Smokey skies, scratchy throats and watery eyes are all too familiar to western Montanans during fire season. Although unwelcome, these inconveniences pale compared to the devastation wildfires can leave behind. Wildfire size, frequency and severity have risen year-over-year, prompting a critical response from electric utilities.
Responsible for powering some of the nation’s most fire-prone, fuel-dense areas, MEC’s policies, programs and procedures must manage or reduce the risk of system-caused wildfires. In 2020, MEC developed a comprehensive Wildfire Mitigation Plan (WMP), which has proven essential to operations, and details strategies, programs, technologies and operational practices the Co-op has implemented to reduce the potential of system ignitions.
A key component of our WMP includes a full-system inspection every two years. These observations are identified in our plan as safety patrols and Right-of-Way (ROW) inspections and allow for more timely detection and repair of maintenance issues and for removing hazardous trees or vegetation. High-risk areas have been identified as “Wildland Urban Interface,” or intersections of heavy development and fuel-dense, fire-prone areas. These areas are a priority and are inspected and cleared annually before wildfire season.
Our Tree Trimmer Lead is designated as the primary inspector tasked with safety patrols and ROW inspections across our system. The Lead is responsible for setting and maintaining high standards and lending a meticulous, consistent eye to our territory. In addition to training as an arborist skilled in identifying hazardous trees and vegetation, the Lead has been trained to recognize and document line maintenance issues requiring attention before problems occur. Once inspections are complete, issues are assigned a priority level for follow-up work.
With an expansive service territory, several high-risk areas and time-sensitive priorities, MEC added two additional Tree Trimmers to our Seeley Lake ROW Crew in 2022. The additions allowed us to cut all high and medium-priority hazards identified during inspections. In addition, we completed our annual safety patrols and ROW inspections, which include service territories south and west of Missoula and all high-priority work found during inspections. Our crews have also completed the annual inspection of the high-risk areas, including Huson, Rock Creek, Potomac, Seeley Lake and MEC’s transmission corridor. As the year progresses, crews will continue cutting and clearing sites identified as low priority.
In addition, considerable progress was made on our Strategic Maintenance and Reliability Taskforce (SMART) program last year. Focused on aggressive line maintenance and system hardening, MEC line crews worked through the SMART program, focusing on the Lolo and Potomac areas. Rocky Mountain Contractors supported our crew’s efforts in the Double Arrow and Nine Mile areas.
MEC’s Line Crews recognize their potential impact and take proactive safety measures during wildfire season. As outlined in the WMP, these operational measures help the Co-op establish a baseline for how we accomplish daily tasks while reducing our impact. We developed the “Escalating Conditions Matrix” tool to guide operations as fire restriction stages intensify. Some of the operational modifications include adding water tanks and pumps on trucks, using equipment like shovels, Pulaski’s and battery-powered chainsaws, and relying on the Daily Situational Analysis Tool (DSAT). The DSAT was introduced in 2022 and is a vital tool that gives us a six-day predictive weather forecast, allowing us time to modify operations and reprioritize jobs, especially during “red-flag” events.
As fire season approaches, it is important to remember that if fire conditions necessitate, we may shift portions of our system to what we call “non-reclose.” Under normal conditions, lights will often blink before power is interrupted. These blinks improve reliability as equipment on the line attempts to clear the fault without a prolonged outage. However, the attempt can be a source of elevated fire risk. When set to non-reclose, lights won’t blink but will interrupt power. This modification significantly reduces the risk of a powerline-sparked wildfire. The downside is that crews must manually patrol 100% of the line before restoring power, which can lead to more frequent and prolonged outages in impacted areas.
MEC prides itself on being a leader and partner in wildfire mitigation across the Northwest. We have shared our mitigation strategies at national conferences and offered our plan as a framework for others. As wildfire mitigation becomes increasingly important, you would be hard-pressed to find a cooperative that is not taking proactive measures. For many, this includes the creation of a Wildfire Mitigation Plan, undergrounding lines when feasible, inspecting and clearing lines, using predictive data analytics and hardening systems. Some strategies to harden systems include covering exposed conductors to reduce sparks, installing non-combustible poles and treating poles to prevent burning. The use of advanced technology, like satellite imagery and drone inspections, to identify risk areas has also risen.
The safety of our members and their communities is our priority and responsibility. We encourage you to go outside and walk around your property. Could any of your trees impact a power line? If the answer is yes, give us a call. Our ROW crew can remove or trim trees or vegetation progressing toward or leaning on our lines. Alternatively, suppose you are contacted about a tree needing to be trimmed or removed on your property. In that case, these trees have been identified as having a potential impact on service reliability and, in some cases, could lead to wildfires. Another proactive measure is to plant large, fast-growing trees at least ten feet away from the lines at maturity. Finally, if you’re in a fuel-dense area, create a defensible space around your property by trimming trees and removing debris.
Our territory is vast and spans several fuel-dense national forests that are susceptible to wildfire. Not only that, but summers are hot and dry, which puts us in a higher risk category. These, among others, are significant reasons why MEC is deeply invested in wildfire mitigation.
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