Wildfire Mitigation in the Sulphur Springs Valley of Arizona: A Case Study of Cost and Risk for Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative (SSVEC)
Presentation Time: Thu, 08/07/2025 - 11:00
Keywords: Wildfire, Electric, Utilities, Risk, Analysis
Wildfires and electric utilities in Arizona maintain a complex and volatile relationship with one another. Mitigation of wildfire risks by SSVEC is imperative to keep electricity flowing for members while protecting assets and limiting liability. Analysis of field data and historical wildfire data in ArcGIS Pro and RStudio helped create a cost and risk analysis for SSVEC. The cost and risk analysis for SSVEC will allow for more informed decision making to tackle the problem of wildfire mitigation throughout the service territory. The results show high, moderate, and low risk wildfire areas based upon multiple criteria to aid in decision making on which areas should be addressed first for wildfire mitigation efforts. A plan of action to mitigate wildfire based upon the risk areas gives SSVEC an opportunity to plan future budgeting and labor efforts for this initiative.
