UTILITY UNDERGROUNDING

NOTE: See Strategic Plan Goal: Utility Undergrounding for current project information

History

In 1987, Piedmont Pines filed an application with the City to have all our utility lines dropped from their poles and buried underground. All properties within Piedmont Pines were to be included in the boundaries.

In 1999, we rose to the top of the waiting list, and formed a Utility Undergrounding Steering Committee to work with the City on the feasibility and costs of the project.

The project became quite complicated, on several fronts:

• Costs were unclear because of a dispute between the utilities and the city over which streets qualified for their subsidized undergrounding program, which covers 85% of the total costs. The City said more than 1100 properties qualified, the utilities said less than 500 fit the criteria.

• In order to pull the CPUC into this debate, we needed officially to be considered a Utility Undergrounding District by the City, which required a show-of-interest vote among property owners. This was dicey, since we couldn’t tell anyone if their home qualified or how much it would cost.

• In July 1999, the City mailed ballots to all of Piedmont Pines asking if they wanted to form a Utility Undergrounding District. The City cited $5600 to $6900 per property. 21% said no, 42% said yes, and a lot of people were too confused to vote. The numbers were enough for the Council to approve in May 2000, the formation of the Utility Undergrounding District that includes all of Piedmont Pines.

• For the following two years, matters at the CPUC were complicated by legislation, related cases, hearings, and finally, PG&E’s bankruptcy case.

• In 2001, the CPUC issued a decision altering certain provisions of the rules governing undergrounding projects. A disappointment to Piedmont Pines was the omission of safety as a determining factor in approving funds for subsidized undergrounding. The City lost an appeal to reconsider safety. Click here to review a summary of the decision and the City's appeal.

• In 2003, the City moved an undergrounding project along MacArthur ahead of Piedmont Pines due to our continuing disputes with utilities on how many of our streets to include, and because of additional work on MacArthur that made the timing cost effective.

• The City ruled that it would use a share of its underground allocation to defray homeowner costs to convert their electrical panel to accept an underground delivery system.

• In 2003, PG&E agreed to go 1000 feet beyond its qualified streets, which added more than 20,000 feet of subsidized undergrounding. SBC refused to adopt this policy, making the issue moot.

• In 2003, the CPUC approved a tariff for PG&E that authorizes “collector streets” to be added tothe “arterial streets” for subsidy. Pacific Bell has not yet filed a tariff to include collector streets. It’s unclear how PG&E’s 1000 foot rule interacts with the collector street tariff.

• In 2003, CPUC granted approval for the City to take a 5 year advance on its undergrounding allocation, allowing projects to move further faster.

• In 2004, Piedmont Pines included Utility Undergrounding as part of its first-ever strategic plan.

• In 2005, Piedmont Pines sent the City a letter, accepting a phased approach to our undergrounding project. Click here to view the letter.

See Strategic Plan Goal: Utility Undergrounding for current project information.

Related information

Click on these links for additional resources:

• Frequently asked questions (note, this document was written in 1999. While much of the information remains accurate, some parts may change when we get to the design phase of our project).
• CPUC decision and City's appeal regarding changes to rules governing undergrounding.
• PPNA's letter to City (1/2005) accepting phased approach to undergrounding project
• Strategic Plan Goal: Utility Undergrounding for current project information