PG&E Announces Plans to Bury Power Lines to Prevent Igniting Wildfires

Last week the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) publicly announced it plans to bury 10,000 miles of its power lines in “High Fire Threat Districts” in an effort to prevent its equipment from sparking wildfires. PG&E, which is one of the largest combined natural gas and electric energy companies in the U.S., planned to make the announcement in the coming months but took the step now just days after informing regulators a 70-foot pine tree that toppled on one of its power lines ignited what became the Dixie Fire. This happened in the same rural area where another fire sparked by PG&E equipment in 2018 killed more than 80 people and destroyed thousands of homes. The daunting project aims to bury about 10 percent of PG&E’s distribution and transmission lines over several years at a projected cost of $15 to $30 billion. In addition to significantly reducing wildfire risk, PG&E noted undergrounding benefits customers by lessening the need for “Public Safety Power Shutoffs,” which are initiated during dry, windy conditions to reduce the risk of vegetation contacting live power lines and sparking a wildfire. Read more at NPR.