National Grid Launches AI-Powered Wildfire Risk Initiative with Rhizome

National Grid is deploying Rhizome's gridFIRM platform across its electric transmission and distribution networks in Massachusetts, New York, and the United Kingdom to identify and prevent wildfire risks before they materialize.

The Challenge

Wildfire risk is no longer confined to the Western United States. The Northeast has seen dramatic increases in wildfire incidents—in 2024 alone, New York and Massachusetts experienced 2,626 wildfires, more than double the previous year. While these regions face lower risk than areas like California, the accelerating trend presents real threats to grid reliability, customer safety, and utility operations.

For utilities like National Grid, which serves more than 20 million people across diverse geographies, the challenge isn't just identifying current risks—it's understanding how those risks will evolve as climate patterns shift and infrastructure ages. Traditional approaches to wildfire risk assessment often rely on historical data that may not reflect emerging threats or provide the granularity needed for effective mitigation planning.

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How gridFIRM Works

gridFIRM quantifies long-term wildfire risk at the asset level by modeling the physical conditions that could lead to utility-caused ignitions. The planning tool combines climate data, infrastructure characteristics, and terrain analysis to identify where and how utility assets could potentially spark fires. As real-world conditions change—whether through shifting weather patterns, vegetation growth, or infrastructure degradation—gridFIRM's machine learning models continuously incorporate these signals to maintain dynamic, up-to-date risk assessments.

This deployment will enable National Grid to:

• Identify high-risk areas where utility assets could potentially ignite wildfires
• Quantify and prioritize wildfire risks across transmission and distribution networks
• Develop cost-effective, multi-value wildfire prevention and response strategies that balance resilience with customer affordability
• Enhance overall grid resilience planning capabilities with defensible, data-driven investment decisions

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What This Means for Rhizome

This partnership represents a significant milestone in demonstrating that sophisticated wildfire risk modeling delivers value across all geographies, not just traditional high-risk regions. National Grid's decision to deploy gridFIRM reflects the utility industry's recognition that proactive, data-driven approaches to climate risk are essential regardless of a region's current risk profile.

Working with a utility of National Grid's scale and operational complexity—spanning multiple regulatory jurisdictions, climate zones, and network types—validates gridFIRM's capability to support strategic planning for large, geographically diverse utilities. National Grid's commitment to innovation, demonstrated through their recent $100 million investment in AI technologies via National Grid Partners, aligns with our mission to help utilities integrate climate intelligence into infrastructure planning.

"This partnership aligns perfectly with National Grid's strategic approach to risk management, system resilience, and bill affordability," said Casey Kirkpatrick, Director of Strategic Engineering at National Grid. "This groundbreaking new tool will allow us to pinpoint and address risks within our transmission and distribution systems while minimizing costs for customers."

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Looking Ahead

As extreme weather events continue to increase in frequency and severity across all regions, utilities need tools that help them anticipate and address climate-driven threats before they impact customers. gridFIRM provides the quantitative foundation for those decisions, enabling utilities to balance the competing demands of reliability, safety, and affordability.

"Wildfire risk is not a regional problem but an increasingly global one," said Mishal Thadani, Co-founder and CEO of Rhizome. "Today's partnership with National Grid is a significant step forward in our mission to shield society from the effects of climate change through intelligent planning. We're proud to assist National Grid with this proactive work."

Since launching gridFIRM in July 2024, we've worked with utilities across North America to quantify wildfire risk and prioritize mitigation investments that protect both infrastructure and the communities that depend on reliable power.

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Read National Grid's announcement here: https://www.nationalgridus.com/News/2025/12/National-Grid-Launches-AI-Powered-Wildfire-Risk-Initiative-with-Rhizome/