{"id":516057,"date":"2021-07-21T17:03:07","date_gmt":"2021-07-21T21:03:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.marketnewsdesk.com\/index.php\/pge-announces-major-new-electric-infrastructure-safety-initiative-to-protect-communities-from-wildfire-threat\/"},"modified":"2021-07-21T17:03:07","modified_gmt":"2021-07-21T21:03:07","slug":"pge-announces-major-new-electric-infrastructure-safety-initiative-to-protect-communities-from-wildfire-threat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marketnewsdesk.com\/index.php\/pge-announces-major-new-electric-infrastructure-safety-initiative-to-protect-communities-from-wildfire-threat\/","title":{"rendered":"PG&E Announces Major New Electric Infrastructure Safety Initiative to Protect Communities From Wildfire Threat"},"content":{"rendered":"

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PG&E Announces Major New Electric Infrastructure Safety Initiative to Protect Communities From Wildfire Threat<\/b><\/p>\n

Undergrounding 10,000 Miles of Power Lines in Highest Fire-Threat Areas<\/b><\/p>\n

Initiative Builds on Recent Successful Projects Using Undergrounding to Harden the Electric System and Mitigate Wildfire Risk<\/i><\/p>\n

CHICO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE<\/a>)–
\nPacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) today announced a major new initiative to expand the undergrounding of electric distribution power lines in High Fire Threat Districts (HFTD) to further harden its system and help prevent wildfires. The new infrastructure safety initiative, announced today in Butte County by PG&E Corporation CEO Patti Poppe, is a multi-year effort to underground approximately 10,000 miles of power lines.\n<\/p>\n

\nPG&E\u2019s commitment represents the largest effort in the U.S. to underground power lines as a wildfire risk reduction measure.\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWe want what all of our customers want: a safe and resilient energy system. We have taken a stand that catastrophic wildfires shall stop. We will partner with the best and the brightest to bring that stand to life. We will demand excellence of ourselves. We will gladly partner with policymakers and state and local leaders to map a path we can all believe in,\u201d Poppe said.\n<\/p>\n

\nIn addition to significantly reducing wildfire risk, undergrounding also benefits customers by lessening the need for Public Safety Power Shutoffs, which are called as a last resort during dry, windy conditions to reduce the risk of vegetation contacting live power lines and sparking a wildfire. Undergrounding also eases the need for vegetation management efforts, leaving more of California\u2019s trees untouched.\n<\/p>\n

\nToday, PG&E maintains more than 25,000 miles of overhead distribution power lines in the highest fire-threat areas (Tier 2, Tier 3 and Zone 1)\u2014which is more than 30% of its total distribution overhead system.\n<\/p>\n

\n10,000 miles of PG&E lines represents approximately the distance of 11 round trips from Chico to Los Angeles or almost half way around the world. The exact number of projects or miles undergrounded each year through PG&E\u2019s new expanded undergrounding program will evolve as PG&E performs further project scoping and inspections, estimating and engineering review.\n<\/p>\n

Public Engagement with Stakeholders to Guide New Undergrounding Plan<\/b><\/p>\n

\nPG&E will engage customers and stakeholders as it develops a plan and reviews potential additional undergrounding sites based on a variety of factors, including local municipal planning and safety considerations. Engineering an underground electric system requires designing the system around existing water, natural gas and drainage systems, as well as planning for future road widening. PG&E intends to work closely with customers and local, state, federal, tribal and regulatory officials throughout this new safety initiative.\n<\/p>\n

Learning from Projects to Inform Expanded Undergrounding Effort<\/b><\/p>\n

\nIn the past, undergrounding has been done on a select, case-by-case basis, and largely for reasons other than wildfire risk reduction. Thanks to breakthroughs PG&E has achieved on undergrounding projects in recent years, undergrounding can now play a much more prominent role in PG&E’s ongoing efforts to harden the electric grid.\n<\/p>\n

\nFollowing the devastating October 2017 Northern California wildfires and the 2018 Camp Fire, PG&E began to evaluate placing overhead power lines underground as a wildfire safety measure, and to better understand the construction and cost requirements associated with undergrounding for system hardening purposes. These demonstration projects were part of PG&E\u2019s Community Wildfire Safety Program (CWSP) and included the following:\n<\/p>\n