NRECA CEO Jim Matheson has asked the Forest Service to speed permitting and approval of wildfire mitigation projects for all electric cooperatives across the national forest system after the agency agreed to help one co-op with its years-long push to obtain such permits.
The recent breakthrough for Midstate Electric Cooperative in Oregon came after CEO Jim Anderson testified before a House committee about the hurdles Midstate has experienced while conducting wildfire mitigation on federally managed lands. Following the hearing, Department of Agriculture Undersecretary Michael Boren reached out to Anderson to discuss Midstate’s challenges and pledged that the Forest Service would quickly get the co-op its permits.
To build on the momentum from the congressional hearing, NRECA is urging the Forest Service to expedite wildfire mitigation permitting and approvals for every co-op that is operating in the national forest system.
“Cooperatives across the nation commonly encounter similar challenges [to Midstate Electric] when operating on National Forest lands,” Matheson said in a March 26 letter to Boren. “We urge the Forest Service to implement the expedited utility permitting and approval processes used for Midstate consistently across the entire National Forest System.”
For the past several years, La Pine-based Midstate Electric has tried to expand clearance around its power line through the Deschutes National Forest. But the co-op had made no real progress in getting Forest Service approvals, even though trees in some areas are six feet or less from the line, Anderson told the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries at a February hearing.
With co-ops across the country facing similar challenges, NRECA is asking the Forest Service to provide the same support to every co-op so they can efficiently manage vegetation, remove timber, underground lines, replace poles, expand rights of way, and site new transmission and distribution lines.
Along with urging the agency to expedite such permitting for all co-ops operating on national forest lands, Matheson asked the Forest Service in his March 26 letter to reduce or eliminate strict liability requirements that hold co-ops accountable for up to $1 million, plus fire suppression costs and natural resources damage, for fires on public lands even if the co-ops don’t cause them.
Such actions would reduce the risk of wildfires on national forest lands while helping co-ops deliver reliable, affordable power to rural Americans, Matheson said. He noted that NRECA has long asked for such reforms, including backing related legislation in Congress.
“Ensuring that utilities can conduct effective and timely wildfire mitigation of federally managed lands is crucial for our nation’s energy reliability and affordability,” the letter concluded.
Molly Christian is a staff writer for NRECA.