of these incremental costs broken down by expenditure type. Additionally, the capital costs included reflect spend occurring in a given year, which may differ from values included in GRC filings or cost recovery mechanism applications which include costs based on when assets are placed in service. Furthermore, the costs reflect Rocky Mountain Power allocated share of associated programs and projects and, finally, while the tables only include a three-year forecast, these programs and increased expenditure are expected to continue beyond 2026. Table 17.•Planned lncremental Capital Investment by Category($millions) Program Category Total Total Total 3 Year 2024 2025 2026 Total Risk Modeling and Drivers $0.35 $0.37 $0.38 $1.10 *System Hardening $1.80 $1.80 $1.80 $5.40 Situational Awareness $0.35 $0.74 $0.10 $1.19 Operations&Work Practices(Asset Corrections i.e.,pole replacements) $3.50 $5.50 $5.50 $14.50 Public Safety Partner Coordination $0.07 $- $- $0.07 Grand Total $6.07 $8.41 $7.78 $22.26 Table 18:Planned Incremental Expense by Category($millions) Program Category Total Total Total 3 Year 2024 2025 2026 Total Risk Modeling and Drivers $0.65 $0.67 $0.71 $2.03 Situational Awareness $0.22 $0.28 $0.32 $0.82 Operations&Work Practices $0.88 $0.88 $0.88 $2.64 *PSPS Program $1.05 $1.05 $1.05 $3.15 WMP Engagement&Plan Development $0.17 $0.17 $0.16 $0.50 Grand Total $2.97 $3.05 $3.12 $9.14 *Asterisks designate reactive spend and not planned spend.Should circumstances indicate a need for these programs,as described in this WMP,they will be implemented with costs around this projection. Page 90 Rocky Mountain Power anticipates continuously improving its WMP in a way that aligns with community and Idaho Public Utilities Commission expectations. Key takeaways from collaborations with other utilities, Public Safety Partners, the Idaho Public Utilities Commission, communities, and customers will be evaluated for incorporation into future WMPs and may require corresponding changes or updates to these forecasts. Through partnerships, there are opportunities to secure general and state grant funding which have the potential to progress wildfire mitigation objectives and offset potential impacts to the customer. Beginning in 2022, Rocky Mountain Power began applying for, and actively pursuing grant funding opportunity where in 2023, Rocky Mountain Power was invited to negotiations by the GRIP grant program. Should the GRIP grant be awarded as proposed, it would support funding of several programs in this plan. 13.3 CO-BENEFITS OF PLAN Rocky Mountain Power's WMP encompasses various strategies, programs, and investments designed to reduce the risk of wildfire, in a manner consistent with emerging industry best practices. The elements of this plan provide clear benefits in the areas of wildfire mitigation, whether through enhanced inspections and corrections, additional vegetation management activities, or system hardening and the implementation of covered conductor. Additionally, maturation in the areas of risk mapping and situational awareness facilitate the prioritization and balancing of efforts to ensure the plan is delivered as efficiently as practical. In identifying plan elements, Rocky Mountain Power considered both the costs and the benefits of any approach. Its strategies were guided by the principle that the frequency of ignition events related to electric facilities can be reduced by engineering more resilient systems that experience fewer fault events. While the mitigation strategies in this plan are designed to reduce the risk of wildfire, many also offer co-benefits to the utility operation and its customers. The joint IOUs have worked on a common structure for assessing benefits, yet the way the benefits are assessed can vary from utility to utility. While there are nuances, Table 19 identifies which program categories could provide perceived co-benefits. Page 191 Table 99.•Co-benefit Cbjectives Distribution Projects Utility Definition System ! Safety Reliability Resiliency Planning Incremental wildfire mitigation Vegetation Management programs within the FHCA such as annual cycle work. Incremental wildfire mitigation Asset Inspections and Corrections ! Programs within the FHCA such as increased inspection frequency and accelerated corrections Incremental WMP programs such Grid Hardening as recloser/relay installations, and line rebuilds(covered conductor,undergrounding,etc.) Situational Awareness Incremental WMP programs such as weather station installations. