April 8, 2025
Reducing Wildfire Risk: The Fix Our Forests Act and Its Impact on Electric Cooperatives
On January 23, 2025, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Fix Our Forests Act, a bipartisan bill designed to reduce the risk of devastating wildfires. This legislation will help electric cooperatives by expediting federal approval for grid hardening and allowing the removal of hazardous vegetation that could fuel fires. Both measures aim to prevent future wildfire disasters.
In recent years, the U.S. has faced catastrophic wildfires causing billions in damages and displacing thousands of people. Many of these fires have been linked to electrical equipment failures or power lines sparking in areas overrun with vegetation. For instance, the 2018 Camp Fire in California, sparked by electrical transmission lines, tragically claimed 85 lives and destroyed the town of Paradise. Similarly, the 2023 Maui wildfires and the 2025 Palisades wildfires highlighted how failures in electrical systems and vegetation management can result in significant loss.
The Fix Our Forests Act aims to streamline the process for electric cooperatives to obtain federal permits to modernize their systems and enhance their resistance to wildfires. Currently, cooperatives can only remove vegetation within 10 feet of power lines and rights of way. This bill expands that limit to 150 feet, allowing them to proactively clear hazardous trees that could fall and spark fires. The bill now awaits approval from the Senate, which could be a critical step toward preventing future wildfires.
As wildfire activity and extreme heat waves become more frequent, electric utilities must prioritize fire resistance when selecting underground enclosures, especially in high-risk areas. The ANSI/SCTE 77 guidelines include flammability testing (Section 6.5) and internal equipment protection (Section 6.6) to assess how enclosures withstand fire exposure. Flammability tests (ASTM D635) measure how easily a product ignites and burns, while internal protection testing (USDA RUS 7 CFR 1755.910) ensures underground equipment remains functional in the event of a fire above the enclosure.
Oldcastle’s Duralite® enclosures exceed all industry standards for fire resistance and internal equipment protection. They maintain safe internal temperatures even when exposed to brushfire conditions exceeding 1,000°F. Duralite® has undergone third-party testing to meet GR-902-CORE, SCTE 77 2023, and USDA RUS 1755F 910 standards. By choosing fire-resistant enclosures, utilities can ensure long-term protection of underground assets, minimizing the risk of wildfire-related damage.
Bill Overview:
- Introduced by Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-AR) and Rep. Scott Peters (D-CA)
- Passed the House with bipartisan support (279-141)
- A previous version of the bill passed last September, but the Senate adjourned before acting. The current version now awaits Senate approval, which could be key in preventing future wildfire catastrophes.
