The path to a safer, more electrified future is not simply doing more—it’s doing the right things, in the right places, with the right economic logic.
Wildfire is now the fastest-growing economic climate risk facing modern electric utilities. Annual disaster losses have surged far beyond those seen in prior decades, driven by hotter temperatures, drier landscapes, population growth in the wildland–urban interface, and a century of well-intended but counterproductive fire suppression.
This information is not news to any regular reader of Energy Central. While lightening causes an estimated 60% all ignitions, and wildfires caused by electric infrastructure remain statistically rare, their impacts are anything but: when a grid-caused ignition occurs, it often fuels the most economically destructive fires.
A worn hook on a PG&E transmission line caused the 2018 Camp Fire. That was a $15 billion catastrophe and the deadliest wildfire in California history. It appears that grid-caused ignitions, though infrequent, ignite under the worst conditions: high winds, low humidity, and proximity to communities. These ignitions tend to become fast-moving, structure-destroying events.
As utilities worldwide grapple with this escalating risk, they face an uncomfortable reality: wildfire mitigation is no longer optional. The twin challenges are how to mitigate as cost effectively as possible and how to incorporate wildfire insights into society’s accelerating push toward electrification.
Every investment in fire safety influences retail rates, customer trust, and the speed with which households adopt EVs, heat pumps, and electric technologies. Likewise, operational mitigations such as Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) and fast-trip settings reduce ignition risk, but they also degrade reliability—directly affecting the social license for electrification to expand.
In short: wildfire mitigation and electrification are intertwined challenges, and utility leaders must navigate both simultaneously.