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------=-------------------- Research and Development F Advanced Forecasting(Weather) I More frequent asset inspections can result in the identification and accelerated correction of additional conditions, which reduces wildfire risk. This same program can also improve public safety, worker safety, and reliability. Similarly, system hardening provides one of the most beneficial ways to reduce wildfire risk, by increasing the level of localized weather conditions that can be tolerated without impact on the utility operations. For example, installing covered conductor will increase the grid's resiliency against wind-driven contacts. The mechanical properties of a covered conductor design physically prevent the initiation of a flash-over due to contact, mitigating wildfire risk. For this same reason, covered conductor also reduces the potential for outages, thereby providing significant reliability benefits. Furthermore, Rocky Mountain Power's situational awareness capabilities provide multiple wildfire mitigation benefits by informing operational and field protocols and playing a key role in the facilitation of PSPS protocols and decision-making. Along the same lines, situational awareness, paired with operational readiness, provides co-benefits throughout the year by supporting Rocky Mountain Power's response to many types of emergency related events, such as winter storms.While the program is designed to mitigate wildfire risk, Rocky Mountain Power anticipates leveraging this new capability to support other types of emergency response and overall system resilience. Page 192 Finally, Rocky Mountain Power's WMP includes the use of emerging technologies, such as the implementation of advanced protection and control schemes.While key to reducing the potential for utility related spark events following a fault event, this equipment provides additional co- benefits in the areas of distribution system planning readiness. These projects lay the initial foundation for greater incorporation of other tactics, such as distribution automation or distributed generation. Page 193 kPPENDIX A — ADHERENCE TO REQUIREMENTS Order No. 36045 — Rocky Mountain Power's application for a deferred accounting order related to insurance costs dated December 2911, 2023. Order Requirements Corresponding Plan The Company shall submit a separate filing a final copy of its This document, Idaho Wildfire Mitigation Plan describes the wildfire mitigation plan for Idaho within 30 days of completing wildfire mitigation initiatives performed by Rocky Mountain the plan's development,but no later than April 15,2024. Power in Idaho. Page 194 APPENDIX B — WILDFIRE RISK MODELING DATA INPUTS The following describes the general model inputs, data sources, update frequency, and update plans for data included in the company's planning and dynamic, seasonal risk model described in Sections 1.2 and 5.4. Many of the data sources below are provided and managed by Technosylva, who owns and maintains WFA-E which has the FireSight, FireRisk, and FireSim models. Dataset Spatial Resolution Start of Dataset Dataset Update Source Frequency (Meters) Landscape Characteristics Terrain 10 Yearly 1 United States Geological Survey (USGS) Surface Fuels 30/10 2020 Pre-Fire Season, Technosylva Monthly Update in Fire Season,End of Fire Season Wildland Urban 30/10 2020 Twice A Year Technosylva Interface(WUI)and Non-Forest Fuels Land Use Canopy Fuels(CBD, 30/10 1 2020 1 Pre-Fire Season, 1 Technosylva CH,CC,CBH) Monthly Update in Fire Season,End of Fire Season -------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------+------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------------� Roads Network 30 Yearly USGS Hydrography 30 Yearly USGS Croplands 30 1997 Yearly USDA Weather And Atmospheric Data Wind Speed 2000 1990 1 Hourly/96 Hour 1 Atmospheric Data Solutions(ADS) Forecast Wind Direction 1 2000 1990 Hourly/96 Hour ADS Forecast Wind Gust 2000 1990 ! Hourly/96 Hour ADS Forecast ---------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------ Air Temperature 2000 i 1990 i Hourly/96 Hour ADS Forecast ----------------------------------� ---------------------------------d----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------� Surface Pressure 2000 1990 Hourly/96 Hour ADS Forecast Page 195 Dataset 1 Spatial Resolution ! Start of Dataset ! Dataset Update ! Source Frequency (Meters) F----------------------------------F------------------------ ----------------------------------)----------------------------------F-----------------------------------------------------� Relative Humidity 2000 1990 Hourly/96 Hour Technosylva Forecast -------------------- Precipitation 2000 1990 Hourly/96 Hour ADS Forecast Radiation i 2000 1990 Hourly/96 Hour ADS Forecast Water Vapor Mixing 2000 1990 Hourly/96 Hour ADS Ratio 2 meter Forecast Snow Accumulated—i 1000 i 2008 Daily National Oceanic and Atmospheric Observed i Administration(NOAA) Precipitation 1 4000 1 2008 1 Daily NOAA Accumulated- Observed Burn Scars 10 i 2000 5 Days National Aeronautics and Space Administration(NASA)/European Space Agency(ESA) Weather Points 1990 10 Min Synoptic Observations Data L Fuel Moisture J Herbaceous Live 250 2000 1 Daily/5-Day 1 Technosylva Fuel Moisture I Forecast Woody Live Fuel 1 250 2000 1 Daily/5-Day Technosylva/ADS Moisture Forecast 1-Hour Dead Fuel 2000 1990 Hourly/124 Hour Technosylva/ADS Moisture Forecast 10-Hour Dead Fuel 2000 i 1990 Hourly/124 Hour Technosylva/ADS Moisture Forecast ---------------------------------' ----------------------------------+-------------------- ------------------------------------------------------� 100-Hour Dead Fuel i 2000 i 1990 