Qualified Independent Evaluator PUC § 8387(c): The local publicly owned electric utility or electrical cooperative shall contract with a qualified independent evaluator with experience in assessing the safe operation of electrical infrastructure to review and assess the comprehensiveness of its wildfire mitigation plan. The independent evaluator shall issue a report that shall be made available on the Internet Web site of the local publicly owned electric utility or electrical cooperative, and shall present the report at a public meeting of the local publicly owned electric utility’s or electrical cooperative’s governing board.
The WSAB Guidance Advisory Opinion identifies 14 specific recommendations that POUs are requested to address in their 2021 WMPs. As specified in Public Utilities Code § 8387(b)(1), each POU is required to perform a comprehensive revision to the POU's WMP at least once every three years. Pursuant to this guidance, the POUs will be updating their WMPs based on the direction of their local governing boards within this 3-year cycle. Because the WSAB's recommendations have been provided after the initial WMP submission, the POUs will have varying capacities to fully address each recommendation in their 2021 WMP. This Section IV restates each of the WSAB recommendations and provides an opportunity for each POU to respond.
WSAB Recommendation #1: Provide context-setting information about the POU and provide a simple guide to where the statutory requirements are addressed within the WMP.
POU Response: See Sections II and III above.
WSAB Recommendation #2: Provide a short description of the POU's public review and approval (if required) for the WMP. This description may also include a brief explanation of the funding mechanisms for wildfire mitigation efforts.
POU Response: The WMP was presented to and approved by the City of Victorville's City Council and public meeting of the City Council.
WSAB Recommendation #3: Identify where the POU has posted the most recent Independent Evaluator (IE) Report and if your POU plans to enhance future IE reports, please summarize in what ways.
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