When I grew up on the outskirts of Portland, Oregon, wildfires were a Southern California problem. I remember watching the devastation on TV and thinking, “How can people live there?” Fast forward several decades, and wildfires are now a defining challenge across NWPPA’s 10-state Western footprint.
Just a few years ago, wildfires forced emergency evacuations around Portland, and for two weeks, my hometown had the worst air quality in the world. Perhaps the biggest surprise when I became NWPPA’s executive director was learning that wildfires are a major concern for our Alaska members. This is no longer a California-only issue.
Why wildfire policy tops our agenda
NWPPA advocates for sound public policy on behalf of its members. While grid reliability, affordability, hydropower relicensing, and protection of the lower Snake River dams remain critical priorities, wildfire mitigation and prevention policies are at the top of our list. Every utility is just one spark away from disaster.
Utilities have worked hard to educate legislators about the risks, and the recurrence of megafires across the West underscores the urgency. Last winter’s Southern California wildfires devastated communities, claimed more than 30 lives, and caused over $100 billion in damages.
Everyone agrees we have a serious problem. Where consensus breaks down is on the question: What do we do about it?
What we’re hearing from Republicans
One major challenge is that wildfire insurance has become unaffordable—or unavailable altogether. If a utility is found responsible for a fire, the financial consequences can be existential. Republican lawmakers generally oppose federal “disaster insurance” for utilities, likening it to government-backed flood insurance that enables homes to be rebuilt in hurricane-prone areas. Their concern: Don’t incentivize risky behavior.
What we’re hearing from Democrats
Utilities have an obligation to serve customers—even across high-risk landscapes. That service comes with inherent danger, even when utilities act responsibly. Yet plaintiffs’ attorneys often treat utilities as targets. Lawsuits typically begin before the cause of a fire is even determined. PacifiCorp’s potential $6 billion liability for Oregon’s 2020 Labor Day fires is a stark example—especially since the Oregon Department of Forestry later concluded PacifiCorp likely wasn’t responsible.
Republican-led states have passed laws limiting utility liability when utilities follow approved wildfire mitigation plans. Their reasoning: We need electricity, and bankrupting providers doesn’t serve the public. Democratic-led states, where trial lawyers hold significant influence, have been reluctant to adopt similar protections.
Where do we go from here?
There’s no “easy button” for wildfire policy. A drier climate, inadequate vegetation management on federal lands, and more homes built in the wildland-urban interface have created a powder keg. Fires that once were minor now become catastrophic.
At the federal level, progress will likely come in small steps. NWPPA and our partners have actively supported the Fix Our Forests Act, which would allow utilities to remove danger trees within 150 feet of rights of way and streamline removal of downed trees—cutting through federal red tape that slows mitigation. During a Jan. 8 meeting of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife, and Fisheries, Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) added an NWPPA-led letter supporting the act to the official record—noting that our association, representing over 150 public power utilities, has called for its passage. The Fix Our Forests Act enjoys bipartisan support, though some environmental groups oppose it over concerns about commercial logging. Still, given the prevalence of wildfires in blue states, the bill has a strong chance of passing.
In the long term, we must keep fighting for utility protections and demonstrate that public power utilities are responsible partners in wildfire prevention. Wildfire risk isn’t going away, but neither is our commitment to advocate for utilities and the communities they serve.
Kurt Miller
NWPPA CEO & Executive Director
