Utility Wildfire Mitigation

The Utility Wildfire Mitigation Program, part of CAL FIRE's Community Wildfire Preparedness and Mitigation Division, addresses electric utility-related wildfire prevention. Created in 2018 by Senate Bills 1028 and 901 in response to utility-caused fires and climate change, it acts as a liaison between CAL FIRE, electric utilities, and state agencies. This program also oversees annual utility wildfire mitigation plans, legislation reviews, PSPS event monitoring, and the selection of independent evaluators. It supports CAL FIRE power line inspections and enforces California Public Resources Codes 4292 and 4293 regarding vegetation clearance around power lines and poles.

Geographic Scope of Utilities

The IOU service territories cover the vast majority of California, but there are also numerous publicly-owned utilities (POUs) and electric cooperatives and tribal entities. Both IOUs and other utilities are required to regularly submit wildfire mitigation plans to regulators. The California Energy Commission (CEC) provides a PDF map of utility territories as well as territory GIS data.

Map of Utility Territories

Territory GIS data

Public Resources Codes 4292 and 4293 Clearance and Related Regulations

Vegetation can strike power lines, leading to arcs and sparks that can cause fires. Power poles also hold electric utility equipment that can cause fires. Laws enforced by CAL FIRE are in place to prevent or minimize these kinds of fires by requiring vegetation clearance around power lines and power poles under certain circumstances. These laws are Public Resources Codes (PRCs) 4292 and 4293. To fully understand these PRCs, you need to be familiar with more regulations than just PRCs 4292 and 4293 on their own. PRCs 4294 to 4296 and sections 1250 to 1258 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations (CCR) cover important aspects of PRCs 4292 and 4293, including various exceptions. See the sections below.

Except as otherwise provided in Section 4296, any person that owns, controls, operates, or maintains any electrical transmission or distribution line upon any mountainous land, or forest-covered land, brush-covered land, or grass-covered land shall, during such times and in such areas as are determined to be necessary by the director or the agency which has primary responsibility for fire protection of such areas, maintain around and adjacent to any pole or tower which supports a switch, fuse, transformer, lightning arrester, line junction, or dead end or corner pole, a firebreak which consists of a clearing of not less than 10 feet in each direction from the outer circumference of such pole or tower. This section does not, however, apply to any line which is used exclusively as telephone, telegraph, telephone or telegraph messenger call, fire or alarm line, or other line which is classed as a communication circuit by the Public Utilities Commission. The director or the agency which has primary fire protection responsibility for the protection of such areas may permit exceptions from the requirements of this section which are based upon the specific circumstances involved.

(Amended by Stats. 1976, Ch. 1300.)

- https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=4292&lawCode=PRC

Except as otherwise provided in Sections 4294 to 4296, inclusive, any person that owns, controls, operates, or maintains any electrical transmission or distribution line upon any mountainous land, or in forest-covered land, brush-covered land, or grass-covered land shall, during such times and in such areas as are determined to be necessary by the director or the agency which has primary responsibility for the fire protection of such areas, maintain a clearance of the respective distances which are specified in this section in all directions between all vegetation and all conductors which are carrying electric current:

(a) For any line which is operating at 2,400 or more volts, but less than 72,000 volts, four feet.

(b) For any line which is operating at 72,000 or more volts, but less than 110,000 volts, six feet.

In every case, such distance shall be sufficiently great to furnish the required clearance at any position of the wire, or conductor when the adjacent air temperature is 120 degrees Fahrenheit, or less. Dead trees, old decadent or rotten trees, trees weakened by decay or disease and trees or portions thereof that are leaning toward the line which may contact the line from the side or may fall on the line shall be felled, cut, or trimmed so as to remove such hazard. The director or the agency which has primary responsibility for the fire protection of such areas may permit exceptions from the requirements of this section which are based upon the specific circumstances involved.

(Amended by Stats. 1976, Ch. 1300.)

- https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=4293&lawCode=PRC