Wildfire plans and tree clearing in Alaska: House Bill 252 and Chugach Electric's easement program

This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. It restates four documents as read on October 10, 2026: the Alaska Legislature's bill page for House Bill 252, the text of the bill as introduced, the fiscal note signed by the chair of the Regulatory Commission of Alaska, and the vegetation management page of Chugach Electric Association. The side by side with other regions is on the guide to utility wildfire plans and tree clearing.

The bill and where it stands

House Bill 252 is titled Electric Utility Fire Prevention Plan. Its sponsor is Representative Holland, and its formal title covers the liability of an electric utility for contact between vegetation and its facilities, and electric utility wildland fire mitigation plans. It was introduced on January 16, 2026 in the 34th Legislature. The legislature's bill page shows a status of "(H) ENE Then L&C" dated January 20, 2026, which means referral to the House Energy committee and then Labor and Commerce. The page lists House Energy hearings on January 29 and February 3, 2026, both marked heard and held, and hearings on February 12 and February 26, 2026 marked canceled. The page shows no passed version. Because it is a bill, none of the text below is law.

What section 42.05.352 would require

Section 2 of the bill would add AS 42.05.352 to the Alaska Public Utilities Regulatory Act. As introduced it says an electric utility shall adopt a written wildland fire mitigation plan, update it annually and each time a risk assessment is completed, and have the plan and each update approved by the Department of Natural Resources. The plan would describe the boundaries of the utility's real property and each adjacent property, and how the utility will manage vegetation to keep its facilities reliable and safe, avoid causing a wildland fire and prevent harm to neighbours.

The bill lists items the plan must give procedures and time frames for, among them:

Inspecting and maintaining real property assessed as high risk, and naming the high-risk locations with reasonable specificity.
Inspecting, maintaining and upgrading facilities in high-risk areas.
Interrupting power transmission during a fire or a period of high fire risk.
Inspecting vegetation inside the plan boundaries and the utility's easement or right-of-way.
Identifying and removing trees and other vegetation that pose a heightened risk of falling into and damaging electric facilities.
Clearing and trimming vegetation inside those boundaries.
Locating powerline faults that may point to a vegetation problem or a fire near equipment.
Notifying a local or state fire agency, and coordinating right-of-way maintenance with those agencies so that people and crews can get in and out of high-risk locations.

Before cutting power under a plan, the bill says a utility shall weigh the need to keep power for public safety, telecommunications and life-support equipment. If a risk assessment shows a high risk, the utility shall report it as an emergency to adjacent owners and occupants and to the commissioner of natural resources. Section 1 would add AS 09.65.086 on civil liability. It would presume that a utility with a plan approved by the Department of Natural Resources, and in substantial compliance with section 42.05.352, did not act with negligence, and would remove punitive and noneconomic damages unless gross negligence, reckless or intentional misconduct is shown. It would also say a utility is not liable for removing or injuring vegetation done under a plan or inside its right-of-way, including vegetation rooted outside it.

The Commission's fiscal note

The fiscal note is dated January 23, 2026 and signed by the chair of the Regulatory Commission of Alaska. It says the bill does not require regulatory changes by the Commission, though regulated utilities may need to update tariffs, and that non-regulated certificated utilities may face added administrative work. It says the Commission does not anticipate a fiscal impact.

How Chugach Electric describes its clearing

Chugach Electric says it runs a year-round program to remove trees and other vegetation from its easements, which it calls right-of-way clearing, and that it has been a Tree Line USA utility since 1999. It says the work takes down trees and brush across the full width of the easement, generally 10 feet on each side for a 20 foot span, and that the National Electric Safety Code requires keeping these areas maintained. It says pieces about two feet long are left for local firewood and stumps are cut to within a few inches of the ground or ground up. Trees outside its easements are not removed without the owner's signed permission. The program runs on a three-year cycle, and owners get a mailer at least a week before easement work begins in their area. Chugach also offers a danger tree hotline.