20251009News Release.pdf

l Idaho Public Utilities Commission Brad Littte,Governor
P.O. Boot 83720. Boise. ID 83720-0074 Edward Lodge, Resident
John R.Hamnwnd, Jr.,Commissioner
Dayn Hardie,Commissioner
Case No. GNR-E-25-02
Order No. 36774
Contact: Adam Rush
Office: [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail]
NEWS RELEASE: Commission issues order approving wildfire mitigation plan filing process
electric utilities will follow.
BOISE (Oct. 9, 2025)—The Idaho Public Utilities Commission has issued an order approving
the process electric utilities will follow when submitting annual wildfire mitigation plans.
Work to create the filing process started after Senate Bill 1183 was passed by the Idaho
Legislature in 2025. The passage of the bill created the Wildfire Standard of Care Act(WSCA).
It requires the Commission to annually approve wildfire mitigation plans for investor-owned
utilities. Municipal and cooperate electric utilities, which are not regulated by the Commission,
may also submit mitigation plans for the Commission's review.
Under the WSCA, if a wildfire results in a lawsuit against an electric utility, there is a
presumption that the electric utility acted without negligence if it reasonably implemented a
Commission-approved wildfire mitigation plan.
Commission staff created the filing process that electric utilities will follow. The process sets a
filing schedule and identifies items to be included in mitigation plans. Those items include
identifying geographical areas where an electric utility has infrastructure or equipment that the
utility considers may be subject to a heightened risk of wildfire at the time the mitigation plan is
finalized by the utility, actions and programs the utility will take to reduce wildfire risk,
community outreach and public awareness efforts the utility will use before, during and after
wildfire season to identify and inform the public of relevant wildfire risks and notify the public
of wildfire-related outages, among other items.
To give Commission staff an adequate amount of time to review annually filed mitigation plans
and make recommendations to the Commission, staggered filing dates for each utility will be
followed. The filing schedule requires utilities to submit updated mitigation plans one year after
the approval date of their previously approved plans.
Additional information is available at: puc.idaho.gov/case/Details/7564.