Edison to bury power lines in areas destroyed by Eaton and Palisades fires

SCE seeks partners for hefty design costs, joint trenches in neighborhoods.

Edison will bury more than 150 miles of power lines in Altadena and Malibu in the wake of January’s deadly and devastating Eaton and Palisades fires in Southern California. The underground lines, which are widely considered by experts to be much safer than overhead equipment, will replace damaged infrastructure in high-fire-risk areas in the two cities over the next several years, as part of a comprehensive infrastructure rebuilding plan.

Burying power lines is pricey, as much as $3 million per mile for larger transmission lines, and digging up paved roads and other portions of established neighborhoods can be time consuming and tricky.

Southern California Edison, a subsidiary of Edison International, said it will seek funds “from various entities” to cover the estimated $860 million to $925 million cost, as well as seeking cost-saving measures wherever possible. That includes possible joint design projects and laying common trenches with Los Angeles County and CalTrans, and exploring using telecommunications trenches.

SCE will seek to recover costs from customers via a limited rate hike through the California Public Utilities commission, a spokesman said, but are also seeking donations from government agencies, nonprofits or wealthy individuals who wish to contribute to making neighborhoods safer.

”SCE expects to file applications at the CPUC to recover the costs and will continue to seek funds from federal, state and local governments, along with philanthropic organizations and technology partners, to offset total project costs,” SCE spokesman Jeff Monford said.

SCE said in a news release that, “the plan focuses on increasing reliability and long-term resilience.”

The company — and perhaps its ratepayers — also face potential high costs from numerous lawsuits alleging live power lines and a transmission tower on a dry, flammable hillside right above Altadena and Pasadena caused the Eaton Fire, which killed 18 people and levelled entire city blocks of homes, places of worship and businesses.

SCE laid out its initial plan in a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom summarizing its planned work, the likely costs and “areas for collaboration” with local, state and federal government; nonprofit and technology partners; and community members.

Cost, state Public Utilities Commission rules “and other considerations must be weighed before moving forward,” the company said in the letter.

In a news release, Pedro J. Pizarro, president and CEO of Edison International, SCE’s parent company, said, “Just three months have passed since the devastating wildfires, and all of us at Edison continue to keep those affected in our thoughts. We’re working closely with state and county leaders and the communities of Altadena and Malibu to rebuild wildfire-impacted areas stronger than ever.”

He added, “SCE’s rebuilding plan will underground electrical distribution infrastructure where feasible and make the most of breakthrough technologies to reduce wildfire risk.

”SCE said “the plan focuses on increasing reliability and long-term resilience.”

It calls for undergrounding of new distribution equipment, typically the smaller lines that bring power to homes and businesses, including 130 circuit miles, which includes nearly all distribution power lines in High Fire Risk Areas within the burn scars of the affected communities — plus 23 circuit miles in areas of Altadena not in high-fire-risk areas. An additional 19 circuit miles in Altadena are being evaluated. Company officials said the plan was developed with input from the impacted communities and public officials.

In its letter to Newsom, SCE officials thanked the governor for an executive order streamlining environmental reviews to build power infrastructure, and discussed costs of its planned work.

“A major barrier to undergrounding is cost compared to covered conductor and other grid hardening alternatives. We value your recent executive order promoting undergrounding and efforts to reduce associated red tape and delays. This, along with other measures such as extended road closures, helps speed up and drive down the cost of undergrounding,” the letter reads. “For example, SCE recently completed all steps from design to civil work for undergrounding a line segment in Altadena in just five weeks — work that would have taken two years under normal conditions.”

But it added, “Even with this important support, undergrounding still requires more upfront capital, and costs would need to be meaningfully reduced to underground more circuit miles.

SCE said nearly half of the undergrounding costs relate to civil work, about $300 to $350 million including trenching and paving. It said coordinating with Los Angeles County and the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), including aligning on planning and construction timelines, and a “one trench” policy with telecommunications companies, “are important levers.”

”SCE is also exploring opportunities to proactively lay telecommunications conduit in trenches used for undergrounding electrical distribution infrastructure.”

The utility said it will “harden” above-ground lines by coating them in fireproof materials.

Janet Wilson is senior environment reporter for The Desert Sun and co-authors USA Today Climate Point. She can be reached at jwilson@gannett.com.