PG&E costly power line 'undergrounding' moving ahead

ANGWIN, Calif. - As PG&E bills continue to climb, it's fair to ask if burying powerlines will eventually slash wildfire risks, but where are we in this expensive process?

PG&E crews and contractors are all over the little Napa County town of Angwin with the goal of putting long-distance, regional and local powerlines beneath the ground.

At 1,700 feet elevation on Howell Mountain, for years, high winds have regularly caused many planned PSPS outages with long powerline inspection recovery times. 

"Terrible. Gosh, how long would it go? Like…three or four days at a time," said Angwin resident Nolan Sproad. 

"Here it has become so common that some of us, including myself, have bought a home generator because that's the only way we can survive," said resident Dan Madrid.

Making matters more aggravating, installing more sensitive breaker switches on elevated powerlines actually increased the number of unplanned outages as the winds here have tripped them. 

"This undergrounding work will help limit that in the future. Those lines that are underground don't have to be taken out for a PSPS event. Underground lines require a lot less ongoing maintenance than overhead lines. It is not exposed to the weather and animals as our overhead lines are," said PG&E Undergrounding and Hardening VP Matt Pender.

Another benefit in outages with underground lines in places like Angwin can be isolated for far shorter outages and much quicker recovery. 

"When we put the lines underground, we have more flexibility to isolate this area and keep the power on and only turn the power off in the areas where it's still necessary because of extreme weather conditions," said Pender. 

Once this is fully covered, it takes the weather entirely out of the picture; wind, snow, rain, ice. The only thing left that's a real threat is a massive landslide, highly unlikely, or very possibly a meteor strike.

Like most PG&E customers, Dan Madrid's rates have increased, but he sees it as a generational expense like a new bridge.  

"It hits our pocketbooks now, but it will make it easier and better in the future," said Madrid. 

Perhaps, a future with less fear of fire. 

"We think about it all the time now," he said.

Since 2021, PG&E has undergrounded almost 900 miles of powerlines. It will add 330 miles this year and 400 miles in 2026 to its ultimate goal of 10,000 miles by the end of the decade.