Board Meeting held on August 13, 2026

Fire Protection Settings Remain in Effect

Staff continue to closely monitor outage impacts while working to improve reliability

With ongoing drought conditions and fire restrictions affecting our area, wildfire mitigation remained a key topic of discussion for MPE’s Board and leadership team.

MPE’s system remains in Fire Protection Settings – One Shot. In his monthly report, Adam Paulson, Vice President of Operations, said these settings are resulting in more outages, particularly in certain areas of the service territory. “Protecting public safety and reducing wildfire risk remains the highest priority,” he stated. 

In July, MPE experienced two major outages caused by one of its transmission providers, WAPA. Another significant outage in Granby was necessary to allow crews to make repairs following a lightning strike. Despite these events, outage duration in July 2026 improved by more than 40% compared to July 2025. 

Although safety and system settings take priority over reliability during these conditions, MPE continues to make significant progress on system hardening efforts. Linemen continue to repair anomalies identified from the system-wide aerial inspection and replace end-of-life poles. Vegetation growth has been especially challenging this season, requiring additional attention to keep trees and brush away from power lines. In response, MPE has three vegetation management crews and a planner actively working across the system. An additional arborist will be deployed in August to identify fast-growing vegetation before it can threaten power lines or reliability.

MPE is not alone in facing increased wildfire risk. Electric cooperatives across Colorado and the West are working to address similar challenges. The Board also heard a presentation by Colorado Rural Electric Association’s (CREA) Director of Government Relations, Taylor Ward. CREA is educating state lawmakers and building support for wildfire liability reform that strengthens wildfire mitigation efforts while providing reasonable liability protections for electric coops.

Other Board Meeting Items

  • The Board welcomed several Kremmling-area guests during the Member Comments portion of the meeting, including Dennis Carpenter and scholarship recipient Brooklynn Weber. Grand County Wildfire Council Executive Director Jessica Rhan, East Grand Fire Protection District #1 Chief Brad White, and representatives from Blue Forest presented information about a local wildfire mitigation project.
  • Later in the meeting, the Board approved a $20,000 donation from the Unclaimed Capital Credits (UCC) Fund to support the wildfire mitigation project by the Grand County Wildfire Council. At its July meeting, the Board approved a $5,000 UCC donation toward new football and community bleachers for the North Park School District.
  • Member questions and concerns continue to be addressed through MPE’s monthly Plugged In newsletter. The August edition featured outage statistics and reliability trends during the early stages of this year’s fire season. The September edition will answer common questions about MPE’s connection to the Southwest Power Pool (SPP), the regional transmission organization serving much of the region. Current and past editions are available at MPEI.com/Newsletter.
  • The Board’s September 10 meeting will be held at River Rock Cafe in Walden. Members are encouraged to attend and participate in the Member Comments portion of the meeting. Meeting times and additional information will be posted at MPEI.com/Board-Meetings.

View the August 2026 Board Meeting Bulletin PDF

Archive of Board Meeting Bulletins