North America | November 2, 2021

PG&E execs in talks with seven firms on undergrounding plan

USA, California: Leaders of Pacific Gas Electric Co. are in talks with seven companies about their plans to underground 16,000 km of power lines in California.

 

Image source: T&D World

USA, California: Leaders of Pacific Gas Electric Co. are in talks with seven companies about their plans to underground 16,000 km of power lines in California.

Announced in late July, the PG&E plan is the largest U.S. effort of its kind and a key part of the utility’s plan to reduce its wildfire risk. If completed as envisioned, it would put underground 40 % of PG&E overhead distribution power lines in areas with the three highest fire threats. In all, the company maintains more than 40,000 km (25,000 mi) of overhead lines in such areas.

Speaking to analysts and investors after reporting results for PG&E’s parent company, CEO Patti Poppe said the company received 25 responses to its request for information on how to broadly carry out its plan. (PG&E expects to underground only about 100 miles this year.) That list, Poppe said, has been narrowed to seven firms with whom PG&E is now holding face-to-face discussions.

“We feel more convicted than ever that this is an important part of the solution,” said CEO Patti Poppe, whose predecessors filed for protection from creditors in early 2019 in the face of what they estimated would be up to $30 B in claims from wildfires the two years prior.

Among the things Poppe is bullish about is the chance to lower installation costs because of the scale of PG&E’s aims. A recent small project, she said, cost between $2.5 M and $2.7 M per mile, implying a total cost of more than $25 B for the 16,093 km (10,000 mi) of construction. But rolling out such work on a large scale, she added, would bring with it “a tremendous opportunity” to lower that number.

PG&E reported a net loss of $1.1 B in the third quarter, a number that included $1.6 B worth of one-time items, primarily bankruptcy and legal costs. Poppe and her team also booked a $1.15 B charge related to the five-county Dixie fire this summer but expect to over time be able to recover those losses through various mechanisms.

 

Source: T&D World