Undergrounding was on residents’ minds this month after downed power lines caused outages throughout Los Altos Hills. Two pilot undergrounding projects approved by the city several months ago were placed on PG&E’s official waiting list this month. The two selected locations are on Purissima Road and Altamont Road near Westwind Barn. According to PG&E project engineer Linda Swartz, it will take about a year of planning to reach the beginning of construction and then four months for completion, estimated in fall 2007.
PG&E will oversee design and engineering of the projects as well as funding them with the city’s rule 20a allocation. Rule 20a describes an electric tariff filed with the state Public Utilities Commission. The tariff funds public undergrounding projects.
Each city’s allocation is dependent on demographics including the number of utility users and the amount of utilities already underground. The projects are funded by all PG&E ratepayers and must qualify as benefiting the larger public. City and county governments must choose roadways that are extensively used or unusually scenic.
Property owners along newly undergrounded roads are
required to underground their own lines. Rule 20a allows funds from PG&E to be used for a $1,500 grant toward each
household’s panel conversion as well as refunds for the first 100 feet of trench on private property.
City Councilman Dean Warshawsky described the pilot projects as a first step toward undergrounding utilities in the entire town.
“Once these projects are done, we’re going to have some baseline costs, and the group will be a heck of a lot smarter about what it takes to underground utilities,” Warshawsky said. “Once this project gets underway, I’m hoping to create a groundswell of excitement about undergrounding.”
A 2004 town survey revealed a lack of majority approval for townwide undergrounding efforts, a condition necessary for assessing the available funding. The costs, which could run $20,000 to 30,000 per resident, received a mixed reception that tended to pit old-timers versus newcomers in town.
“It takes a lot of work to convince residents who have been here a long time to donate … to this project,” Warshawsky said. “I think most people look at it and say, ‘Great benefit, but the cost is too much.'”
Burying utility lines, including electric, cable TV and Internet, enhances the aesthetics of a neighborhood and initially
reduces the incidence of storm-related power outages. But
according to Swartz, underground lines can also be affected by inclement weather and take longer to repair than above ground lines.
The town may meet logistical problems in planning a comprehensive project. Swartz said that she had never worked to underground an entire city, and that projects even a few miles long tended to be broken down in to phases.
“If you have a consultant who has a big team and you have no limits to construction you could do it,” she said.
All new subdivisions, new homes and extensive remodels in town are already required to underground power lines to the edge of the private property. About a third of the town’s roads are already undergrounded, because of subdivisions or private roads.
Townwide undergrounding would require formation of one or more assessment districts, neighborhood groupings that could vote to approve tax increases to enable undergrounding along their streets. The cost of undergrounding for individual homeowners can also be assessed based on property value and expected benefits.
