The North American Electric Reliability Corporation recently filed a Wildfire Action Plan with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which outlines coordinated work to strengthen wildfire situational awareness, mitigation, engagement, and standards development over the next three years.
NERC’s Wildfire Action Plan lays out a roadmap for addressing reliability challenges related to wildfires and includes the following elements:
• A wildfire reliability guideline, to be filed in 2027
• A review of one or more Reliability Standards, to begin in 2028
• Ongoing engagement and outreach with industry stakeholders, the North American Transmission Forum, and federal authorities
“Today’s heightened risk environment calls for concerted action,” said Darrell Moore, NERC’s director of Reliability Risk Management. “The Wildfire Action Plan identifies concrete steps that NERC will undertake, in close collaboration with stakeholders, to reduce the risk of wildfires being ignited by the bulk power system, and their potential impacts of wildfires on grid reliability.”
NERC also released a new Wildfire Mitigation: Canadian Perspectives report that identifies key actions to help industry address wildfire-related risks.
The new report is based on discussions at the Canadian Wildfire Mitigation Workshop, held April 8–9, 2026 in Calgary, Alberta, and jointly convened by NERC and Electricity Canada. The workshop brought together electric utilities, reliability organizations, government agencies, researchers, and technology providers to discuss wildfire risks and potential mitigation approaches.
The workshop, resulting Canadian-focused report, and action plan follow up on NERC’s May 2026 report outlining current industry practices and recommendations to mitigate wildfire ignition risk, as well as NERC’s updated Wildfire Mitigation Guide, first released in 2021.
The American Public Power Association offers its members a collection of resources to assist utilities in crafting their wildfire mitigation plans.
NERC has also launched an initiative page to centralize wildfire-related reports, guidance, and resources for stakeholders.
