The Cascade Creek Wildfire Mitigation project is a multifaceted improvement project aimed to reduce wildfire ignition risks and improve electric service reliability. Recently, this project was nominated by the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency’s Governing Board for a Best in Basin Award as it exemplifies Liberty’s efforts to mitigate wildfires, improve service reliability, and demonstrated Liberty’s environmental stewardship in the Tahoe Basin.
The Cascade Creek Wildfire Mitigation project included removing 13 poles that had reached the end of its useful life, removing 22 trees, and replacing two overhead highway crossings with a single highway crossing. The circuit was then rebuilt with new overhead covered wire, 10 new poles, and approximately 650 feet of underground wire installation. This reduced the circuit length by about 2,000 linear feet, which thereby reduced the amount of overhead wire, simplified the circuit and reduced opportunities for faults.
Delivering safe and reliable electric service requires investing in, maintaining, and, when necessary, modernizing electrical infrastructure. The Cascade Creek Wildfire Mitigation project is just one example of how Liberty is working to improve the safety and reliability of the service provided to customers, as well as reduce wildfire ignition risk.