PG&E Unveils 'Moonshot' Effort to Underground 10,000 Miles of Distribution Line to Reduce Wildfire Risk

SUGAR LAND, TEXAS--July 26, 2021--Written by John Egan for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Pacific Gas & Electric (San Francisco, California) last week announced a plan to underground about 10,000 miles of distribution lines, at an estimated cost of $20 billion or more, to reduce the danger of wildfires sparked by utility equipment. The July 21 move came as the utility, a unit of PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG) (San Francisco), acknowledged that a tree fell on one of its power lines, breaking it and possibly causing the Dixie Wildfire. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Sacramento, California) said that fire, which is only one-fifth contained, has burned at least 142,000 acres in Butte and Plumas counties in northern California. The fire began July 13.