The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), the government regulator that oversees the state’s electric and gas utilities, is facing a critical decision on important investments PG&E has proposed to improve the resiliency of California’s electric grid. I have been in their position, and I know how it feels to balance badly needed upgrades to the grid that can help improve resiliency and safety versus increasing costs for customers as they are facing higher costs for everyday expenses.
As a former Public Service Commissioner in Florida, a state that is consistently besieged by severe weather and hurricanes, I want to share with Californians the actions we took in Florida, to make our electric grid more resilient. Indeed, these grid hardening efforts have meant a more reliable and cost-efficient electricity for every resident.
Consider when Hurricane Ian hit the southwest coast of Florida last year and moved across the state causing great destruction – most people in the path of the storm only lost power for a few days or less. For context, Ian stands as the costliest hurricane in Florida history.
Florida was able to rebound quickly because prior to Hurricane Ian, the Florida Public Service Commission made a tough decision to invest billions of dollars in hardening our electric infrastructure. Those investments helped the state be more resilient to storms and quicken the pace of restoration efforts. The good news is that Florida has continued to make these kinds of investments. Just last year, the Florida Public Service Commission approved four plans submitted by power companies to allow approximately $22 billion to be invested in hardening the state power grid.
What we’ve learned in Florida, is that performing emergency repairs on the power grid after every hurricane is a much greater financial burden than hardening the grid ahead of disasters. Or, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
California was hit with a hurricane this year, but that was likely a unique event. By far, the greatest environmental threat to life, property and the power remaining on for customers is wildfires started by downed or damaged power lines. While there are ways to reduce that threat, like trimming vegetation around the power lines – by far the greatest preventative method is burying those lines known as undergrounding.
With this in mind, PG&E, the largest electric utility in the state, has proposed burying 10,000 miles of lines in the areas with the greatest fire risk. The company has made steady and significant progress toward this goal since announcing the target in 2021, and has pledged to increase the pace, while reducing the per-mile cost, as the years roll on.
Recently, PG&E submitted plans to the CPUC to place roughly 2,000 additional miles underground in the next three years. This would result in customers paying about $3.40 per month in their electric bill in exchange for eliminating 98% of wildfire risk on these lines. However, the CPUC is currently considering limiting PG&E to just 200 miles of undergrounding, or as little as 50 miles per year.
My hope is that the CPUC can learn from our experience in Florida. We had to balance the cost of hardening investments versus the cost of doing just the minimum or nothing at all.
As our climate continues to warm, it seems more likely than not that California will experience more wildfires, not fewer. And, if those fires occur, the loss of lives and property and damage to communities and the state’s economy will be a far greater price than the cost of undergrounding.
It’s also fair to say that PG&E’s undergrounding plan will help protect against wildfires and help reduce outages due to extreme weather conditions.
I understand firsthand how tough it is to ask customers to pay more. The district that I represented in the Florida House of Representatives held a significant number of low-income customers. What the CPUC must also acknowledge is that grid hardening is critical for the state and local economy and the most vulnerable residents. After all, those individuals are least likely to be able to evacuate until power is restored. These folks, including senior citizens, are the ones who suffer the most from a vulnerable power grid. Additionally, the commission must consider the long-term benefits of undergrounding that will help reduce the need for prolonged Public Safety Power Shutoffs, which can take a toll on the state’s most vulnerable communities.
Without the kind of infrastructure investments proposed by PG&E, California will still face risks from wildfires. It’s time for California to learn from our experience in Florida and make the critical decision to invest in undergrounding and grid hardening for the good of its citizens.
Ronald Brisé is the former Chair of the Florida Public Service Commission, a former member of the Florida House of Representatives, and is an energy industry expert.
