PG&E Corp. estimates it will cost about $10.5 billion to bury nearly 3,600 miles (5,794 kilometers) of power lines over the next five years as part of an ambitious project to prevent equipment from sparking catastrophic wildfires, Bloomberg News reported. The California utility giant said Friday it aims to speed up its pace of putting lines underground, with a target of at least 175 miles this year at a cost of $3.75 million per mile, or about $656 million, according to a regulatory filing made Friday with the state. PG&E plans to ratchet up that annual pace to a goal of burying 1,200 miles in 2026 at a reduced cost per mile, the filing said. PG&E’s disclosure offers for the first time details on how much the utility estimates it will need to spend on what it has said will be the largest anti-fire effort of its kind in the nation. The company said some of the undergrounding expenses will be offset by reducing the need to send crews out to trim trees around exposed overhead lines. PG&E Chief Executive Officer Patti Poppe unveiled a plan last year to eventually bury 10,000 miles in high fire risk areas, shortly after the start of the massive Dixie Fire that was sparked by a PG&E line that had been slated to be buried.
