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Wildfires present a challenge to utilities that can impact many customers and create safety concerns. This risk is a growing concern for all utilities and there are many efforts to develop best practices throughout the industry to address and mitigate the risk of wildfires. Benton PUD’s primary mission is to provide safe, reliable, and affordable electric service for our customers. To support achieving this goal Benton PUD is committed to an ongoing assessment of our electricity delivery infrastructure, our design and construction standards and our operating and maintenance practices to help minimize the risk of igniting wildfires.
Development of this Plan included a risk-based evaluation to improve operational practices, enhance existing preventative and response plans, and strengthen the coordination of responsibilities within the utility.
Benton PUD has developed a Wildfire Mitigation Map for our service territory designating our highest risk areas which are the Hanford and Horse Heaven locations.
There are three major areas the District has developed or enhanced to mitigate wildfire risk in the designated areas:
- Hardening of the Electric System - Includes modifying construction standards to include options for increased conductor phase spacing and additional wildlife cover, using Ductile Iron poles for transmission switches and more complex construction, and implementing additional line patrols using infrared equipment to detect hot spots on the line.
- System Coordination and Technology - Includes replacing expulsion fuses with non-expulsion current limiting fuses, disabling automatic reclose settings for the summer months on reclosers that serve these areas and setting the reclosers to non-reclose , adding additional protective reclosers and tripsavers in order to sectionalize more of the electrical system in the designated areas.
- Vegetation Management - Includes systematic tree and brush pruning in a manner that covers the entire service territory over a three-year period and extending the pole sterilization around each pole in these areas. Additional line patrols will help verify the need for any extra trimming in the designated high risk areas.
The District continues our commitment to partner and work closely with Emergency Responders in preventing wildfires and assisting during these events.
While it is difficult to prevent all wildfires, the District is committed to continuing to explore utility best practices as they develop; and to improve processes and construction standards and implement new technologies to address this challenge.
