The mission of the International Wildfire Risk Mitigation Consortium (IWRMC) is to establish and facilitate a system of working and networking channels between members of the global utility community to support ongoing sharing of data, information, technology, and practices, and proactively address the wildfire issues through learning, innovation, analysis, assessment, and collaboration.
The IWRMC is led by a utility executive steering group, whose members are on the frontlines of the wildfire/bushfire issues in Australia and California:
Vision
Leverage global experience and ideas, and identify meaningful differences
Expedite data collection, validation, and evaluation
Enable members to lead the industry transformation
Introduce new technology and advance the deployment of innovative solutions
Accelerate learning, sharing, and the development of new risk models and mitigation strategies
Establish good standing with regulators and the community via the development of initiatives based on innovative global practices
Establish global standards that can be leveraged by members to demonstrate a proactive, holistic, and responsible approach to risk mitigation
Core program
The IWRMC offers both core program components and optional modules that will vary from quarter to quarter.
- Working groups focus attention on the most pressing issues and the most valuable collaborative opportunities.
- News and research web portal is updated and curated weekly with the latest wildfire/bushfire-related news, academic research, regulations, and mitigation plans from utilities around the world.
- Surveys of industry peers are used to gather insights into the process, methodologies, tools, and standards used by utilities to support their wildfire risk mitigation activities.
- Deep-dive analysis using public and member-contributed data and supported by E Source’s expert analytic and modeling teams.
- Case studies to communicate relevant experiences and provide lessons learned.
- Quarterly webinars to share working group progress and insights and to present new and interesting concepts to your industry peers.
- Annual report and conference to present progress on annual program objectives, highlight the most impactful insights gained, strengthen industry relationships, and solicit feedback from participants
Optional program components
- Research projects to explore specific topics and investigate ideas that have not been pursued by industry or academia.
- Joint development projects to pool resources, coordinate data collection, and document real-world results in the pursuit of new ideas, approaches, and innovations.
- New technology and tools to explore the vendor landscape, broaden the dataset of real-world experiences, and utilize collective leverage to deploy new tools and technologies quickly and affordably.
- Benchmarking, analysis, and performance metrics to better understand your organizations’ performance relative to the industry, or track progress over time, in relation to highly specific topics or activities.
Working groups
Working group members share experiences and help identify industry leading practices. Occasionally, members invite leading vendors to share more information on the products and services they offer in order to improve and expedite decision-making for those exploring similar options. Recent topics explored and presentations made within the working groups include:
Asset management
Vegetation management
Risk management
Operations & protocols
Examples of future topics include:
- Advanced risk modeling
- Aerial inspections
- Hazard tree/risk-and reliability-based vegetation management
- Community engagement and support
What our customers say
The use cases for technologies and innovations being developed to address wildfire risks extend far beyond the wildfire space.
Learning from the experiences of others saves us time and money…I don’t need to waste my time trying things that others have already proven to be ineffective.
E Source’s facilitation of IWRMC is essential…it’s too easy to get distracted with the priorities of today and lose sight of the issues that may arise tomorrow.
The IWRMC has helped us build our wildfire mitigation organization by showing us what we need to be thinking about and who needs to be involved.
It’s reassuring to hear that others are facing the same challenges that we are facing.
Wildfires are not a “California” issue…they’re a global issue.
Learn more
As a member of the IWRMC, you have the opportunity to shape the future of our sector. Join today to share your expertise and insights and to play a pivotal role in advancing our industry’s knowledge and best practices.