Hourly/124 Hour Technosylva/ADS Moisture Forecast ---------------------------------i-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------—----i------------------------------------------------------- Values at Risk Buildings Polygon Footprints 2020-21 Yearly Microsoft/Technosylva ------------------- —' ---------------------------------'------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Damage Inspection Points 2014-21 Yearly Cal Fire (DINS) Page 196 Dataset i Spatial Resolution ! Start of Dataset ! Dataset Update ! Source Frequency (Meters) ----------------------------------------------L-------------- Population 90 2019 Yearly i LANDSCAN, Oak Ridge National Laboratory(ONRL) Roads Vector Lines 2021 i Yearly i Caltrans Social Vulnerability i Plexels 2021 Yearly Esri Geoenrichment Service ----------------------------- ---------------------------------+------------------ -----------------------------------------------------� Fire Stations Points1 2021 Yearly Esri,USGS Building Loss Factor 1 Building Footprints 1 2022 Yearly 1 Technosylva Critical Facilities Points 2021 Yearly Fire Resource Assessment Program(FRAP),Cal Fire Potential Ignition Locations Distribution& Linear Segments 2022 Updated Quarterly Pacific Power Transmission Lines ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Poles&Equipment Points i 2022 Updated Quarterly i Pacific Power ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------i---------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------------� Outage History Points 1989 Annual Pacific Power Ignition History Points 2020 Annual Pacific Power I----------------------------------L------------------------------------------------------------------=----------------------------------L------------------------------------------------------- Fire Activity F Hotspots MODIS 1000 2000 i Twice A Day NASA ------------------------------------------------------------------J----------------------------------t----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------J Hotspots VIIRS 375 2014 Twice A Day NASA Hotspots GOES 1 3000 1 2019 10 Minute NASA 16/17 ---------------------------------- ---------------------------------; ----------------------------------------------------� Fireguard Polygons 2020 15 Minute National Guard i Fire Season Polygons i 2021 Daily National Incident Feature Service Perimeters (NIFS) Historic Fire Polygons 1900 Yearly Cal Fire Perimeters Alert Wildfire Live Feeds Real Time 1 Minute Alert Wildfire Consortium Cameras Lighting Strikes 1000 i Real Time 1 Minute Earth Networks/Others Page 197 APPENDIX C - ENCROACHMENT POLICY Page 198 14 PACIFICORP Wildfire Encroachment System Operations Procedure SOP-203 Document Information Author: Erik Brookhouse Owner(Position): VP, System Operations Approval: SVP, Power Delivery Authoring Department: Power Delivery Approved Location PolicyTech File Number-Name: SOP-203 Wildfire Encroachment Revision Number: 2 Revision Date: 1/24/2024 Summary of Policy: Wildfire Encroachment Action Description Affected Departments: Power Delivery Effective Date: 1/24/2024 Document Security Category Confidential X Internal Restricted External BES Cyber System Information(BCSI) PACIFICORP Revision Log jlmW Date Change Tracking 0 06/2023 Preliminary Draft 1 10/24/2023 Final Draft for Approval 2 01/23/2024 New Format SOP-203 Page 2 of 9 PACIFICORP Wildfire Encroachment System Operations Procedure SOP-203 Table of Contents PURPOSE.......................................................................................................................................................4 IMMEDIATE ACTION: DUE TO FIRE LOCATION RELATIVE TO ASSETS ............................................................4 IMMEDIATE ACTION: DE-ENERGIZATION REQUESTS ....................................................................................5 MANAGEMENT AND MONITORING..............................................................................................................5 INITIAL REPORTING.......................................................................................................................................5 WILDFIRE THREAT TRACKING........................................................................................................................6 CUSTOMER AND STAKEHOLDER NOTIFICATIONS..........................................................................................7 APPENDIX 1 : FLOWCHART FOR FIRE ENCROACHMENT ASSESSMENTS.......................................................9 SOP-203 Page 3 of 9 PACIFICORP Wildfire Encroachment System Operations Procedure SOP-203 PURPOSE This document defines PacifiCorp's escalation and response protocols when a wildfire is approaching PacifiCorp's Transmission and/or Distribution facilities. As set forth in Section 2, this procedure requires de-energization of power lines when a wildfire is within defined distances to PacifiCorp assets. IMMEDIATE ACTION: DUE TO FIRE LOCATION RELATIVE TO ASSETS In the event of a wildfire encroachment, any subject power lines will be de-energized. A wildfire encroachment shall have occurred if