Colorado Wildfire Mitigation Plan Rules: Comments Nov. 2

Colorado regulators want every Colorado wildfire mitigation plan to follow the same rules. On Sept. 23, 2026, the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) voted 3-0 to issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in Proceeding 26R-0355E and referred it to an administrative law judge. The proposal covers wildfire mitigation plans (WMPs) and public safety power shutoffs (PSPS) for Xcel Energy and Black Hills Energy, the two electric utilities the PUC names in its announcement.

Initial written comments are due Nov. 2, 2026. The rules are open for comment and are not yet in effect. If you want to be on the record before the judge writes a recommended decision, that is the first date that matters.

The Comment Calendar for Proceeding 26R-0355E

The PUC’s rulemaking page lists these milestones:

Milestone	Date
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking	Sept. 23, 2026 (3-0 vote, referred to ALJ)
Webinar for local government stakeholders	Oct. 19, 2026 (recording and slides posted)
Public webinar	Oct. 26, 2026, 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.
Initial public comments due	Nov. 2, 2026
Responsive comments due	Nov. 16, 2026
Initial public comment hearing (virtual)	Nov. 23, 2026, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Recommended decision	Not yet scheduled

The PUC’s press release lists four ways to comment: email to [email protected], the online comment form, voicemail at (303) 894-3490, or mail to the PUC at 1560 Broadway, Suite 250, Denver, CO 80202. Include Proceeding No. 26R-0355E. Filings and the proposed rule text are on the Commission’s E-Filings system under that number.

What a Colorado Wildfire Mitigation Plan Would Have to Contain

According to the PUC’s rulemaking page, no statute or Commission rule has required utilities to file WMPs to date, and the proposed rules would change that. Public Service Company of Colorado, Xcel’s Colorado utility, filed the state’s first plan in July 2020. In August 2025 the Commission approved a settlement for Xcel’s 2025-2027 plan that explicitly supported this rulemaking. The proposal would turn that practice into a standing requirement.

The PUC describes two rule sets developed in parallel. Rules 3630 and 3631 cover applicability and definitions for both. Rules 3632 through 3637 cover wildfire mitigation plans, and Rules 3638 through 3644 cover power shutoffs. In the PUC’s summary, the WMP rules would require utilities to:

• Assess the likelihood and consequences of wildfires associated with their equipment, identify high-risk areas and have those risk assessments independently checked.
• Compare mitigation alternatives, costs, expected risk reductions and effects on reliable service, and explain how investments are prioritized.
• Describe planned inspections, repairs, vegetation management, system improvements and emergency preparations.
• Submit full plans every three years, report annually on progress, provide performance data twice a year and explain significant changes.
• Seek stakeholder input and publish information about risks, planned work and results.

The PUC could approve a plan, reject it or require changes. Its page adds that approval would not automatically authorize charges to customers. Cost recovery would be decided separately.

The Power Shutoff Rules

The PSPS half follows Colorado’s recent shutoffs. Colorado’s first PSPS happened in April 2024, and the PUC opened a separate proceeding (26M-0037E) after the December 2025 events to collect public comment. The rulemaking page says that record directly informed the draft.

Per the PUC’s release, the draft PSPS rules would let utilities cut power only as a last resort when wildfire risk is immediate and severe, never as their main safety strategy. Each utility would file a PSPS plan every three years that draws on lessons from past shutoffs. The rules also set requirements for notifying the public during a shutoff and for educating communities before wildfire season.

What This Means for Equipment Buyers

Both PUC pages name Xcel Energy and Black Hills Energy. Who else the rules reach is set by proposed Rule 3630 (applicability), which this post did not review, so a co-op or municipal utility should read that rule on E-Filings before deciding whether to comment.

For anyone who sells to or plans alongside Xcel or Black Hills in Colorado, the useful change is visibility. On our reading, a three-year plan with annual progress reports and twice-yearly performance data would make each utility’s inspection, vegetation and system-improvement programs public on a fixed schedule. That is where hardening work would first show up as a written scope.

A plan is not an order. It sets priorities. The PUC’s summary says approval would not automatically authorize charges to customers and that cost recovery would be decided separately. Minnesota’s commission drew the same line when it ordered standalone wildfire plans for four utilities. For what plans turn into once they reach procurement, the Western distribution hardening cycle and PG&E’s undergrounding filing are the reference points.

Practical steps before Nov. 2:

• Read the proposed rules on E-Filings under 26R-0355E. This post works from the PUC’s own summary, not the rule text.
• Join the Oct. 26 public webinar if you have questions about scope.
• File initial comments by Nov. 2, then watch for the utilities’ comments. Their filings are the first place a reader can see how each utility expects to meet the requirements.
• Put Nov. 16 and Nov. 23 on the calendar for responsive comments and the hearing.

Related Reading

• Minnesota Wildfire Mitigation Plans Due Feb. 1, 2027
• Western Distribution Hardening Super-Cycle: 2026 Procurement Through 2037
• Wildfire Mitigation Federal Land Permitting

Dates, rule numbers, requirements and comment channels are from the Colorado PUC’s rulemaking page and its Sept. 29, 2026 press release, both re-read Oct. 21, 2026. The proposed rule text itself was not reviewed for this post.

When the utilities’ comments land after Nov. 2, they will be the first concrete read on how each expects to plan under the proposed rules. The Feeder is our free weekly digest of the regulatory and supply signals that change what utility buyers spec.