Wildfire Mitigation Plan

Our Wildfire Mitigation Plan represents our commitment to protecting our customers and the communities in Montana from the growing threat of wildfires.
Read the Plan

NorthWestern Energy's presentation to the Montana PSC

Cover of our Wildfire Mitigation Plan on a white background

NorthWestern Energy's presentation to the Montana PSC

On May 5, 2024, NorthWestern Energy presented our Wildfire Mitigation Plan to the Montana Public Service Commission. Press the play button to watch that presentation.

Due to the growing threat of catastrophic wildfires, NorthWestern Energy is exploring new ways to protect our customers and communities from wildfires. Our 2024 Wildfire Mitigation Plan identifies risks and implement strategies to reduce or manage these risks.

Our Wildfire Mitigation Plan represents our commitment to protecting our customers and the communities in Montana from this growing threat. We have worked with numerous community stakeholders, first responders, and peer energy companies to develop our plan, while also leveraging the expertise of our internal teams who have an in-depth understanding of our electrical infrastructure.

We expect wildfire risk to continue to grow in the coming years and decades, but NorthWestern Energy continues to be committed to providing safe and reliable energy to our customers. Our Wildfire Mitigation Plan is key to achieving that mission.

A Resilient Electrical Grid

A Resilient Electrical Grid

Starting in 2010, NorthWestern Energy began a major investment in our electrical grid. Our vision was for a distribution system that is reliable, able to grow, optimized, responsive to all customers, energy efficient, cost effective and state of the art. While these investments did not focus specifically on wildfire mitigation, effective management of our transmission and distribution assets provided a foundational core to reduce wildfire risk.

Vegetation Management

Two photos show how we clear our rights of way.

Vegetation Management

We have proactive efforts in place to mitigate trees or tree branches falling into power lines, to maintain healthy forests and to decrease fuel loading. This includes doing aerial and ground assessment of our powerlines and removing any vegetation that is at high-risk of causing a wildfire.

Situational Awareness

Transmission lines at sunset

Situational Awareness

We have a Wildfire Operational department which focuses on monitoring weather forecasts and environmental conditions across our service territory. We’re also  implementing new field cameras that will allow us to monitor our system and detect wildfires as soon as they start.

Smoke-detection cameras

NorthWestern Energy has installed smoke detection cameras across our Montana service territory to help identify wildfires as soon as they start.
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Operational Practices

A substation in a rural, mountainous area.

Operational Practices

New system technologies provide us with the ability to actively change how the electrical grid operates during high-risk conditions. We may also adjust work practices such as tool choice, vehicle access routes or the potential stoppage of proactive work.

System Preparedness

System Preparedness

We’re increasing the scope and frequency of ground and aerial assessments of our electrical system so we can repair issues before they cause fires. We’re also using a technology called Lidar to evaluate portions of the system and using a risk model to prioritize maintenance work.

Communication and Outreach

Key Accounts specialist Paul Mantz smiles and shakes hands.

Communication and Outreach

Ensuring the safety of customers and the public is of utmost importance to NorthWestern. The strategy to achieve this includes informing the public on NorthWestern’s efforts to mitigate wildfire risk, proactively communicating as event conditions change, potentially causing interruption to electric service, and outreach after an event has occurred to keep the public apprised of the situation.

Public Safety Power Shutoffs

Public Safety Power Shutoffs

As a last resort, we will de-energize electrical infrastructure in specific areas, during periods of time where the risks of continuing to operate electrical infrastructure are unacceptably high. Known as Public Safety Power Shutoffs, or PSPS, this is an increasingly common method for energy companies to prevent wildfires.
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2024 Wildfire Mitigation Plan

Cover of our Wildfire Mitigation Plan on a white background

2024 Wildfire Mitigation Plan

Our Wildfire Mitigation Plan represents our commitment to protecting our customers and the communities in Montana from the growing threat of wildfires.
Read the Plan