Wildfire-preparedness

Wildfire preparedness

How PSE prepares

Wildfires have emerged as a growing public safety concern for much of the Western United States. We are taking a comprehensive approach to mitigating the evolving risk of wildfires, working to ensure safety while maintaining the reliable delivery of energy.

Many of our wildfire-related actions also help protect our system from other hazards, like high winds and winter storms. Other steps are unique to wildfires.

Our Wildfire Mitigation and Response Plan for 2022 outlines our year-round efforts to prepare for, and help prevent, wildfires in PSE's service area. As a part of our plan, we're inviting communities at a higher risk for wildfires to discuss our mitigation plan and future tools under consideration. This includes the possibility of proactively turning off power during high-risk weather conditions, known as Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS).

Past wildfire community meetings

June 8 community meeting for Ronald, Roslyn and west Cle Elum area

July 20 community meeting for Greenwater area

October 5 community meeting for Cle Elum area

2022 community meetings

Summary report

Thank you to everyone who participated in our community meetings on wildfire preparedness!

Couldn’t make it to a meeting? You can share your feedback using the online comment form below, or by emailing wildfire.response@pse.com.

What is a Public Safety Power Shutoff?

During high-risk weather conditions, PSE may need to proactively turn off power lines to help prevent wildfires. This is called a Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS).

PSE understands that losing power can create significant inconvenience and hardship for customers. We would turn off power only in emergencies, and would like to help customers prepare for this situation. We’re engaging with communities now to get feedback as we develop plans to use a PSPS in the future.