The nation’s electric utilities could help reduce America’s wildfires if federal lawmakers would cut the red tape that minimizes their forest management efforts, said U.S. Reps. Greg Walden (R-OR) and Fred Upton (R-MI) during a joint hearing held on Jan. 28 by the U.S. House Energy and Commerce (E&C) Subcommittee on Energy and the House E&C Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change.
“Government red tape continues to stand in the way of commonsense hazard tree removal or grid safety improvements in utility rights of way,” said Rep. Walden, ranking member of the E&C Committee. “While climate plays a roll, I think the evidence remains overwhelming that increasingly intense fires seasons are driven by the decades of poor management that has left our federal forests overstocked with trees.”
Rep. Upton, an E&C Committee member who serves as chairman of its energy subcommittee, agreed.
“There is no question that the biggest driver of the recent wildfires is decades of mismanagement of our nation’s forests,” Rep. Upton said. “Yes, climate change is playing a role, but the evidence suggests that our direct impact to the land and the way we manage our forests has a lot to do with the situation we are facing today.”
Tuesday’s joint subcommittee hearing, entitled “Out of Control: The Impact of Wildfires on Our Power Sector and Environment,” is the third such hearing the E&C Committee has held over the last few years; two were held during the 115th Congress.
Rep. Walden said during his opening remarks that Oregon and California have adopted strategies for responding to forest fires, including coordination with utility companies to turn off power to high-risk areas if necessary.
“This past year we witnessed how this risk-reduction practice put two million people in the dark just as windstorms were threatening new wildfires,” said Rep. Walden. “But we also know this strategy is not without negative consequences for people who have special medical needs that require electricity without interruption.”
These so-called “public safety power shutoffs” are an attempt to prevent wildfires from being started by electrical equipment during strong winds and dry weather, said Rep. Upton.
“These blackouts have resulted in cascading effects, causing widespread interruptions affecting public safety, healthcare, transportation, and other government services,” he added. “These proactive blackouts are simply not sustainable.”
Both lawmakers agreed that the nation’s power utilities and government regulators should take an “all hazards” approach.
“Now, more than ever, we should be focused on grid reliability and resilience,” Rep. Upton said. “I believe we should treat wildfires like severe weather and cyberattacks. We need to be laser-focused on the threat,” he said, and make sure there are tools in place to protect, respond to and recover from wildfires when they occur.
Rep. Walden pointed to the Resilient Federal Forests Act of 2019, H.R. 2607, which he cosponsored in May 2019 with bill sponsor U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-AR) to reform forest management policies and reduce the risk of wildfires. The bill remains under committee consideration.
“We have several bills addressing grid reliability and pipeline security, which would strengthen the Department of Energy’s ability to respond to natural disasters like wildfires,” added Rep. Upton. “I hope to get those bills to the floor soon, but they are one of many steps we can take.”