Utility Workers

BEAR VALLEY ELECTRIC SERVICE

Ready for the Climate Future

Bear Valley Electric Service integrates the changing climate into wildfire mitigation

Bear Valley Electric Service

Located in a high fire-threat district, Bear Valley Electric Service (BVES) faced the challenge of mitigating wildfire risk in a dynamic and changing climate. It needed to conduct forward-looking mitigation planning that accounted for the future impacts of climate changes, while also evaluating and reducing ignition and Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) risk across its circuits.

  • Holistic Planning: Added the ability to conduct long-term risk mitigation planning and review overall risk levels.
  • Future-Proof Mitigation: Incorporated 2030 climate condition models into their analysis to ensure grid hardening efforts are effective for future wildfire and outage risk reduction.
  • Risk-Based Prioritization: Prioritized asset-level risk at the circuit-level for daily decision-making as well as long-term risk reduction

Source: Bear Valley Electric Service 2026-2028 Wildfire Mitigation Plan

Utility Worker

Bear Valley’s approach to integrating future climate projections into their wildfire mitigations strengthens long-term resilience in the face of California’s evolving wildfire challenge.

 

Our Solution

To address these challenges, Bear Valley Electric Service has implemented several solutions from Technosylva. These models are used to quantify wildfire risk, analyze extreme-event scenarios, and draw inputs for a broader risk model to evaluate ignition and PSPS risk.

What We Delivered:

  • Wildfire Analyst: Real-time modeling for fire spread and consequence analysis.
  • Planning Model: Long-term planning tool integrating climate projections into risk assessment.
  • Fire Potential Index (FPI): Scenario-based analysis of ignition and PSPS risks under extreme conditions.

Customer Impact

A standout use of Technosylva’s solution is the integration of future climate projections into Bear Valley’s planning. BVES utilized the Technosylva FireSight model with future 2030 projected fuels and environmental conditions. This forward-looking approach ensures that the utility’s wildfire mitigation planning is effective for both current and future conditions, including the dynamic impacts of climate change.

Timeline: Ongoing partnership with continuous platform enhancements

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