Tacoma Power - Public Safety Power Shutoff Assessment Tool
Presentation Time: Fri, 08/08/2025 - 13:00
Keywords: Emergency Management, Public Safety Power Shutoff, Wildfire, Water Purveyors
Wildfires are quickly becoming one of the more prominent natural hazards to the Pacific Northwest in the United States of America. Power companies and utilities across the West Coast have adopted practices to better handle their role within their respective communities throughout all phases of Emergency Management. Washington State Department of Natural Resources has asked all utilities to draft a Wildfire Mitigation Plan, to include PSPS practices. This project aims to identify what happens when a wildfire is approaching Tacoma Power’s service territory under PSPS conditions, and the information needed to fight the fire in the event the water purveyor is an energized source. Emergency Management teams need access to this kind of information to be better prepared when coordinating resources to fight fires encroaching into urban areas. This project developed a Geographic Information System (GIS)-based application with data from Tacoma Power’s GIS Team and Pierce County GIS Data Portal – Water Purveyors. The application is based on identifying areas of impact in the event of a PSPS, specifically on water purveyors throughout the Tacoma Power service territory. By overlaying data from each respective party, the user can select an area of interest, identify the substation in question which in turn affects the water purveyor’s ability to pump water in the event of a fire. In addition, information will be provided on whether the water purveyor source has generator capabilities available. Information gathered from this assessment tool supports the Wildfire Mitigation Plan and process for Tacoma Power.
