20260123News Release.pdf

lr �_ Idaho Public Utilities Commission Brad LitUe,Governor
P.O. Box 83720, Boise. ID 83770-0074 Edward Lodge, President
John R.Hammond, Jr.,Commissioner
Dayn Hardie,Commissioner
Case No. C07-E-25-01
Order No. 36911
Contact:Adam Rush
Office: [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail]
NEWS RELEASE: Northern Idaho electric utility submits application seeking approval of
wildfire mitigation plan.
BOISE (Jan.23,2026)—Kootenai Electric Cooperative,Inc.has submitted an application to the
Idaho Public Utilities Commission seeking approval of its 2026-2028 wildfire mitigation plan
(WMP). The plan includes information on vegetation management, efforts to reduce wildfire risk
and operational protocols during elevated fire risk conditions, among other items.
Electric utilities file the plans with the Commission pursuant to the Wildfire Standard of Care
Act(WSCA). The WSCA requires the Commission to annually approve wildfire mitigation plans
for investor-owned utilities. Municipal and cooperative electric utilities, which are not regulated
by the Commission, may also submit plans for the Commission's review.
Under the WSCA, if a wildfire results in a lawsuit against an electric utility, there is a
presumption the utility acted without negligence if it reasonably implemented a Commission-
approved mitigation plan.
Each utility's plan includes identifying areas where the utility has infrastructure or equipment
that it considers may be subject to 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 inform the public of relevant wildfire risk as well as efforts to notify the public
of wildfire-related outages, among other items.
Kootenai Electric Cooperative's WMP utilizes a three-year planning horizon.The plan includes a
vegetation management implementation plan, construction work implementation plan and system
inspection implementation plan that forecast the vegetation management, construction and
system inspection work for the next three years.
Commission staff, Kootenai Electric Cooperative and intervenors to the case will start the
process of creating a record that, once completed, will be submitted to the Commission for its
consideration. Intervenors are allowed to participate in the proceedings for applications filed
with the Commission.
Additional information is available at: puc.idaho.gov/case/Details/7682.