Just 3% of wildfires are caused by power grid equipment…but this minority has caused some major damage. Over the past decade, three fires linked to vegetation contact with power lines (the 2023 Lahaina Fire, the 2021 Marshall Fire, and the 2018 Camp Fire) together killed more than 185 people, destroyed over 20K structures, and caused more than $24B in damage.
To avoid tragedies like these, utilities work to prevent wildfires year-round—monitoring lines, burying wires, and replacing wooden poles with metal ones, among other projects. But on federal land, these life-saving measures often get put on hold.
The problem: Federally managed lands host more than 80K miles of power lines. There, utilities run into a web of permitting rules that can add months (or years) to urgent projects, Eric Grey, vice president of external and government affairs at Edison Electric Institute, told Energy Central.
The fix: Several policy shifts could speed up utilities’ crucial wildfire prevention work on federal lands, including:
The bipartisan Fix Our Forests Act: This could fast-track some forest management projects by exempting certain activities from review under the National Environmental Policy Act. It also proposes widening the required tree clearing areas along power line rights-of-way (ROWs) from 10 to 150 feet. The bill passed the House in Jan. 2025, and it’s now sitting in the Senate. “We urge the Senate to pass this bipartisan bill,” Grey said.
Standardizing regulations across agencies: This recommendation comes from a recent report by the Congressional Research Service. In 2025, 86% of vegetation-caused power outages reported to NERC occurred on lines “largely not subject” to the organization’s Transmission Vegetation Management standards.
Aligning federal approval processes: In January, the Interior Department launched the US Wildland Fire Service, which is “working to streamline permitting and coordination for utilities conducting vegetation management on federal lands,” USWFS told Energy Central in an email.
The stakes: “Every delay jeopardizes the affordability and reliability of the electric grid and increases wildfire risk to utility systems and the communities they serve,” Grey told us.