For years, researchers at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) have tackled wildfire threat from the field observing how wildfires spread and studying the combination of conditions that help them ignite and how to make that ignition less likely. Now, PNNL's Wildfire Risk and Resilience program, with support from the Department of Energy's Office of Electricity, is turning that research into practical solutions to help utilities stay ahead of the flames.
Last year, PNNL released the Wildfire Mitigation Plan Database with more than 400 wildfire mitigation plans from 170 utilities across 19 states. The database was recently updated with a custom AI research assistant that allows users to ask questions and get answers with source references from hundreds of plans. Users can also filter AI answers by state or utility type, for example, to view plans for co-op utilities in Oregon or Washington.
Rebecca O'Neil, primary investigator for the Wildfire Mitigation Plan Database, describes why this tool is a valuable resource for utilities and how they have used the database and its AI features in their work. Watch the full video.(Video by Graham Bourque | Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)
"What sets this AI tool apart is that it's trained specifically on content in the database and the output has been reviewed by numerous experts," said Andre Coleman, a chief scientist at PNNL. "It goes beyond keyword searches to help planners quickly find the insights they need to plan their own mitigation approach."
PNNL also compiled a library of analytical resources, which highlights key statistics and insights of mitigation plans, distribution patterns, and trends from the database in an accessible and citable format.
Watch this webinar to learn how to use the database and its AI analysis features.
Better wildfire protection starts with better mitigation planning
Wildfires pose a serious threat not just to lives and homes, but also to the nation's electric grid. Fires can damage critical energy assets, cause outages, and hinder emergency response efforts. Likewise, electrical assets themselves can spark ignitions, leading to operational constraints and risk even from the mere presence of wildfire hazards.
To combat this threat, utilities, energy planners, and state agencies have started factoring wildfire risk into long-term infrastructure and regulatory decisions. Even in the Eastern United States, once largely unaffected by wildfires, utilities are now learning to harden energy systems and reduce liability.
To create a plan to protect infrastructure from wildfire, a utility needs to understand how vulnerable it is to fire. PNNL's program focuses in part on helping utilities better understand and measure their wildfire resilience with industry-wide standards and metrics. Organizing complex data into clear categories like infrastructure strength, response capacity, and recovery speed gives utilities a practical road map for reducing risk.
This online tool lets users see how different utilities assess wildfire risk and what tactics they use to prevent ignitions and outages, while improving system reliability and resilience.
Amber Churchill, a management and program analyst for wildfire mitigation at Bonneville Power Administration, was an early user and says the database has been an essential resource.
"The database helps us compare wildfire mitigation strategies and best practices with other utilities, encouraging continuous improvement and driving innovation," said Churchill. "With actionable insight, benchmarking utility performance and standards feels more like a science."
The database will continue to be updated with plans from across the country as they become available.
Meet the Wildfire team and learn how wildfires are affecting affordable electricity
The Wildfire Risk and Resilience team is hosting Burn Rate, a three-part webinar series exploring the impact of wildfires on electricity costs. The webinar will look at direct and indirect costs to utilities from wildfire risks, how these costs are reflected in utility rates, and strategies for improving affordability through smart mitigation investments and financial structures. The first part is scheduled for Tuesday, April 28 at 10 a.m. Pacific. Visit our events page to learn more and register for each session.
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory draws on its distinguishing strengths in chemistry, Earth sciences, biology and data science to advance scientific knowledge and address challenges in energy resiliency and national security. Founded in 1965, PNNL is operated by Battelle and supported by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy. The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit the DOE Office of Science website. For more information about PNNL, visit PNNL's News Center. Follow us on X, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.
Article by Elsie Puig-Santana, PNNL
