Phoenix, Ariz.— On April 16, 2026, Chairman Nick Myers hosted the third annual Wildfire Mitigation Special Meeting and Town Hall at the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) to engage the community in a discussion on this critical issue in our state.

“The interactive and educational presentations from our utilities and other key stakeholders highlighting their wildfire mitigation efforts and use of new technologies made this year’s town hall especially engaging,” stated Chairman Myers. “How apropos that during the town hall, fire mitigation technology proved itself by notifying an Arizona Department of Forestry & Fire Management (DFFM) representative through an app on his phone of a wildfire that broke out, allowing it to be quickly located and extinguished even before the first call came in.”

The Special Meeting and Town Hall benefited from interactive presentations from several utilities, including Arizona Public Service, Tucson Electric Power & UniSource, Salt River Project, Trico Electric Cooperative, and Arizona Water Company. The meeting also included detailed presentations from DFFM and Southwestern Region, USDA Forest Service, Central Arizona Fire & Medical Authority, and the City of Prescott Fire Department.

New to this year’s town hall was a highly informative presentation from AEGIS Insurance Services, discussing the history and the evolving landscape of wildfire insurance for electric utilities across the country. Another new presenter this year was Pano AI, which uses AI-powered cameras to enable faster, collaborative wildfire response efforts.

“Learning that Arizona now has 51 Pano AI stations located at strategic locations around the state, with 88 more stations projected, that can detect wildfires and notify electric utilities, AZ DFFM, and nearby first responders reassures me that Arizona is taking the right steps in wildfire mitigation,” concluded Chairman Myers. “Once again, sustained progress in wildfire mitigation in Arizona will depend on both the ongoing collaboration among all stakeholders and the use of new technologies, like Pano AI.”

For those unable to attend, the special meeting and town hall can be viewed in its entirety on the Commission’s website. Presentations by utilities and stakeholders can be found here.

For more information, please contact Chairman Myers at myers-web@azcc.gov.