In acknowledgement of the growing threat of catastrophic infernos fueled by climate change in the drought-ravaged Western U.S., President Joe Biden on June 30 met with governors and utility executives in the region, along with key Cabinet members, to discuss wildfire prevention and response, including additional federal government support in 2021 and beyond.

During the meeting, the president underscored the severity of the wildfires so early in the season, noting that conditions will likely continue to worsen as the West grows hotter and drier in the coming years due to climate change. Biden called for a "coordinated, comprehensive response" within the federal government to support the affected states.

"Fire season traditionally lasts through October," Biden said. "But with climate change driving a dangerous confluence of extreme heat and prolonged drought, we're seeing wildfires of greater intensity that move with more speed and last well beyond traditional months, traditional months of the fire season. And that's a problem for all of us."

Among other steps to address the wildfires, the White House announced that the U.S. Department of Energy is ready to allow utilities to run at full capacity to help meet emergency energy needs should intense heat and wildfire risk result in rolling blackouts, according to a June 30 fact sheet.

DOE's national labs will also be tapped for grid management and damage assessment tools.

Additionally, Biden called for a boost in pay for firefighters making less than $15 an hour and up to a 10% retention incentive for those serving on the frontlines, pledging to work with Congress on longer-term benefit reforms. Other actions include expanding the fleet of aircraft to battle blazes, investing in early-detection technologies such as satellites, and mitigating impacts on the hard-hit Western power grid, which in recent years has experienced widespread outages in numerous utility service territories.

"We have a chance to do something that not only deals with the problem today but allows us to be in a position to move forward and create real good jobs, by the way, [and] generate economic growth in the process," Biden said.

Among the utilities most affected, PG&E Corp. operating arm Pacific Gas and Electric Co., the West's largest utility, has repeatedly shut off power to its customers in Northern and Central California to avoid the kind of deadly wildfires — triggered by a combination of climate change and aging electric infrastructure — that forced it and its parent company into a $58 billion bankruptcy restructuring concluded one year ago. While California energy regulators are concerned Pacific Gas and Electric is still is not doing enough to ensure the safety of its far-flung power system during increasingly frequent periods of extreme wildfire risk, the utility's challenges are mirrored across the West.

Oregon, for instance, like California, suffered through unprecedented wildfires in 2020, and utilities in the state have begun rolling out precautionary power outages during the dangerous mix of dry, hot and windy conditions. The record-shattering heat wave that scorched the Pacific Northwest in June and the eruption of early large-scale fires in several Western states this year have elevated concerns that the 2021 wildfire season may be even worse than last year's.

The president asked the governors about their needs and concerns in facing wildfire threats and encouraged them to request federal government grants for resilient infrastructure investments and disaster preparations, in line with his climate-focused spending proposals. Biden also announced a $37 million federal grant to Sonoma County, Calif., "in support of fire mitigation efforts that are underway."

Biden's meeting with utility and state executives comes as Western governors kick off a two-day virtual annual meeting, featuring scheduled remarks by Oregon Gov. Kate Brown and Idaho Gov. Brad Little and Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, as well as presentations from Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.