7.4.2: San Diego Gas and Electric

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    This section examines projects and use cases relevant to this case study at San Diego Gas and Electric (SDGE) as described in their 1,020 page 2026-2028 Wildfire Mitigation Plan[1].

    Some initiatives that are mentioned address wildfire mitigation, but there are no specific references to the use of artificial intelligence include:

    • Grid design, including under-grounding.
    • Operational changes to equipment use to reduce the chance of a risk event occurring that could ignite a fire.
    • Inspection programs focusing on safety and reliability, including the use of drones to conduct inspections to drive preventive maintenance.

    Initiatives that specifically mention using artificial intelligence include:

    1. Customer communications and
    2. Weather forecasting.

    Customer communications

    One potential use case that is called out is a future use of mobile applications for the utility to communicate with its customers who own property where the utility wants to install equipment such as transformers and junction boxes. The utility would make use of artificial intelligence and machine learning to show what the customer's property would look like after the installation of the equipment using an "augmented reality visual representation."[1.p19]

    Weather forecasting

    SDGE weather forecasting efforts already make use of artificial intelligence. AI models were trained using over 15 years of weather data. The following were specificalled called out:[1,p276]

    1. The Machine Learning Wind Gust Model for the High Fire Threat District (HTFD). A three day forecast is generated two times per day using as inputs the latest weather forecasts.
    2. The Fire Potential Index (FPI) seven day forecast based on weather conditions and fuel conditions.
    3. The Santa Ana Wind Threat Index (SAWTI) daily forecast that rates Santa Ana wind events.

    The AI-based forecasting system was trained using weather observations collected over 217 weather stations very ten minutes over 15 years. The data collection continues each year to enable improving and calibrating the models.

    Definition: HFTD

    High Fire Threat District [1, page xvii]

    Definition: FPI

    Fire Potential Index [1, page xvi] It has values such as Normal, Elevated, and Extreme.

    Definition: SAWTI

    Santa Ana Wind Threat Index rates Santa Ana wind events. the U.S. Forest Service issues this on a daily basis.

    Wildfire Management Plan [1, page xix]

    The Santa Ana Wind Threat Index assess the potential effect of the winds on wildfire activity using the strength, extent, and duration of the wind, dryness of the air, dryness of the vegetation, and greenness of the grasses.[1] The SAWTI rating use this scale:[2]

    • No Rating: Winds are either not expected, will not contribute to significant fire activity.
    • Marginal: Upon ignition, fires may grow rapidly
    • Moderate: Upon ignition, fires will grow rapidly and will be difficult to control
    • High: Upon ignition, fires will grow very rapidly, will burn intensely, and will be very difficult to control.
    • Extreme: Upon ignition, fires will have extreme growth, will burn very intensely, and will be uncontrollable.

    References

    1. San Diego Gas and Electric (SDGE). Wildfire Mitigation Base Plan 2026-2028, July 18, 2025, version R1. Wildfire Mitigation Base Plan 2026-2028.
    2. SAWTI scale. Accessed August 26, 2026.

    7.4.2: San Diego Gas and Electric is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.