Burying power lines is an expensive but highly effective way to curb the risk of utility-caused wildfires, which have devastated towns across California.
As deadly wildfires have destroyed communities from California to Maui, the nation's largest utility, Pacific Gas and Electric, is making headway on its ambitious goal to move 10,000 miles of power lines in fire-prone areas underground, which would greatly reduce ignition risk.
. The utility has undergrounded 350 miles of power lines so far this year, and more than 600 miles since 2021. "Undergrounding costs a lot of money. It's a large investment. So that would increase the revenue that the utilities collect," Kirschen explains."Now, the question is would these other solutions be as effective as those big investment projects? That's where the regulators have to step in."PG&E said in a statement that,"In the case of undergrounding, our investors' priorities are aligned with those of our customers and our safety regulators.
Looked at this way, undergrounding is undoubtedly cheaper than dealing with the massive costs of deadly wildfires, and less disruptive than shutting off power completely. Both proposals would save money but would ultimately put PG&E's 10,000 mile goal in jeopardy. Plus, PG&E says that insulating lines is only about 65% effective at reducing wildfire risk, far less effective than undergrounding.
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