Get AI Briefings, Transcripts & Alerts on Local & National Government Meetings — Forever.
Energy Safety says it will fold WSAB recommendations into revised WMP guidelines; sets near-term workshops
Loading...
Summary
Energy Safety told the board it generally agrees with nine recommendations from the 2025 WSAB report and plans to revise and publish wildfire mitigation plan guideline chapters to implement SB 254 and incorporate many recommendations, with public workshops planned beginning mid-December.
Energy Safety officials told the Wildfire Safety Advisory Board on Dec. 3 that the agency broadly accepts the board's 2025 recommendations and will move to incorporate many of them into its wildfire mitigation plan (WMP) guidance as it implements new statutory requirements from Senate Bill 254.
"Generally, we agree with these recommendations and what the slides walk us through," Nicole Dunlap, program manager in Energy Safety's Electrical Safety Policy Division, said during a presentation that reviewed nine recommendations covering WMP requirements, performance metrics and safety culture. She said Energy Safety "intends on revising and publishing its WMP guidelines sooner than previously expected" and is aiming to publish revised guidance chapters by the end of next year.
Dunlap described staff plans to require more transparency on fire-weather indices and effectiveness metrics, encourage utilities to report how combined mitigation activities are measured, and evaluate options for standardized measurement units where appropriate. She noted SB 254 also requires new WMP technical items, such as an estimated cost per avoided ignition, and that aligning IOU WMP cycles with CPUC general rate cases will change submission timing.
Energy Safety also described its risk-model working group and safety culture work stream. Dunlap said the agency is completing safety culture assessment reports from 2024 and expects to publish related decisions soon; she said the statutory change from SB 254 converts annual safety certifications into a different certificate cadence.
Board members responded positively and asked staff to pursue more detailed collaboration through working groups and workshops. Energy Safety said it plans a workshop (tentatively Dec. 17) to solicit stakeholder feedback on how to implement the new WMP requirements under SB 254.
The presentation and supporting slides will be published on Energy Safety's public docket, and staff said they will provide follow-up materials and notices for the planned stakeholder workshop.
