Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Staff Hosting Technical Conference on Wildfire Risk Mitigation

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Staff will host a technical conference to discuss cost-effective, best practices for reducing wildfire risks associated with the Bulk-Power System. The conference will be Tuesday, October 21, 2025, from approximately 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET. The conference will be open to the public and live streamed.

The technical conference follows Exec. Order No. 14308 urging federal agencies to “consider initiating rulemaking proceedings to establish, as consistent with applicable law, best practices to reduce the risk of wildfire ignition from the bulk-power system without increasing costs for electric-power end users[.]” In response, FERC directed the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) to assess wildfire risks and best practices. FERC also announced this technical conference to solicit expert input on wildfire mitigation. Panel 1 will be discussing grid-focused best practices and Panel 2 will be considering technological solutions. The conference will also examine the costs, cost recovery, and incentives related to wildfire mitigation technologies and practices, including metrics to measure effectiveness. FERC recently supplemented its notice, announcing that discussions may involve issues raised in proceedings that are currently pending before FERC.