HB145

HB145 requires electric utilities, municipal utilities and electric cooperatives owning transmission or distribution facilities in a wildfire-risk area to file a wildfire mitigation plan with the Public Utility Commission (PUC). Either the Texas Division of Emergency Management or the utility can identify an elevated-risk area. The plan must cover inspections, vegetation management, ignition prevention, emergency response and restoration, public communications, infrastructure and pole-maintenance reports, an independent fire-risk expert’s analysis, power shutoffs and disabling automatic reclosers, operating standards, and compliance monitoring. The PUC can require more information or accept substantially similar information required by other law. It must approve, modify or reject a plan within 180 days; approval must serve the public interest. Failure to implement an approved plan can bring administrative penalties. Final law, Section 2.

This is not blanket immunity for utility-caused wildfires. An approved plan can be evidence in a damages case. Subject to any applicable tariff provision, the law’s protection from liability requires the judge or jury deciding the facts to find all three things: the utility submitted, obtained approval for and implemented a plan; it complied with the relevant measures for the specific equipment found to have ignited or spread the fire; and it did not cause the wildfire intentionally, recklessly or negligently. No-plan and rejected-plan cases do not receive these protections. Express contractual rights involving communications facilities, shared electric facilities and pole attachments remain intact. Final law, Section 2, new Utilities Code 38.081.

The law also broadens electric-utility self-insurance authority for wildfire injury and property damage. Approval still requires a public-interest finding and ratepayers receiving the benefit of savings, but now any one of three conditions can qualify: lower overall cost than commercial insurance, insufficient commercial coverage, or inability to obtain a reasonable premium. The PUC must prioritize wildfire-loss evidence, including historical data, actuarial studies and exposure to multiple disasters. The new damages authority excludes fires caused intentionally, recklessly or with gross negligence—a different standard from the ordinary-negligence limitation on liability protection above. Final law, Section 1.

HB145 took effect June 20, 2025. The PUC had 180 days to adopt necessary rules; covered utilities must file plans as soon as practicable after those rules. The new lawsuit provisions apply only to causes of action accruing on or after the effective date. These are statutory requirements, not a claim that every utility has complied. Official history; final law, Sections 3–5.