Request for Proposals

Proposal Due Date: June 15, 2026

Anticipated Project Start: June 30, 2026

Website: https://www.blueforest.org

1. Background

Blue Forest is a conservation finance organization that develops and deploys innovative financial

mechanisms to accelerate forest and watershed restoration at scale. Our work focuses on

reducing wildfire risk, protecting water supplies, and improving climate resilience for communities

and infrastructure across the western United States.

A significant portion of Blue Forest’s work is conducted in partnership with power utilities, water

agencies, investors, and public land managers. These entities face increasing operational, financial,

and regulatory risks from wildfires, including infrastructure damage, service disruptions, impacts

on water supply, and liability exposure. Blue Forest supports these partners by providing rigorous,

decision-relevant analytics that link land management actions to measurable reductions in wildfire

risk and avoided damages.

Blue Forest works closely with academic partners to develop the Center for Ecosystem Climate

Solutions (CECS; https://cecs.ess.uci.edu/data-atlas) toolkit, which integrates wildfire, vegetation,

climate, and water data to support restoration planning and investment decisions. This RFP seeks

private-sector partners to expand wildfire modeling capabilities that directly support utility

resilience objectives.

2. Purpose

Blue Forest seeks qualified firms or individuals to provide wildfire modeling and risk analytics that

can support utility-driven investment in landscape-scale restoration and resilience projects. The

selected partner(s) will deliver modeling outputs that are technically robust, transparent, and

suitably convey the changes in wildfire dynamics.

Proposals should emphasize practical, scalable approaches that translate wildfire science into

metrics relevant to utility service reliability and risk reduction, hydropower and reservoir

operations, and avoided infrastructure risk.

3. Scope of Work

Respondents may propose services across all or part of the following areas. Blue Forest welcomes

proprietary tools where appropriate, provided assumptions and outputs are sufficiently

transparent for decision-making.

A. Wildfire Risk and Behavior Modeling for Utility Assets

● Assess how landscape-scale restoration actions affect wildfire behavior and infrastructure risk.

Collect wildfire behavior data relevant to utility risk, such as change in burn

probability, flame length, fire intensity, and rate of spread.

Quantify wildfire exposure and risk to transmission and distribution infrastructure,

hydropower facilities, and reservoirs, as well as liability risk.

● As needed, provide project monitoring of wildfire behavior metrics on a quarterly or

annual basis.

B. Scenario Analysis and Investment Comparison

● Compare treated vs. untreated (no-action) scenarios to quantify marginal risk reduction.

● Support evaluation of fuels management strategies alongside traditional wildfire

mitigation strategies, such as infrastructure hardening and vegetation management within

the Right-of-Way (ROW)

● Incorporate climate variability and change where feasible.

C. Translation to Utility-Relevant Metrics

● Convert wildfire modeling outputs into metrics meaningful to utilities, such as:

○ Asset risk reduction via avoided infrastructure damage

○ Liability risk reduction

○ Reduced reliability (outage) frequency or duration

○ Reduced operational or regulatory risk

D. Integration with Spatial Data and Decision Tools

● Integrate outputs with spatial datasets (e.g., fuels, vegetation, topography, climate).

● Support workflows compatible with CECS or similar decision-support platforms.

● Enable repeatable application across multiple utility service territories.

● Preference will be given to firms or individuals who can leverage publicly available or

affordable data options, along with open-source tools that offer long-term, scalable

technology solutions.

4. Desired Qualifications

Respondents should demonstrate:

● Experience delivering wildfire modeling or risk analytics for utilities, infrastructure

owners, or regulated entities.

● Prior experience adapting standard fire behavior models to non-analog fuel types and

atypical wind-driven fire environments, including chaparral shrublands and invasive

grass-dominated landscapes.

● Familiarity with utility infrastructure (i.e., electric transmission and distribution systems

and hydropower operations).

● Experience supporting investment, planning, or regulatory processes (e.g., wildfire

mitigation plans, capital planning).

● Strong data management and geospatial analytics capabilities.

● Ability to produce materials and communicate technical approaches and results clearly to

non-technical decision-makers.

5. Deliverables

Anticipated deliverables may include:

● Spatial wildfire risk datasets and scenario outputs

● Technical documentation describing methods, assumptions, and uncertainty

● Utility-facing summaries linking restoration actions to risk reduction outcomes

● Recommendations for integrating wildfire modeling into utility planning and investment

frameworks

6. Project Timeline

Proposals should include:

● A proposed work plan with phases and milestones

● Estimated duration for each task

● Anticipated output metrics

● Assumptions regarding data access or coordination with utilities

Blue Forest anticipates an initial project duration of approximately June to December 2026, with

potential for follow-on work.

7. Budget and Cost Proposal

Proposals should include:

● Total cost and task-level breakdown

● Assumptions related to data licensing, computing, or software

● Optional pricing for expanded scope or additional geographies

Blue Forest encourages cost-effective solutions that balance rigor, transparency, and scalability.

8. Proposal Submission Requirements

Proposals should include:

1. Firm overview and relevant experience

2. Technical approach and modeling methods

3. Utility-relevant use cases or past examples

4. Proposed timeline and deliverables

5. Budget and cost breakdown

Submit proposals electronically (PDF) to: data@blueforest.org

9. Evaluation Criteria

Proposals will be evaluated on:

● Relevance to electric and hydropower utility risk management

● Technical rigor and transparency of methods

● Ability to translate science into utility-relevant metrics

● Scalability across landscapes and utility service areas

● Cost-effectiveness and feasibility

10. Additional Information

Blue Forest reserves the right to:

● Select one or multiple respondents

● Modify scope prior to contracting

● Request clarification or interviews with shortlisted firms

Submit proposals electronically (PDF) to: data@blueforest.org