San Francisco
PG&E to spend billions of dollars burying power lines to reduce wildfires
San Francisco, California – In order to reduce the number of wildfires in Northern and Central California and as part of the wildfire mitigation plan anticipated to be submitted to the California Public Utilities Commission, Pacific Gas & Electric is starting the first wave of a multibillion dollar project to bury 10,000 miles of distribution lines in those regions.
PG&E officials announced the first wave of the project last week. The goal of the first wave is to bury over 3,600 miles of power lines. According to officials, they will spend around $4 million each on burying only a mile of the power lines.
An investigation showed that the power lines were the main cause of a number of wildfires that have engulfed the state in recent years, including the Dixie Fire, which began in July 2021 and has burned almost a million acres and damaged more than 1,400 houses.
PG&E officials said in November that the fire and subsequent lawsuits would cause the company to lose around $1 billion.