Results: Underground Powerlines in 27 Counties; System-wide Risk Reduced by 8.4%
OAKLAND, Calif. – Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) has now constructed and
energized 1,000 miles of powerlines underground in high fire risk areas. PG&E has identified its
undergrounding effort as the largest ever by a utility to reduce wildfire risk. In the locations
where those lines provide electricity to customers, undergrounding eliminates nearly all wildfire
risk.
In total, PG&E’s system hardening efforts, which includes undergrounding, stronger overhead
poles and wires and line removals, have permanently removed 8.4% of wildfire ignition risk from
our entire system since 2023.
How far is 1,000 miles? If you drove from the Oregon-California border down to the California-
Mexico border, you would travel 932 miles.
“Putting 1,000 miles of powerlines underground is a significant milestone for our customers as
we work to reduce wildfire risk every day,” said Peter Kenny, PG&E’s senior vice president of
Electric Operations. “When our CEO, Patti Poppe, announced in 2021 that we would put
thousands of miles of powerlines underground, skeptics said it couldn’t be done. Well, not only
are we at 1,000 miles and counting, but we also have substantially reduced the cost for our
customers as we’ve scaled up our work.”
Underground powerlines are now serving customers in high fire-risk areas of 27 counties in
Northern and Central California, ranging from 337 miles in Butte County and 119 miles in
Shasta County to more than 50 miles of buried powerlines in each of El Dorado, Lake, Placer,
Plumas and Solano counties.
By the end of 2026, PG&E anticipates a total of 1,600 miles of powerlines will be underground,
contributing to a total risk reduction of 18% across the entire system.
Since the start of the program, the cost per mile of undergrounding has decreased from $4
million to $3.1 million in 2025. Further reductions are expected in coming years.
Undergrounding cost savings have been achieved through multiple innovations and ideas.
• Reducing cost and travel time and supporting local economies by hiring hometown
contractors.
• Working more efficiently with state-of-the-art construction equipment, including chain
trenchers, rock-wheel saws and slinger trucks.
• Avoiding the year-after-year tree trimming required by overhead line maintenance.
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• Saving time, money and additional dirt removal by reducing the standard depth and
width of trenches.
• Cutting disposal costs by using excess soil from undergrounding projects for other
operational projects.
With increasing fire risk across the western United States, it is critical to meet the challenges of
today and tomorrow. PG&E is taking both immediate and long-term actions to keep
communities safe, while also focusing on reduced costs and increased reliability.
PG&E uses multiple layers of protection that work together to prevent wildfires. These have
significantly reduced wildfire risk. These safety measures prevented major fires from our
equipment in 2023 and 2024 and have greatly reduced wildfire risk since 2018.
Over the past seven years, PG&E has:
• Developed a state-wide network of nearly 1,600 weather stations and more than 650 HD
cameras to respond to wildfire risk in real time
• Inspected, trimmed or removed over 960,000 trees and other types of vegetation across
the service area
• Completed more than 1,000 miles of undergrounding
• Installed more than 1,400 miles of strengthened power poles and covered powerlines
Matt Pender, PG&E’s vice president of Undergrounding and System Hardening, praised his
team for its focus on protecting customers.
“It feels amazing to be making a difference that will last for many, many years, for decades, by
putting these lines underground and reducing wildfire risk for the long run,” he said.
According to a report by the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, PG&E was
recognized as one of the nation’s top utilities for wildfire readiness, exemplifying the highest
level of preparedness. The report also ranked PG&E’s Wildfire Mitigation Plan at Tier 1 maturity,
the highest possible score in the assessment.
To learn more about PG&E’s wildfire safety efforts, visit pge.com/wildfiresafetyprogess.
