The southern California, Edison, the electrical services company whose team has been the focus of investigations on the Mortal Eaton fire in Los Angeles County in January, said Friday that he planned to bury more than 150 miles of electricity lines in fire -prone areas near Altadena and Malibu, California.
The project would require the approval of state regulators, it would take years to complete and cover only a fraction of the vast service area of ​​the public services company. Even so, the underground lines have been among the main requests of communities devastated by fire, since Los Angeles seeks to rebuild.
In a letter to Governor Gavin Newsom in California, company officials estimated the cost of the project in more than $ 650 million. That is equivalent to approximately two thirds of the almost $ 1 billion that the public services company estimated that it would cost to rebuild the infrastructure that was damaged or destroyed in forest fires that began on January 7. It is expected that much of that cost will be transferred to customers.
But, authorities said, the project will address a significant risk in two of the most prone to fire areas in Southern California. The authorities said that at least 90 miles of electric lines would be buried in Malibu, and more than 60 miles in high -risk fire zones and its surroundings in Altadena, where the Eaton fire burned.
“SCE will build a resistant and reliable grid for our clients again,” said Steven Powell, president and executive director of the public services company, in a statement.
The authorities said Friday that any not buried distribution circuit would be “hardened with the covered driver.” The company’s officials said in the letter that the investigation into the cause of the fire was still in progress, but “they recognized the possibility that the SCE team was involved in the cause of Eaton’s fire.”
After the fires, Mr. Newsom suspended key environmental laws that often delays construction so that public service companies can quickly rebuild their damaged and destroyed infrastructure. He also urged public service companies to bury energy equipment whenever possible.
Following the fires, the electrical equipment has been an important source of concern in the communities where the flames left the greatest destruction. Kathryn Barger, the Los Angeles County Supervisor that represents Altadena, applauded the announcement of the public services company, saying that “demonstrates a strong alignment with the security needs” of the community, which supports the mountains of San Gabriel. And in public meetings, the owners have repeatedly asked the authorities to place the electric lines of southern California underground.
On a state website created by the Newsom administration to obtain public comments on reconstruction, for example, hundreds of commentators from Altadena and Pacific Palisades, a coastal neighborhood of Los Angeles that also experienced radical losses, begged that the electrical equipment prone to sparks are relocated to the winds of the region and the Chapal Cáculos.
“Require SCE to enter all electric lines,” wrote a commentator in March, a demand that was repeated tens of times. “Underground and underground electric lines!” Another moment
After it was determined that the Pacific Gas & Electric team was responsible for causing a series of forest fires in northern California between 2017 and 2019, the public services company sought to bury thousands of miles of its electric lines.
That has proven to be a challenge. Moving Power Lines Underground is a very expensive company for public services and customers, which often must share parts of the cost of the installation and that generally end with higher rates. Consumer defenders have urged public services to explore other options, such as covered cables.
Mark Toney, the executive director of the Public Services Reform Network, which represents consumers before the California Public Services Commission, the public service regulator, said that burying the electricity lines underground could cost between $ 3 and $ 4 million per mile.
“Everyone knows that we have to rebuild the network when he burned as he did,” Toney said. “We believe it is important to find ways to do things in the most profitable way possible.”
But profitability varies from one community to another, and initiatives to bury the electric lines in California often raise equity issues.
When public service companies install underground lines, said Edison officials, they usually charge customers thousands of dollars per household for “trenches” individual lines from the property line to the electrical panel of a customer. Not all customers can pay a capital investment.
“Finding alternative ways to finance this important expenditure outside their pocket, even through government funds or philanthropic sources, could significantly help customers in their reconstruction efforts,” Edison officials suggested in their letter to Mr. Newsom.
The disparities in wealth have emerged similarly in the current debate of Los Angeles about reconstruction. In an interview earlier this month, Monica RodrÃguez, a member of the Council of the City of Los Angeles that represents a working class area of ​​the San Fernando Valley, said that the fires of January 7 had swept parts of their district and that Edison also serves its components.
“Its electric lines run through all areas of the foothills I represent,” he said. “And we would love to see them underground. So yes. We are also a frontline community. Combet us too.”
Any Edison movement must be approved by the State Public Services Commission to ensure that the Public Services Company can recover taxpayers’ costs. Regulators must balance the increase in the cost of electricity with the need for improvements to support safety and reliability.
