State investigations in recent years concluded
the utility put a priority on financial performance,
including diverting millions of dollars intended
for safety upgrades to shareholders and to
bonuses for company executives.
The state is requiring PG&E to make $5 billion in
safety improvements, said Ann Patterson, one
of the members of a team appointed by Gov.
Gavin Newsom to safeguard residents from the
electrical network. Burying power lines is “one
tool in the toolbox” to that end, Patterson said.
PG&E spokeswoman Jennifer Robison says
the utility has spent $15 billion on its electrical
network over the last five years and will have
buried or otherwise hardened 150 miles of power
lines in 2019 by the end of the year.
PG&E proposes to cover, strengthen or bury
7,100 miles of overhead lines in the next decade,
Robison said.
That’s less than one-10th of the utility’s existing
overhead lines, however.
In the meantime, PG&E this year stepped up
a controversial program of intentional cut-
offs during times of high winds. Two months
of widespread, repeat outages — one of
which affected 2.5 million people — plunged
countless into darkness and ignited criticism
from lawmakers.