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Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) has unveiled its 2026-2028 Wildfire Mitigation Plan (WMP) — a roadmap focused on reducing wildfire risk by undergrounding more powerlines, strengthening overhead equipment, and expanding the use of advanced technology, including artificial intelligence (AI).
The new plan, submitted to California’s Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety, builds on progress made in 2023 and 2024, when PG&E’s multiple layers of protection helped prevent major wildfires from being sparked by its equipment.
“Our system is safer today than it was yesterday, and it will be even safer tomorrow. The combination of tools, technology and the expertise of our coworkers is working to mitigate risk, reduce ignitions and prevent catastrophic wildfires,” said PG&E Executive Vice President, Operations and Chief Operating Officer Sumeet Singh. “We want — and we know our customers deserve — a future where both safe and reliable service is a reality. We are working every day to make that possible.”
What’s new in PG&E’s 2026-2028 Plan
- Undergrounding 1,077 miles of powerlines in high fire-risk areas — permanently reducing ignition risk.
- Overhead system upgrades across 700+ miles, including stronger poles, covered lines, and wider crossarms.
- Gridscope Sensors — now installed on 900 circuit miles, these pole-mounted devices detect unusual sounds, vibrations, or lights that could signal equipment issues.
- Early Fault Detection — radio-frequency sensors that act like a “check engine light” for the grid, spotting potential issues early.
- Aerial Span Inspections — expanded use of drones and helicopters to inspect hard-to-reach equipment between poles.
- Additional sectionalizing devices and animal/avian protection equipment to minimize outages from Enhanced Powerline Safety Settings (EPSS).
Proven layers of protection
The initiatives in PG&E’s new WMP build on tools that have already proven effective in reducing wildfire risk. The following layers of protection helped prevent major PG&E equipment-caused wildfires in the last two years.
- Undergrounding Powerlines in high-risk areas.
- Overhead System Upgrades to strengthen poles and lines.
- Enhanced Powerline Safety Settings (EPSS) — In 2024, EPSS reduced CPUC-reportable ignitions by 72% compared to 2018-2020 averages, with most customers avoiding outages.
- Vegetation Management using a data-driven approach to reduce fire risk.
- Inspections & Repairs guided by risk models to proactively address hazards.
- Situational Awareness tools like AI-powered wildfire cameras and advanced weather forecasting to detect and respond faster.
- Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) — A last-resort tool to prevent fires during extreme weather, refined to minimize customer impact.