Wildfires and Clean Energy

Beyond clearing fire fuel near your house, there are multiple preparations to consider in our wildfire-prone region.

Wildfire smoke can cause very unhealthy indoor air. Indoor air filters can help, but don’t tape up so many windows and doors that you can’t get at least a little outside air. Sealing up a house envelope for home weatherization is also an excellent energy-saver, but a house built since about 2000 will be air-tight enough that you’ll want a heat-recovery ventilator (HRV) to provide fresh air without opening windows. Some HRVs are integrated into a forced-air ventilation system, and some are not integrated (ductless).

Long power outages from utilities shutting down electricity during high risk fire weather will be more common. You may want to add backup power to your house with a generator or batteries. As utilities evolve more sophisticated metering and virtual power plant options, a battery system with solar generation will provide emission-free backup power as well as a storage resource for the local grid.

In another decade or two, both solar generation and battery storage (especially in parked electric vehicles) will become cheaper than centrally generated power. This should be a first-order consideration when utilities plan expensive infrastructure (like transmission lines that can ignite wildfires) which are expected to be generating revenue for many decades.

Resilience hubs: Since most households don’t have backup power and may experience unhealthy indoor air from nearby wildfires, Hood River County is building out resilience hub pilot projects at the Wyeast Middle School in Odell and the Mount Hood Town Hall near Parkdale. These projects were conceived and funded through the multi-year efforts of the Hood River County Energy Council. Each will provide shelter and emergency power for nearby residents.