ASSET HARDENING & INSPECTIONS
Invest in the assets most at risk.
Electric utilities can invest billions without knowing which assets face the greatest wildfire and extreme weather risk. Our risk modeling pinpoints your most vulnerable infrastructure, so you can show the risk reduction value of your resilience investments.
Challenges
The costs of incomplete asset risk data
With finite hardening investments from cost-sensitive commissions, electric utilities face tough decisions about how to maximize their Risk/Spend Efficiency (RSE). Using incomplete data on asset risk exposure heightens risk.
Utility-Caused Wildfires
Despite hardening investments,
continued safety incidents and liability
exposure
Regulatory Penalties
Compliance failures that cost millions
and cause reputational damage
Budget Inefficiency
Hardening low-risk assets while
high-risk assets remain vulnerable
Limited ROI Visibility
Difficulty quantifying which hardening
investments actually reduce risk
Consequence vs. Risk Confusion
Focusing on fire impacts without
considering utility-caused ignition probability
Incomplete Wildfire Mitigation Plans
Inability to show measurable
risk and explain needs at a granular
level
Strategic investments require trusted data.
Technosylva’s validated, transparent intelligence identifies which assets pose the greatest expected wildfire risk and why, giving decision makers and regulators the critical information they need to vet and approve critical asset hardening investment decisions and confidently execute long-term grid planning.
- Wildfire risk data proven by decades of use by utilities, fire agencies and published science.
- Scenario planning to understand what mitigations optimize risk and costs.
- Multiple levels of model transparency to help users understand not only the risks and consequences, but what drives them and why.
- Both decade-level risk analysis for long term asset investments and days-ahead information that can drive shorter term mitigations and inspection schedules.
- Detailed risk data to respond to regulatory requests and compliance reporting
- Risk assessments that mirror the needs of long-term capital planning for utility infrastructure and new customer siting
Highest Expected Risk
Know what to prioritize first.
Segment Undergrounding Prioritization
Identify which circuit segments deliver maximum risk reduction for expensive undergrounding investments
PSPS & EPSS Equipment Deployment
Determine precise and optimal locations for Enhanced Powerline Safety Settings and circuit level shutoffs based on ignition probability and consequence modeling
System Hardening Investments
Prioritize pole upgrades, covered conductor installation, and infrastructure improvements using quantified risk analysis
MAXIMIZE IMPACT
Risk/spend efficiency analysis
Optimize hardening budget allocation from reactive spending to strategic investment. Our RSE analysis helps electric utilities quantify how much risk reduction each asset hardening project will deliver per dollar spent – whether through physical infrastructure upgrades or surgical PSPS operations.
Key Capabilities:
- Analyze risk reduction value for proposed hardening projects
- Compare and prioritize investments based on expected risk reduction per dollar
- Support utility decision-makers data-driven decision making for hardening budget allocation
- Provide quantified analysis for Wildfire Mitigation Plan justification
REAL-TIME RISK MONITORING
Manage change over time.
Static assessments become outdated the moment they’re completed. Our continuous risk monitoring updates asset risk levels based on changing weather conditions, vegetation moisture, and equipment status.
Key Capabilities:
- Dynamic asset hardening priorities that adjust based on current risk conditions
- Proactive identification of emerging high-risk areas before they become critical
- Support for both operational hardening (PSPS) and physical hardening prioritization
- Automated alerts when risk thresholds are exceeded
- Future risk assessment that accounts for changing climate conditions and evolving wildfire risk patterns
REGULATORY COMPLIANCE SUPPORT
Meet evolving requirements.
Support utilities in addressing evolving state and regulatory requirements with comprehensive analysis. Our insights strengthen compliance efforts by providing detailed data utilities can use in their risk assessments and documentation.
Key Capabilities:
- Provide data to support regulatory documentation for system hardening investments
- Offer asset-level insights that inform hardening prioritization decisions
- Supply data to support requirements in Wildfire Mitigation Plan development
INSPECTION PRIORITIZATION CAPABILITIES
Improve reliability.
Optimize inspection schedules, standard operating procedures, and resource allocation by focusing on assets with the highest probability of failure and wildfire risk, rather than following fixed calendar schedules.
Key Capabilities:
- Risk-based inspection scheduling prioritized by failure probability and wildfire consequence
- Prioritized asset maintenance based on likelihood of failure from wildfires
- Automated inspection scheduling based on risk threshold triggers
Trusted by electric utility decision-makers.
Wildfire Prevention Teams
Quantifying and reducing wildfire risk exposure
Grid Planning -Teams
Prioritizing infrastructure hardening and new investments
Operations Team
Planning vegetation management and resource allocation
Regulatory Compliance Officers
Preparing Wildfire Mitigation Plans (WMPs) and responding to regulatory requests
Plan Smarter
Advance your utility’s outage analytics.
Probability of Outage & Failure
Statistical models predict hourly outage probabilities using real-time wind data and detailed asset attributes, identifying which assets are most likely to create ignition sources.
Probability of Ignition
Using the National Fire Danger Rating System, we calculate the probability that burning material will create a wildfire requiring suppression based on fuel moisture, vegetation type, and wind conditions.
Fire Spread Modeling
Fire behavior simulations run thousands of scenarios per location to predict spread patterns, enabling true expected risk calculation (probability × consequence) rather than consequence-only assessments.
“I worked in wildfire risk assessment and mitigation for several years in California, becoming a seasoned partner with Technosylva at multiple California utilities. When I arrived at Xcel Energy, and I was tasked with continuing to build wildfire mitigation programs across a multi-state jurisdiction, I was pleased that Xcel had partnered with Technosylva to build its initial toolset, and expanding these capabilities across the expanded service territory was the natural choice to deliver quality analysis and modeling in an accelerated time frame. In the face of more frequent extreme weather events, these tools equip us with the situational awareness to make informed decisions in both our grid operations and our system hardening investments to mitigate against ignitions associated with our electrical facilities in the least disruptive manner for our customers.”
Paul McGregor, Xcel EnergyVice President, Wildfire Risk Management
Related Reading
Discuss your asset hardening strategy.
We’ll help you better understand your wildfire and extreme weather risks and discuss your next steps. Tell us what you need, and we’ll connect you with the right team member.