Oakland, Calif. – October 01, 2026 -- Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) has filed a proposed 10-Year Electrical Undergrounding Plan (EUP) with the California Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety, projecting $117 billion in long-term benefits from burying 5,000 miles of distribution lines across more than 30 Northern and Central California counties between 2028 and 2037.
Undergrounding cuts wildfire ignition risk by 98% in targeted zones
PG&E says moving lines underground in high fire-threat districts nearly eliminates ignition risk and cuts outages by 90% in those areas. The utility estimates the $117 billion in projected benefits is more than 10 times the value of the proposed investment.
Utility projects $6 billion in avoided maintenance costs
Completing the 5,000-mile buildout would let PG&E avoid roughly $6 billion in vegetation management, operations and maintenance spending over the life of the underground assets, the company said. PG&E has already cut undergrounding cost per mile by approximately 25% through new technology and construction processes.
Regulatory review will determine cost approval pathway
Energy Safety will evaluate whether the plan substantially increases reliability and reduces wildfire risk. If approved, PG&E will submit the plan to the California Public Utilities Commission with a request for conditional approval of the plan's costs.
Risk modeling directs underground versus overhead upgrades
PG&E uses data analytics and risk modeling to determine where undergrounding delivers the greatest benefit versus alternatives such as strengthened poles and covered powerlines. The approach weighs wildfire likelihood, system reliability, customer impacts, and project costs.
"Placing powerlines underground provides the most effective way to reduce wildfire risk and enhance reliability for customers within High Fire-Threat Districts," said Peter Kenny, PG&E Chief Delivery Officer and Electric Transmission and Distribution Senior Vice President.
Company targets 11,000 miles of mitigation work by 2037
By the end of 2027, PG&E expects to have completed more than 1,900 miles of undergrounding and approximately 2,000 miles of overhead system upgrades since the programs began. Combined with the proposed 10-year plan and additional overhead work, PG&E projects undergrounding or upgrading more than 11,000 miles of powerlines in high wildfire-risk areas by the end of 2037, pending regulatory approval.