Carmel looking into underground power lines

Following a month of storms and power outages around the city, Carmel-by-the-Sea is discussing a plan to add underground power lines.

The idea is welcomed by many in the city who have experienced days without power. We spoke with a homeowner on Carpenter Street which took the brunt of the January storms. Jill Sheffield had a tree fall on their car and their roof.

“We were without power at that point for three days all these power lines were down all the transformers were down,” Sheffield said.

The city has taken feedback from people like the Sheffields to explore the idea of moving powerlines underground.

“It’s the aestetics, it’s the safety, so the power lines won’t go down,” Public Works Director Bob Harary said.

However it is a pricy proposition. The city estimates it would cost about a million dollars per mile to move lines underground. Some resident’s still welcome the idea.

“I recognize its expensive,” Sheffield said. “I recognize its a massive project. In a community that has such beautiful view,s and so many trees it just seems like we don’t have a choice.”

City Manager Chip Rerig released some of the details that could go into such a plan:

With trees knocking out power lines during recent storms, some are wondering what it would take to relocate overhead power lines from power poles to below ground along our roadways or downtown sidewalks.

PG&E has $900,000 reserved for us under the Rule 20A Program to initiate such a project. Based on Rule 20A requirements: 1) the City would first need to determine a project location and obtain conceptual approval with PG&E and the other affected utilities (telephone, cable tv, and fiber optics providers), 2) the City would hold public meetings, and 3) the City Council would have to declare that undergrounding is in the public interest for at least one of the following qualifying reasons:

· Undergrounding would eliminate an unusually heavy concentration of overhead electric facilities

· A road where undergrounding is proposed is an arterial or major collector (i.e. Ocean, Junipero, Carpenter, Rio, San Carlos)

· A road where undergrounding is proposed carries a heavy volume of pedestrian or vehicle traffic

· A road where undergrounding is proposed passes through a civic area, recreation area, or an area of scenic interest

The next step is that PG&E and all other utilities would have to design their conversions. The “rule of thumb” is that the cost for utilities to design and convert one mile of overhead utilities along an arterial street is $1 million. In addition to cost, these projects take a long time. A proposed project in Monterey along Del Monte Avenue (at ‘Window on the Bay’) was abandoned after 10 years in the project development phase.

Finally, construction would begin. Please note that every home and business along the selected route would be required to obtain permits and convert their utility drops from overhead to below-grade locations. Although the City could pay for this expense, this element of an undergrouding project is typically at the adjacent private property owner’s expense.

For more information, check out www.pge.com/tariffs/assets/pdf/tariffbook/ELEC_RULES_20.pdf

If you have a suggested route that you believe would best satisfy the criteria, the City would love to hear from you. In the interim, we’re working on a ‘white paper’ that more fully elucidates the topic of undergrounding.