Colorado Public Utilities Commission starts process for wildfire, shutoff rules
Staff proposals would require updated wildfire plans and staged shutoff notices; commissioners also raised enforcement and customer updates during outages.
The Colorado Public Utilities Commission voted Sept. 23 to begin developing rules for investor-owned utilities’ wildfire mitigation plans and planned power shutoffs, a process that could set new expectations for how utilities assess fire risk and communicate during outages.
The commission approved staff’s recommendation to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking and refer the matter to an administrative law judge. It also approved a proposed schedule calling for initial comments by Nov. 2, responses by Nov. 16 and an initial public-comment hearing Nov. 23, the meeting transcript shows. The requirements remain proposals and are not yet in effect.
Under staff’s proposed framework, utilities would file wildfire mitigation plans every three years and update them annually. The plans would include quantitative wildfire-risk assessments and explain how utilities choose and track risk-reduction measures. The proposals also call for reports on implementation and performance.
For public-safety power shutoffs — temporary outages intended to reduce wildfire danger — utilities would have to plan for outages, coordinate with affected communities and agencies, and notify customers at different stages. Staff proposed advance notice windows ranging from 48 to 72 hours for priority notifications to one to four hours for notices to all potentially affected customers.
Staff also proposed procedures for restoring power, including an expectation that service be restored within 24 hours after an all-clear unless doing so would be unsafe. Utilities would submit post-event reports within 10 business days.
Commissioners raised questions about customer updates during outages and what could happen if utilities failed to follow notification requirements. Staff said its proposal did not specify penalties for failures involving wildfire or shutoff notifications, though existing commission processes include formal complaints and show-cause proceedings. Commissioners asked staff to encourage public input on enforcement.
Commissioner Rebecca Plant pressed for clearer guidance on regular customer updates during a shutoff, including restoration progress and expected timing. Staff said its proposal called for restoration procedures and progress reporting but did not set specific timelines for restoration notifications, as it did for advance shutoff notices.