Bent Ear Solutions and Western Weather Group Partner to Bring Ground-Truth Weather Data Into Utility and Emergency Management GIS Systems

This strategic partnership pairs BES's ArcGIS integration work with WWG's calibrated weather station network, giving mutual utility customers and emergency managers a defensible operational picture inside the systems they already run.

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia and CHICO, California (Sept. 23, 2026) — Utilities and emergency agencies can now pull calibrated weather observations directly into the situational awareness environments they already operate, under a partnership announced today by Bent Ear Solutions (BES), an Esri Gold Partner and systems integrator, and Western Weather Group (WWG), a leading provider of weather forecasting, hardware, and monitoring solutions for utilities and energy companies.

Under the partnership, WWG provides comprehensive observations, and BES puts them to work. WWG deploys and maintains more than 8,000 weather stations and 25,000 sensors across North America, delivering calibrated, field-validated observations. BES connects those feeds to ArcGIS dashboards and incident response tools utilities and emergency management agencies run today. The result is a single highly accurate and precise picture of weather and vegetations conditions to support proactive decision requirements without requiring any new technology. 

In our evolving climate, wildfire risk now extends well beyond the West, and utilities across the country are being asked to document the data behind their PSPS (Public Safety Power Shut Off) and outage decisions. The partnership is built to meet that need directly, pairing BES's work on wildfire mitigation planning, outage intelligence, and PSPS decision support with WWG's cutting-edge sensor network.

"When a utility is weighing a de-energization call, the weather has to be on the same screen as the circuits, the crews, high hazard wildfire areas and customers. We can now put WWG's highly accurate, location-based observations into the common operating pictures utilities already use," said Chris McIntosh, CEO of Bent Ear Solutions.

"Utilities have been clear with us about what they need from weather data: it has to be in within the same environment where all other relevant information is displayed that drive daily decisions. And it has to hold up six months later when someone asks why the decisions were made and what data was used to support those decisions. That's what this partnership delivers." said Steve Miller, Chief Strategy Officer of Western Weather Group.

BES and WWG will host a joint webinar, "Assessing Wildfire Risk Before It Escalates: Lessons from the Fire Line and the Sensor Network," on Wednesday, October 14, 2026, from 2:00 to 3:00 PM ET (11:00 AM PT). The session pairs Bent Ear Solutions’ Russ Johnson, who spent 32 years as a Chief Fire Management Officer with the U.S. Forest Service before supporting the development of Esri's public safety practice, with Western Weather Group’s Chris Arends, a former Navy meteorologist who built one of the first utility wildfire weather networks in the country at San Diego Gas & Electric.

About Western Weather Group

Western Weather Group (WWG) is a leading provider of precision weather monitoring, forecasting, and risk-mitigation solutions for electric utilities, agriculture, and other industries where weather impacts operations and safety. For more than 20 years, Western Weather Group has combined industrial-grade weather stations and decision-ready intelligence to help organizations manage risk, optimize performance, and meet regulatory requirements. With more than 8,000 weather stations and 25,000 sensors deployed across the U.S., the company delivers high-accuracy sensors, custom forecasts, and actionable alerts that enhance situational awareness during wildfire, severe weather, and other environmental challenges. Headquartered in Chico, California, Western Weather Group provides end-to-end solutions, from design and installation to calibration, data management, and ongoing support, empowering clients to operate safely, efficiently, and with greater confidence.

About Bent Ear Solutions

Bent Ear Solutions (BES) is a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business and Esri Gold Partner headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia. BES helps state and local government, emergency management, utility, and critical infrastructure organizations modernize the technology they already own into an integrated and connected operating environment. Through its Connected Framework methodology, BES reviews the organization’s governance, standard operating procedures, and existing technologies. BES then works with the organization to leverage their investments in technology such as ArcGIS and Microsoft 365 to provide a comprehensive decision-making environment. Recent work includes a statewide common operating picture for Kentucky Emergency Management spanning all 120 counties and longstanding support to clients including Dominion Energy, the City of Boston Office of Emergency Management, and the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. BES has been named to the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies for five consecutive years. 

Media Contacts

Bent Ear Solutions Isaiah Nuñez, inunez@bent-ear.com, 804-704-3210

Western Weather Group Liz Morgan, liz.morgan@westernwx.com, 530-342-1700