Filsinger Energy Partners recently participated in the Moody’s Climate Week NYC conference on Resilience at Scale: From Risk Data to Real Decisions. Todd Filsinger spoke on a panel focused on Wildfire Risk, Utility Resilience and the Path to Insurability. Mr. Filsinger and the panel discussed how physical risk becomes financial risk, who can change the outcome, how resilience, governance, and risk-sharing frameworks preserve insurability and affordability, and what unresolved risk means for governments, lenders, and investors.

Filsinger Energy Partners recently participated in the Committee of Chief Risk Officers (CCRO) meeting in New York City, where Todd Filsinger and Amir Angha presented on leading practices in operational risk management. The discussion focused on using scenario modeling to assess potential impacts of operational risks, including natural disasters, and the importance of system resilience, drawing on FEP’s experience supporting recovery efforts in Puerto Rico following Hurricanes Maria and Irma. The presentation also examined tail risk and the California Wildfire Fund, highlighting the role of Enterprise Risk Management in establishing a consistent, structured framework for risk-informed decision-making, proactive mitigation, and long-term planning.

Nuclear energy is receiving renewed attention as utilities and energy markets respond to unprecedented load growth from data centers and other large energy users, increasing demand for firm and reliable carbon-free power, and growing interest in small modular reactor (SMR) technologies. As new nuclear generation is once again being considered as part of the future energy mix, utilities and stakeholders face important questions about where nuclear can be economically competitive and how expanded deployment could affect the broader electricity market.

In this webinar, Filsinger Energy’s Jeff Bloczynski, Tim Wang, and Jeff Simmons provide a data-driven examination of the evolving role of nuclear power in future electricity markets. Drawing on levelized cost of energy (LCOE) analysis, market price forecasting, and scenario modeling, the discussion explores the conditions under which new nuclear may be competitive, how policy and carbon policy could influence the economics, and the potential implications of large-scale nuclear deployment for market prices, renewable integration, transmission planning, and system reliability.

Filsinger Energy Partners recently participated in the Texas Public Power Association (TPPA) Annual Conference in Austin, where Sarah Liuba presented on wildfire mitigation planning and shared insights from FEP’s experience supporting utilities across the West. The presentation highlighted key considerations and lessons learned for public power utilities developing and implementing wildfire mitigation plans, including the unique challenges and constraints municipal utilities may face in addressing wildfire risk. The conference also provided an opportunity for FEP to connect with public power professionals, exchange industry perspectives, and share practical approaches to effective wildfire mitigation planning. 

Integrated Vegetation Management (IVM) has evolved from a primarily clearance-focused maintenance practice into a science-based approach that supports system reliability, safety, and environmental stewardship.

Join Anne Beard as she explores the evolution of IVM in the electric utility industry. Drawing on more than 50 years of utility vegetation management research, Rights-of-Way Symposium proceedings, and industry experience, this webinar will examine key lessons from decades of research, the influence of regulatory and technological advancements, and the growing role of data-driven decision-making in modern vegetation management programs.

Utility rights-of-way vegetation management has evolved significantly over the past several decades as utilities have responded to changing regulations, safety and reliability expectations, and a growing emphasis on environmental stewardship. As these priorities continue to develop, integrated vegetation management (IVM) provides utilities with a framework for balancing operational needs with environmental considerations and adopting more proactive approaches to vegetation management.

At the Environmental Concerns in Rights-of-Way Management International Symposium in Vancouver, BC, FEP’s Anne Beard explored the 50-year evolution of IVM across utility rights-of-way. Drawing on proceedings from fourteen past symposia and AI-assisted analysis, the presentation examined how IVM has adapted over time and how emerging tools, including drones, advanced data collection, and improved monitoring, are enabling utilities to manage vegetation more proactively and precisely.

Filsinger Energy Partners participated in PG&E’s EEI conference in California, where Todd Filsinger represented FEP at a leading industry forum focused on utility wildfire risk and mitigation. Todd moderated a panel featuring senior executives from NV Energy, Liberty Utilities, CenterPoint Energy, and Chugach Electric Association, while FEP’s work in regulatory strategy, risk modeling, and wildfire mitigation planning was recognized by senior industry leaders throughout keynote remarks and panel discussions. The conference highlighted FEP’s growing role as a trusted utility industry partner and created opportunities to strengthen relationships and develop new partnerships across the sector. 

