Last year, PG&E announced plans to bury 10,000 miles of overhead powerlines to reduce wildfire risk. The plan calls for an exponential increase in the pace and scale of its undergrounding work, which is expected to bury 175 miles of lines in 2022 and 400 in 2023.
There have been scant details about where these undergrounding projects will be located; however, PG&E recently released draft local maps for its 2022-23 projects and where it is considering undergrounding projects for the 2024-26 timeframe.
RCRC has called upon PG&E to greatly improve its coordination with local governments about these undergrounding projects. Coordination and consultation can better inform both local government and utility decision-making; provide advanced notice of potential projects; and identify similar or overlapping local government projects within the undergrounding plan implementation horizon in order to reduce expenses, minimize environmental impacts, and avoid future problems and complications.
In related news, the California Legislature sent Senate Bill 884 (McGuire, D-Healdsburg) to Governor Newsom for consideration. SB 884 sets up an expedited process for the state to review utility undergrounding projects. Under the bill, PG&E, SCE, and SDG&E may submit a distribution infrastructure undergrounding plan to the California Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety (OEIS) and Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) for an 18-month review process. The plan will include those undergrounding projects in high fire threat or rebuild areas it plans to perform in the next ten years. PG&E believes this consolidated and expedited approval process will help reduce its costs of financing these projects, thereby driving down the cost of construction. Local governments and the public will have an opportunity to comment on the undergrounding plans at both the OEIS and CPUC.
Finally, the CPUC is soliciting feedback on whether to expand the state’s Rule 20A program to include wildfire and emergency-related powerline undergrounding projects. The Rule 20A program has historically been used to underground power lines for aesthetic and disability access purposes; however, a recent CPUC decision suspended the allocation of work credits and seeks to transfer unused allocations to communities with active projects. As part of its inquiry, the CPUC is also seeking input on whether it “or utilities should enhance engagement with local governments to inform utility investments of undergrounding for safety, resilience, or emergency-related purposes.”
For more information, contact RCRC Policy Advocates John Kennedy or Leigh Kammerich.