PG&E’s plan to bury transmission lines could include Monterey County.

As of Tuesday, Aug. 24, the Dixie Fire, the second largest in California history, has burned 731,310 acres and remains only 41-percent contained. How the fire began remains under investigation but Northern California officials and a report filed by Pacific Gas & Electric point to the likelihood that PG&E electric lines played a role in sparking the blaze on July 13.

It’s not the first time PG&E’s equipment has been singled out for sparking destructive wildfires in recent years – the utility was notably blamed for the 2018 Camp Fire that decimated the town of Paradise. On July 21, only days after the Dixie Fire ignited, PG&E’s new CEO Patricia Poppe announced a plan to bury 10,000 miles of electric transmission cables throughout its Northern and Central California service areas, aiming to reduce the risk of utility-caused wildfires.

PG&E will focus this estimated $15 to $30 billion effort in areas with a high wildfire risk, as determined by the California Public Utilities Commission. In Monterey County, this includes most of the area west of Highway 101 south of Salinas, as well as parts of the northeastern and southeastern regions of the county.

Ari Vanrenen, spokesperson for PG&E, says the utility is still in the early stages of scoping the project, mapping areas where undergrounding will be feasible and starting conversations with local jurisdictions and residents. Randy Ishii, public works director for Monterey County, says he has not received any communications from PG&E on the project but he is eager to hear more specifics on the plan.

Ishii says the county is finishing up its own undergrounding project in Moss Landing that included burying less than one mile of transmission cables. That project kicked off in 2008.

The county is also in the planning stages for undergrounding transmission cables along Carmel Valley Road between Garland Park and Pilot Road in Carmel Valley Village. Ishii says that project, which covers just under three miles, has been ongoing since 2013 and the county is still working out some agreements before putting shovels in the ground.

Ishii expects the Monterey County portion of PG&E’s proposal to be of “very large scope.” He says getting private property easements was among the greatest challenges for the local undergrounding projects and expects the same for PG&E. All easement permits for PG&E’s project would have to go through the county public works office, Ishii adds.