Utilities undergrounding grounded — as in almost gone

Whoosh! Palo Alto’s years-long plan to underground utilities in neighborhoods has somewhat suddenly and silently disappeared, to the surprise of many Palo Altans. How and why did this happen, some residents are asking. Why didn’t city officials deliberate this decision publicly, as traditionally it has, especially since the council approved of undergrounding utilities years ago?

Why didn’t the “Palo Alto Process” come into play? Who in this city decided curtailing nearly all future undergrounding, which the community supported for years? (Ironically, in my last column I urged an end to this “process” by which the city takes months and years of debate to make decisions on proposals, such as grade crossings, a History Museum, etc., but I never suggested that such projects don’t deserve community and council discussion.)

According to Weekly reporter Gennady Sheyner’s story, little time was spent by the city’s Utilities Commission or the City Council debating ending the undergrounding project. And from my queries, the Utilities Department was in charge of curtailing it.

In the 1970s, installing power lines underground was considered a worthy and deeply valued endeavor. The city was confidently forging ahead for beautification reasons.

My neighborhood is undergrounded, and the disappearance of overhead wires provides a feeling of open space with no wires or lines in sight. I have two columnar city trees in front of my house and every year or two, the utilities trucks cane around to top them off, so the tree branches didn’t interfere with the power. After undergrounding, trees are taller, the neighborhood has had fewer blackouts than other sections in town, and I have no fears now of mylar balloons causing electrical havoc, or storm-damaged wires dangling down to the ground, or having a car hit a pole causing an area blackout.

A couple of years ago when Palo Alto was discussing becoming an all-electric city, the Utilities Commission brought up a problem: The city did not have enough transformers to handle an increased use of EVs, and meet the city council’s goal of converting to an all-electric city.

I asked the department in 2021when the transformers would be ready to increase the amount of electricity it can provide residents. “We’re studying it,” I was told.

When the city urged residents to convert their gas water heaters and install pricey electric heat pumps, I called the Utilities Department again and about transformer upgrades and was told, “We’re working on it.”

Then in late 2022, the city released its the city’s 2023-27 Electric Utility Plan which says that “there will be a reduction in funding for undergrounding conversion from overhead to underground as current projects are completed and others are delayed.”

Today, the city has about 472 miles of distribution lines, of which 211 miles (45%) are overhead and 261 miles (55%) are underground, according to the Electric Plan.
The estimated cost of the electric project is $210 million to $306 million. That’s an expensive but necessary project.

The city’s Utilities Department is now stating that in the future all transformers (not the lines and wires) will be placed in above-ground knee-high boxes on concrete pads or up on the telephone poles. No more undergrounding of the transformers. I understand that – the area below ground is damp and not particularly healthy for transformers.

OK, put the transformers on pads above ground, but please continue to bury the ugly wires.

Utilities Communications Manager Catherine Elvert told me this week that the department analyzed the estimated cost and other related issues and decided undergrounding should be slowed down considerably. So, that tells me the department has made these undergrounding decisions.

Just think, the council’s original plan to underground was for aesthetic reasons; the wires and lines were eyesores, if Palo Alto gets rid of them the city will be prettier. I would say, Mission Not Accomplished.

Why am I writing about this? Because I care about the aesthetics in our town, and I am disturbed that the entire undergrounding program will disappear. That’s why we need a full discussion by the Utilities Commission and the City Council. Too much has happened with undergrounding; we need new updated council consideration.
What if a group of residents now want to have their neighborhood area undergrounded? It’s not easy. In fact, although there is a way to do it, it may be impossible to accomplish.

According to Elvert, it would require the council to adopt an ordinance establishing an “underground district.” In order for this district to be formed and approved, Elvert said, “All customers in the district area must agree to the undergrounding requirements and pay any associated fees for the conversion.”

When I asked her what percentage or affected residents need to approve, she said it must be unanimous. Really! Unanimous? That’s impossible. Can you imagine in this town ALL residents agreeing on anything? No way.

Elvert told me that undergrounding had been discussed for years by the council and the Utilities Commission. True, but not recently. And nothing yet is scheduled for a council discussion, Council member Julie Lythcott-Hains said.

I asked Elvert when actual work on upgrading transmission lines would begin, and she said that work has been going on for years. I meant when will those figurative shovels hit the ground, while she was referring to all the study and analysis as the project, not just the physical upgrade.

And now, the department wants to incorporate the city’s Fiber-to the-Home project with the transformer capacity and power line increases, so who knows when these projects will ever get completed.
The department’s new plan states, “The city’s engineering design for the electric grid and modernization project is currently underway. The grid modernization project will overlap with the Fiber Expansion Plan in engineering make-ready work and construction. Staff will analyze the projects to identify opportunities for alignment, which may help minimize costs and reduce community disruptions, while trying to minimize impacts to the Fiber Expansion Plan’s timeline.”

Elvert said the analysis by the utilities staff has now become a department priority, with a completion date is 2030. She said the department is also working on projecting the number of new employees needed to successfully reach the deadline. Ah yes, because new projects in Palo Alto also seem to mean new employees.

Council members, please put undergrounding on your agenda. That way it can be fully discussed anew, and residents will be able to express their views. Just don’t let one city department decide by itself this important expensive issue.