As utilities and regulators place increasing emphasis on Wildfire Mitigation Plans (WMPs) that can withstand regulatory scrutiny and align with evolving policy requirements, many organizations face the challenge of building plans from fragmented data, legacy programs, and disaggregated planning efforts. Establishing a clear, credible starting point that is both operationally useful and regulatorily supported has become an important step in developing a practical and sustainable WMP framework.

In this webinar, FEP’s Sarah Liuba explores how utilities can develop a viable Wildfire Mitigation Plan that provides a credible, evidence-based, and audit-ready baseline. Drawing on implementation experience and regulatory engagement, the discussion centers on how utilities can move from fragmented inputs to a structured planning framework that supports current capabilities while providing a foundation for continued development.

While the Incident Command System (ICS) is most commonly associated with wildfire response, its scalable, all-hazards framework can also provide a structured approach for managing complex utility-driven events such as Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS). As utilities face increasing operational risk from extreme weather and other hazards, effectively integrating PSPS events into a formal ICS structure can help support span of control, documentation integrity, and coordination across functions and departments.

In this webinar, FEP’s Peter Pavao explores how ICS can be adapted beyond traditional wildfire response and applied to PSPS events. Drawing on practical implementation experience, the discussion centers on how utilities can structure PSPS activations within an ICS framework, customize forms and documentation to reflect utility-specific operational needs, and institutionalize best practices across departments.

Filsinger Energy Partners participated in the Utility Wildfire, Weather & Analytics Summit in Boise, ID, where Harry Podschwit presented statistical approaches for incorporating nontraditional hazards into utility risk assessment. The presentation examined tree mortality and egress failure as important complements to conventional wildfire behavior and consequence modeling, using predictive modeling and semi-supervised learning to identify environmental, geographic, and demographic factors that influence risk. The case studies demonstrated how interpretable models and explicit consideration of uncertainty can provide valuable context for utility risk rankings, asset prioritization, grid hardening, and other critical risk management decisions. 

Wildfire hazard maps are an essential tool for understanding wildfire exposure, but they provide only one part of the broader risk landscape facing communities and utilities. As these tools become increasingly important in planning and decision-making, questions around how hazard is defined, interpreted, and applied have highlighted the need for a clear understanding of what these maps can—and cannot—tell us about risk.

In this webinar, FEP’s Kevin Vogler and Daniel Russell explore the Texas Wildfire Risk Explorer and discuss how different users can appropriately interpret and apply its outputs. The discussion centers on key considerations for using the tool effectively, including how to understand its underlying hazard information and the important limitations to keep in mind when applying it to wildfire risk assessment and decision-making.

Filsinger Energy Partners recently participated in the American Meteorological Society (AMS) Conference in Houston, TX, where Harry Podschwit presented research on the compounding climate risks of tree mortality and wildfire in the Puget Sound region. The presentation demonstrated a Bayesian modeling approach that integrated multiple data sources, accounted for model uncertainties, and the delayed environmental effects of tree mortality. Climate projections indicated future conditions would be increasingly favorable for both tree mortality and wildfire, with mortality probabilities projected to reach as much as three times historical levels and vapor pressure deficit increasing by up to twofold by late century under RCP 8.5. The work demonstrated how advanced modeling and integrated data can help utilities better understand where risks such as tree mortality, fuel drying, ignition potential, and wildfire consequence may converge in the future.

While maps of wildfire behavior and consequence remain essential tools, they provide an incomplete view of the total risk landscape facing utilities. Increasing regulatory and stakeholder focus on broader system vulnerabilities has highlighted hazards that are not well captured by traditional wildfire analyses. Even mature utility risk programs now face challenges quantifying and planning for these less-understood dimensions of risk.  

In this webinar, FEP’s Harry Podschwit explores how rigorous statistical methods can be used to quantify these emerging risks and integrate them into practical decision-making frameworks. The discussion centers on two often under-examined but critical components of utility risk: tree mortality and egress failure. 

As wildfire risk evolves across North America, utilities face increasing pressure to align mitigation programs with both regulatory expectations and operational realities. Chelsea Cole and Dan Nuñez gave a practical webinar on how utilities can move from compliance-driven wildfire mitigation plans toward holistic, data-informed resilience strategies. 

Chelsea Cole presented “From Risk to Resilience: Strategic Wildfire Mitigation for Utilities”. This session highlighted how utilities can prevent and respond to wildfire risks through: A) Ignition Prevention – vegetation management, equipment hardening, advanced monitoring; B) Operational Planning – proactive strategies to enhance resilience and reliability; C) Collaboration – working with regulators, first responders, and communities; and D) Lessons Learned – turning past incidents into actionable safety improvements.