there is credible information that a wildfire has breached the minimum distance described in the table below. Real-time weather information (wind speeds) at the fire location will be obtained using PacificPowerWeather.com or RockyMountainPowerW eather.com. Minimum Distance(miles) s Voltage System Design Weather* for given Wind Gust (mph)** 15 15 to 30 >30 mph Gusts mph Gusts mph Gusts Bulk Electric Radial Wood Elevated fire weather(yellow or greater) 1/2 1 2 Transmission -o - Non-elevated fire weather(green) 1/4 1/2 1 Sub- Steel Non-elevated fire weather(green or 1/4 1/2 1 transmission greater) Loop All All 2 2 2 Distribution All All Elevated fire weather(yellow or greater) 1/2 l 2 Non-elevated fire weather(green) 1/4 1/2 1 Note:Distances and wind speed combinations provide a 2-hour buffer for de-energizing before the fire reaches assets * As defined on the daily weather risk matrix **Utilize PacificPowerWeather.com and RockyMountainPower.com to determine real-time wind gusts The system operator is authorized to take action and shall de-energize any power line within the wildfire encroachment area. If there has been sufficient time to complete a Wildfire Threat Tracking Form, etc., the T&D Operations Director (or an authorized delegate) may issue other specific instructions related to a de-energization, such as the specific time or sequence of de- energization. In the absence of a contrary instruction from management, however, a system operator is authorized to de-energize under this section and shall complete the de-energization required in the event of a wildfire encroachment. Depending on the specific circumstances of an event, the T&D Operations Director (or an authorized delegate) may seek approval from executive management to keep a line in service despite a wildfire encroachment. The approval of the chief executive officer (CEO) of SOP-203 Page 4 of 9 11 PACIFICORP PacifiCorp, or an authorized delegate, is required to keep a power line energized if a wildfire encroachment has occurred. IMMEDIATE ACTION: DE-ENERGIZATION REOUESTS In the event local fire personnel or incident command request the de-energization of assets, the system operator will clarify the timeframe requested(i.e. immediate, 15 minutes, 1 hour, etc.). If fire suppression authorities request an immediate de-energization, the line should be de- energized immediately. In such case, the de-energization will be promptly reported to the Reliability Coordinator (RC), along with additional system analysis and resolution of post contingency issues. If time allows, the system operator will notify the RC of the impending action, complete a RTCA analysis and plan post contingency actions. MANAGEMENT AND MONITORING For multiple safety reasons, a power line should generally be de-energized if there is an active wildfire in the right-of-way. A wildfire can spread and move quickly. These procedures are designed to provide a safety buffer and to facilitate de-energization before a wildfire grows into the actual right-of-way. A wildfire encroachment occurs when a wildfire moves into a defined buffer space and threatens PacifiCorp-owned assets. Some of the parameters that affect the decision-making and response actions to a potential encroachment scenario include: • Voltage classification(s) • Current fire suppression efforts • Asset type and construction material . Fire spread and weather forecast models • Stability of the system • Timeframe for potential asset impacts • System configuration(loop or radial) These procedures provide specific buffer distances for different scenarios. If an active wildfire is encroaching a buffer distance, the line will be de-energized. While it can be difficult to obtain accurate real-time information about an active wildfire, PacifiCorp will act on the best available information. INITIAL REPORTING During normal business hours, PacifiCorp Emergency Management, in consultation with PacifiCorp Meteorology, is primarily responsible for monitoring any wildfires. Emergency Management may learn of new wildfires, and monitor known wildfires, through reporting from external sources and through monitoring of internal tools (i.e., wildfire cameras, satellite wildfire hot spot warning, or other application alerts). Outside of normal business hours, System Operations is primarily responsible for monitoring wildfire activity and shall immediately notify the on-duty Emergency Manager by telephone upon receiving notice of any new wildfire within 10 miles of any PacifiCorp assets. SOP-203 Page 5 of 9 PACIFICORP • More than 10 miles. Wildfires more than 10 miles from the nearest PacifiCorp assets are monitored for potential growth and potential impact by Emergency Management. • Within 10 miles. The on-duty Emergency Manager shall notify by email the T&D Operations Director or an authorized delegate (who may escalate such information through normal channels) of any new wildfire within 10 miles of PacifiCorp assets. o Preliminary Spread Assessment. Upon receiving notice of a new wildfire, the on-duty Emergency Manager will promptly obtain a preliminary spread assessment from the