Wildfire Resilience as a Grid Imperative: Lessons from SDG&E’s Wildfire and Climate Resilience Center April 23, 2025 | By Jared Leader Earlier this month, SEPA members and participants of the Energy Evolution Summit toured San Diego Gas & Electric’s (SDG&E) state-of-the-art Wildfire and Climate Resilience Center. I got a firsthand look at all of the dashboard bells and whistles and fully grasped the significance of operationalizing wildfire resilience as a core utility planning function. In Southern California, the stakes are high. Thousands of miles of overhead lines rip through some of the country’s most fire-prone terrain. As a result, SDG&E has established one of the country’s most advanced and data-driven wildfire mitigation strategies. While not all the learnings in California are replicable in other geographies, elements of SDG&E’s approach, such as risk quantification, predictive modeling, and cross-agency coordination, are transferable for utilities and regulators outside of the wildfire-prone West. Case Study: Wildfire Mitigation and Resilience at SDG&E The 2007 Witch Fire was the catalyst event spurring SDG&E’s mitigation and resilience efforts. As presented by SDG&E, this was the event that changed the course of how SDG&E approached the wildfire space. From that moment forward, wildfire planning became a central function within their utility operations. In the past 18 years, SDG&E has built out five key elements of their strategy: Situational Awareness Predictive Modeling Grid Hardening and AI-Driven Inspection and Detection Quantifying Risk and Resilience Internal and External Coordination and Partnerships #1 – Situational Awareness: Real-Time, Circuit-Level Intelligence SDG&E’s advanced utility weather network consists of 223 weather stations tied to their distribution circuits that feed into their Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) dashboard. The dashboard and mapping tools detect and overlay wind speeds, satellite-based grass moisture, field-sampled fuel data, and sensor-based fuel moisture to create a Fire Potential Index that SDG&E uses to make daily operational decisions. Situation Awareness #2 – Predictive Modeling: Simulating Fire Before It Starts SDG&E also developed an in-house Wildfire Analyst tool that they use daily. The tool uses predictive analytics to simulate fire behaviors based on real-time weather, terrain, and fuel data, providing information about expected flame length, spread direction, and community impact zones so key decision-makers in the emergency operations center can make real-time operational decisions. Wildfire simulation snapshot showing 8-hour risk growth zones and key energy infrastructure assets at risk. #3 – Grid Hardening and AI-Driven Inspection and Detection SDG&E uses AI and drone technology to inspect and detect system vulnerabilities and identify grid-hardening projects. Drone inspection workflow: from aerial circuit monitoring to repair prioritization and dashboard updates. Each investment SDG&E makes is guided through a process of quantifying the impact on wildfire reduction, monetizing that value, and evaluating cost and benefits to make investment decisions, which is described in more detail below. Using this approach, SDG&E has successfully completed the following additional mitigative measures: 315+ miles of undergrounding 181 miles of covered conductor 142 miles of transmission hardening 66,900+ miles of vegetation maintenance 3.4 million gallons of aerial fire suppression 25,400 equipment replacements 466,000+ structure inspections 793,000 miles of distribution infrastructure checked 13,500 drone flights with AI image analysis Vegetation inspection covering 2.6 million miles #4 – Quantifying Risk and Resilience With the increase in recent fire-related tragedies in California and worldwide, safety is always the number one priority behind resilience investments. Nevertheless, SDG&E is innovating on practical frameworks that translate engineering interventions to monetized, risk-reduction value. Their WiNGS Planning Model is a cloud-based platform that uses real-time data and wildfire modeling to help prevent utility-related wildfires. The model assigns a quantified risk score to each segment of the distribution and transmission grid based on circuit ignition probability, vegetation exposure, asset condition, wind profiles, and customer vulnerability. SDG&E prioritizes risk reduction investments in areas that score as high risk in the WiNGS model by quantifying risk and converting it into a dollar value based liability, outage costs, and public health metrics. This dollar value represents an annualized benefit based on the consequence cost per fire. These benefits, compared to the cost of undergrounding infrastructure, could yield a positive cost-benefit ratio. Additional monetizable benefits include avoided fire suppression and infrastructure loss, avoided litigation and regulatory fines, reduced restoration labor and outage duration, and insurance premiums. Steps to calculate the benefit-cost ratio: quantify risk, monetize impacts, and achieve regulatory approval. This approach of monetizing risk helps SDG&E demonstrate that undergrounding, while expensive, can be a high-value, long-term resilience investment. SDG&E integrates this methodology into California’s Risk Assessment Mitigation Phase (RAMP) and General Rate Case processes to ensure regulatory transparency and internal project prioritization. #5 – Internal and External Stakeholder Coordination and Partnerships SDG&E takes a multi-pronged approach to coordinate with their partners to act on and make decisions based on shared data in a shared space. Their wildfire resilience strategy operates across several internal departments and a wide network of external parties including local governments, tribal governments, and state agencies and regulators. Such an approach offers important lessons for utilities seeking to build trust and maintain transparency. They are not only protecting assets but also protecting communities through a variety of activities, including: 24/7 Emergency Operations Center with embedded meteorology, legal, climate, and operations staff Public Safety Partner Portal for shared situational awareness with tribes, fire departments, and emergency managers Community outreach, including 72/48/24-hour alerts, pre-season town halls, and vulnerability mapping What Other Utilities Can Learn and Replicate SDG&E’s mindset makes their approach a replicable model for their peers in the industry, by treating resilience as a core grid function and not as an add-on. SDG&E’s model demonstrates a benchmark for how utilities can combine data, investment planning, and public engagement to protect communities and grid infrastructure. Want to go deeper? SEPA is hosting a 5-part Wildfire Webinar series later this month through May, featuring: Education on assessing wildfire risks and vulnerabilities Examples of utility wildfire mitigation plans Insights from technology experts on the latest and greatest in wildfire mitigation technology Policy and regulatory trends shaping the future of wildfire mitigation Register here: https://sepapower.org/event/wildfire-webinar-series/ Interested in the 2026 Energy Evolution Summit or our upcoming Executive Fact Finding Mission to Portugal? Explore more here: https://sepapower.org/sepa-executive-events/ Share Share on TwitterShare on FacebookShare on LinkedIn About the Author Jared Leader Senior Director, Research & Industry Strategy | Resilience Jared joined SEPA in 2017. In his role, he develops strategic plans for programs, products, and service offerings for utility and industry stakeholder members and clients that facilitate the integration of distributed energy resources, non-wires alternatives and microgrids onto the modern grid. Jared leads SEPA’s Microgrids Working Group and co-led D.C. Public Service Commission’s grid modernization working groups. Prior to joining SEPA, he spent several years working as an environmental engineer and consultant for utility, municipal and commercial clients in the energy and water sectors. He has a MS, Energy Policy and Climate from Johns Hopkins University, and a BS in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Virginia. Outside of business hours, Jared enjoys skiing, hiking and spending time in the great outdoors. Follow Jared LinkedIn