California, September 6, 2025
News Summary
Major investor-owned utilities in California are accelerating programs to place neighborhood distribution lines underground to reduce wildfire ignitions and improve grid resiliency. Projects range from targeted community rebuilds to long-term efforts costing billions, with per-mile estimates typically cited around $3–$5 million but varying widely by terrain and complexity. Regulators, lawmakers and consumer advocates are clashing over who should pay as most costs are recovered through customer rates. Debates persist over cheaper alternatives like covered conductors, fast-trip sensors, vegetation management and microgrids, while permitting, trenching and long timelines complicate delivery.
California utilities racing to bury power lines to cut wildfire risk, but projects cost billions and lift bills
What’s happening now: Investor-owned utilities across California are moving aggressively to place overhead distribution wires underground as a major tool to reduce wildfires sparked by electrical equipment. These programs are already under way at large scale, with multi-hundred-million- and billion-dollar projects announced or approved. The push is changing construction practice, stretching regulators, and adding to customer bills as state leaders, utilities and consumer advocates argue over the best and most cost-effective ways to prevent future blazes.
Key developments and scope
Major utilities have rolled out plans that focus on undergrounding distribution lines in the highest-risk areas. One utility has completed roughly 600 miles of undergrounding since 2021 and is targeting as many as 10,000 miles over time. Another utility’s rebuilding plan calls for about 153 circuit miles to be buried in communities devastated by recent fires, with the project price tag estimated between $860 million and $925 million.
California has about 230,000 miles of distribution lines, and roughly one-third of that network is already underground. Many older and mountain communities still rely on overhead lines, which federal and state mapping and academic studies have linked to a significant share of past fire starts. Distribution equipment accounted for about 19% of acres burned in one multi-year review of wildfire causes, and some of the deadliest fires in recent years were traced to electrical infrastructure.
Costs, timelines and who pays
Buried distribution circuits typically cost in the range of $3 million to $5 million per mile, with variations by terrain, permitting needs and whether other subsurface work can be coordinated. Alternatives such as insulated or covered conductors generally cost far less — on the order of about $800,000 to $900,000 per mile in many reports — and can reduce fire risk substantially at a fraction of the cost and time. Underground projects often take two to four years or longer to complete, while covered-conductor upgrades are usually faster.
Under current state practice, most of the capital cost of these projects is recovered through customer rates. Regulators allow utilities to treat certain undergrounding work as capital investment, which is added to rate bases and repaid over time, a system designed to encourage infrastructure upgrades but criticized by some analysts for creating financial incentives to favor expensive options. Several analysts and former utility staff say this recovery mechanism can bias decisions toward costlier approaches even when cheaper mitigations could achieve similar safety outcomes.
Alternatives and trade-offs
Decision-makers are weighing multiple mitigation tools: covered conductors, downed-conductor detection systems sometimes called fast-trip or fault sensors, targeted vegetation management including prescribed burns, expanded microgrids and rooftop solar with batteries, and limited power shutoffs during the highest fire risk conditions. Studies from academic researchers show sensor systems can sharply cut the number of fires ignited by line faults and are much less expensive than broad undergrounding in many contexts. Undergrounding, however, eliminates ignition risk from overhead hardware and can reduce the need for disruptive shutoffs.
Political and regulatory fights
Legislative efforts this year aimed at limiting some utility costs or changing how wildfire mitigation spending is judged were blocked after opposition from utilities and unions. Proposals ranged from keeping lobbying expenses out of customer bills to requiring cost-effectiveness reviews alongside safety analyses. Regulators have started to compare mitigation strategies for cost-effectiveness and in some cases approved fewer miles of undergrounding than utilities requested. State executive actions have eased permitting for rebuilding after major fires and encouraged undergrounding where practical.
Local impacts and community examples
At one mountain construction site, crews have been trenching, laying conduit and removing overhead wires block by block. In coastal and hillside communities hit by recent fires, plans to replace burned distribution circuits with underground infrastructure are already part of rebuilding blueprints. Those projects can reduce wildfire risk and improve reliability, but households and small businesses are feeling the pressure of rising electricity costs. In some areas customers may face out-of-pocket connection costs to tie homes to new underground systems, and utilities say they are seeking state, federal or philanthropic funds to ease those burdens.
Money and scale: bills, profits and customer pain
Electric rates among the state’s large investor-owned utilities have climbed substantially over recent years, with increases as high as 110% over the past decade and more than 50% in the past three years in some service territories. Utilities’ financial reports show higher revenues and strong profits in recent years even as customers confront rising bills. Low-income households and small businesses report mounting difficulty in covering energy costs, and nearly one in five households are behind on payment in recent measures of arrears.
What happens next
Regulators, state leaders and utilities are now focused on setting priorities: which lines to bury, where cheaper hardening options can do the work, and how to protect customers from steep rate increases while meeting aggressive wildfire-safety goals. Mapping tools and risk models are evolving, and agencies are updating fire-hazard maps that expand the areas considered high risk. Funding limits at the federal and state level mean that many projects will rely on ratepayer recovery unless new public or philanthropic funding is secured.
FAQ
What is undergrounding?
Undergrounding is the process of moving overhead distribution power lines below ground to reduce wildfire risk and improve reliability.
How much does undergrounding cost?
Typical cost estimates for placing distribution lines underground range from about $3 million to $5 million per mile, with variations depending on local conditions.
Are there cheaper alternatives?
Yes. Options like covered conductors and downed-conductor sensors cost much less per mile and can reduce fire risk significantly in many locations.
Who pays for undergrounding?
Most costs are recovered through utility rates, meaning ratepayers absorb much of the expense, though utilities sometimes seek public or philanthropic funding to reduce customer bills or cover connection costs for homeowners.
Will undergrounding stop power shutoffs?
Undergrounding reduces the need for some safety shutoffs because it removes ignition sources from overhead lines, but it does not eliminate all causes of fire risk or all reasons for precautionary outages.
How long do underground projects take?
Underground projects typically take several years from planning to completion, often 25 to 48 months or longer depending on permitting, trenching, and coordination with other underground utilities.
Key features at a glance
| Feature | Typical figures or notes |
|---|---|
| Distribution line miles in state | About 230,000 miles total; roughly one-third already underground |
| Undergrounding cost | Approximately $3M–$5M per mile (varies by project) |
| Covered conductor cost | Roughly $800K–$900K per mile in many reports |
| Recent program scale | Hundreds of miles under construction or approved; some plans target hundreds more by 2028 |
| Who primarily pays | Ratepayers via utility capital-expenditure recovery, with some projects seeking external funding |
| Alternative tools | Covered conductors, fast-trip sensors, vegetation management, microgrids and batteries |
Deeper Dive: News & Info About This Topic
Additional Resources
- The Sacramento Bee: California undergrounding coverage
- Wikipedia: Underground cable
- Politico: California Climate newsletter — SoCal Edison going underground
- Google Search: California undergrounding power lines wildfires
- Los Angeles Times: Edison to bury power lines
- Google Scholar: undergrounding power lines wildfire California
- LAist: Burying power lines after the LA fires
- Encyclopedia Britannica: power lines underground (search)
- Smart Energy: California SCE turns to undergrounding for wildfire resilience
- Google News: undergrounding power lines California
Author: Construction NY News
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