on-duty meteorologist regarding the probability of the fire damaging PacifiCorp assets and shall supplement the original email notification to the T&D Operations Director or an authorized delegate with the preliminary spread assessment, as soon as it is available. If the preliminary spread assessment indicates that the fire will likely reach PacifiCorp assets at any time prior to the end of the next business day, the on-duty Emergency Manager will immediately telephone the T&D Operations Director or an authorized delegate to confirm receipt of the preliminary spread assessment. Otherwise, the on-duty Emergency Manager may telephone the T&D Operations Director or an authorized delegate to confirm receipt at the beginning of the next business day. WILDFIRE THREAT TRACKING If a preliminary spread assessment concludes that a wildfire will likely grow into PacifiCorp assets within 48 hours, the on-duty Emergency Manager, in consultation with the on-duty meteorologist, shall promptly complete a Wildfire Threat Tracking Form. If a preliminary spread assessment concludes that wildfire contact with PacifiCorp assets is not likely to occur within 48 hours, the on-duty Emergency Manager shall continue to monitor the new wildfire and request a new preliminary assessment if there are any material changes in the fire. The Wildfire Threat Tracking Form includes the following information: • Name of the Emergency Manager submitting the report and the time of the report • Fire location, including a description of the source of such information; • Fire size, including a description of the source of such information; • Proximity to nearest PacifiCorp asset(s), with mapping as appropriate; • Fire growth assessment by PacifiCorp Meteorology, including: • Estimated fire growth rate and pattern; • Forecasted weather conditions which may impact fire spread; • Physical terrain between the fire and the assets; and • Estimated duration regarding when fire may reach company assets; and • Other information regarding the fire and the company's potential response, including: • Physical status of company field personnel; • Monitoring capabilities of field personnel; and any communications with-fire incident command. The on-duty Emergency Manager will promptly transmit the completed Wildfire Threat Tracking Form to the T&D Operations Director or an authorized delegate. After confirming SOP-203 Page 6 of 9 11 PACIFICORP receipt by telephone, the on-duty Emergency Manager will continue to monitor the wildfire. In conjunction with ongoing monitoring, the on-duty Emergency Manager shall: • Open communications regarding fire status with local officials; • Coordinate with the on-scene field personnel; • Confer with the on-duty Meteorologist to evaluate fire conditions and update fire spread assessments; • Update the Wildfire Threat Tracking Form as needed; and • Manage an ongoing exchange of information exchange between System Operations, Emergency Management, and Meteorology until there is no threat to PacifiCorp assets. CUSTOMER AND STAKEHOLDER NOTIFICATIONS In all cases, system operations, under the direction of the network operators, will provide notice to on-call region or grid system operations management and the on-call emergency management manager, who will begin coordination with Meteorology, Executive Management, Corporate Communication, Customer service, Regional Business Managers, and Field Operations. System Operations Department Contact rNumber 24/7 Hotline—Pacific Power 503-331-4498 Emergency Management 24/7 Hotline—Rocky Mountain Power 801-220-2057 Emergency Management Contacts Department Contact Vice President, System Operations Executive Management Vice President,T&D Operations Senior Vice President,Power Delivery T&D Field Operations Area Director Based on location 24/7 Hotline—Pacific Power 503-813-6018 Corporate Communications 24/7 Hotline—Rocky Mountain Power 801-220-5018 Customer Service Manager, Customer Service Mission Control 503-813-5087 Regional Business Manager(s) Area Regional Business Manager Based on location If time allows before de-energization, the customer and stakeholder notification process will be executed by the appropriate departments. If time does not allow, a post event customer notification strategy will be developed. Stakeholders include other utilities, the reliability coordinator, the state commission, and other government authorities. SOP-203 Page 7 of 9 PACIFICORP SOP-203 Page 8 of 9 4 PAC IFICORP APPENDIX I : FLOWCHART FOR FIRE ENCROACHMENT ASSESSMENTS Identificationof fire Section 5 Is fire within No Continue to monitor fire Emergency Manager 10 miles? confirms fire status with first responders Yes Is fire within No Contact on-duty Emergency Manager 2 miles? Emergency Manager contacts Meteorologist if fire simulation is required Yes Consult"Immediate Notification to internal Action: De-energization operations management table"for action utilizing Wildfire Threat Tracking Form Is de-energization No required based on section v criteria? Yes ImmediatelyNotify management and De-energize Stakeholders Section 2 Section 7 SOP-203 Page 9 of 9