PG&E Digs into $4.7 Billion of Underground Line Projects

November 20, 2023--Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG) (Oakland, California) plans to spend $4.7 billion over the next four years to bury 1,230 miles of power lines and insulate another 778 miles with protective covering. PG&E, which plans to "underground" 350 miles of line this year, announced its spending plans following a decision from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) that will allow it to hike customer bills an average of 13% next year. PG&E says it has buried 197 of the 350 miles as of October 30.

Industrial Info is tracking more than $1 billion worth of active and planned projects from PG&E, the bulk of which are transmission and distribution (T&D) located in central California, between Sacramento and Bakersfield. The driving factor behind PG&E's statewide move toward underground line is California's notorious wildfires. Last week, the state's Department of Forestry and Fire Protection issued a report blaming Southern California Edison Company, a subsidiary of Edison International (NYSE:EIX), for the 2022 Fairview Fire, which killed two people.