"It's too expensive not to do it. Lives are on the line."
Patricia "Patti" Poppe, CEO of PG&E
Pole mounted overhead utility lines are antiquated technology. Overhead wires can start wildfires, are prone to service outages, and impinge on the visual beauty of Monterey. Underground utilities are safer, more reliable, and preserve the beauty of our natural surroundings. Our mission is to update Monterey’s power and communications infrastructure to ensure a safer and more reliable grid and to bring back the beauty of our natural coastal setting. We are doing this through learning, educating and encouraging residents, City Council members and staff to join this effort and to bring Monterey into the 21st century.
April 29, 2024, 6:30PM: Learn about Undergrounding
Please join us to learn about and discuss UNDERGROUNDING MONTEREY’s UTILITIES, the urgency, the process and how to pay for it.
Monday, April 29th, 6:30-7:30PM CASANOVA OAK KNOLL PARK CENTER, 735 Ramona Ave, Monterey
Monterey City Council recognizes Undergrounding Committee
Monterey Undergrounding wants your opinion
October 2022: Monterey Undergrounding has put together a survey of what residents want to do about Undergrounding out utilities, how important it is to them, and what they think about possible funding sources. Please read the background information on this page and then learn about funding options and then take the survey here.
What is Undergrounding?
Utility undergrounding is the process of removing existing overhead utilities, such as phone, cable, tv, internet and electricity, and replacing them with a system that is essentially underground. The purpose of undergrounding is for safety, system reliability and overall aesthetics.
The Move to Underground Utilities
Article from MVNA Winter 2018 Newsletter by our visionary Jean Rasch:
The ever-increasing citizen drum roll to underground utility poles and wires in the City of Monterey escalated with the 2017 convergence of municipal, state, and federal events.
Locally, Extenet, under subcontract with Verizon, submitted 13 applications for small cell antenna towers in the residential Monterey Vista Neighborhood, a first for the City. State wide, cities burned up in another convergence, this of climate change, the five year drought, tinder-dry trees, and heavily laden power lines. Federally, we witnessed a very pro business administration presuming to dictate communication law federally in a dramatic overreach into state responsibility, e.g., attempts to force federal net neutrality and FCC dictates to states as to small cell antenna tower regulation. The answer to these forces is to underground our utilities over time, but to PLAN to do so immediately, before the new FCC regulations are accepted as law and prevent our self-defense.
No one is asking that all poles and wires be undergrounded tomorrow. What we are asking is for the City to use common sense. Meaning, if a street is scheduled to be totally remade (“restructured”, the engineers call it), we underground utilities at that time. We are calling this approach “Below as We Go”. This approach stretches our dollars as best we can. We can extend our dollars with PG& E Rule 20A undergrounding funds as well. Tangential neighbors and streets can accelerate their undergrounding as desired with assessment districts. Or wait for their restructure date. Some restructuring of course will not happen for years, even decades. But at least we would have started. Residential areas have been last to be favored with undergrounding and it’s time to change that.
City leadership has been slow to respond to the need to underground, despite great cries and hues from many of us who see that the FCC dictates to advance 5G technology may soon move faster than our efforts to protect our neighborhoods from increasing, and increasingly dangerous, pole and wire blight.
The advantages of undergrounding are many. Undergrounding utilities would decrease the interest in the telecommunications industry in hanging proprietary small cell antennas on utility poles, company after company. Elimination of poles and pole blight on poles would make our city more beautiful. More scenic views from our homes and businesses would increase the value of our property and attract more tourists and visitors. Less stress on poles and fewer wires would reduce the risk of fire, such as was experienced from downed utility wires in the Brush Creek blaze and the Sullivan Way blaze in Santa Rosa last fall. The health of our citizens who are sensitive to high radio frequency would be increased.
City leadership can take us even further, into underground fiber optic cable, the fastest internet service available, and ideally City ownership of such service such as Chattanooga has done. A move to City wide fiber optic cable would attract young, cutting edge businesses and professionals, bringing vibrancy to Monterey and increasing our competitive edge. Join us here!
How Vulnerable is the Monterey Peninsula to a Wildfire?
It is almost unimaginable to think of a wildfire the likes of the 2018 Camp Fire, the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history, happening on our beautiful Monterey Peninsula. But, is it naïve and wishful thinking to believe it is not possible here?
Read the article by Ray Meyers
The PROs and CONs of Undergrounding Utilities
There are definite arguments to both sides of this issue, as listed here. Our group, however, believes that the advantages of undergrounding most utilities significantly outweigh the problems of our current antiquated overhead distribution system. Please let us know if there are other reasons we should add to this list.
FIRE SAFETY: This view of our rated fire hazard is from an interactive map found here. Note that significant portions of our City’s neighborhoods are in the “Very High” and “High” fire hazard areas. This map shows ratings for every house and building in California, so zoom in and find your home.
PROs:
Safety
Fire: Much of our neighborhoods are in a “Very High” fire danger zone, where failing trees and branches can easily bring down live electrical cables that have caused many of California’s wildfires.
Emergency access: Downed wires and utility poles block access during critical times like storms and after earthquakes. These block access to emergency vehicles.
Escape routes get blocked by downed wires and utility poles, putting people in even more danger. This is how many folks died in the Paradise fire.
Rescue access: Fire ladder trucks are often limited to accessing upper stories with overhead wires, endangering folks in upper stories during emergencies.
Climate change is causing more extreme weather conditions, which especially impacts PG&E’s aging above-ground infrastructure.
Auto accidents: are often made more serious by vehicles running into power poles.
Reliability
Poorly maintained infrastructure, like deteriorated telephone poles and rusting transformers have caused many outages and fires.
Storms and earthquakes: Downed wires cause extensive power outages that result in significant economic loss, food spoilage, and are more than an inconvenience for many residents and businesses.
Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPSs): These are required to reduce the risk of wildfires due to wind effecting our antiquated distribution grid, but have drastic effects on local businesses and residents .
Information access: Both broadband internet and cable TV, also mounted on utility poles, become unavailable when wires and poles fail, limiting the critical information distribution when most needed.
Cellular availability: Many cellular distribution antennas use overhead connections for power and data, which are also disrupted when poles and wires fail.
Reliability: February 4th, 2024 outage map (PG&E)
Beauty
View impacts: We live in a world-renowned beautiful coastal setting, and shouldn’t have poles and wires cluttering our views.
Aggressive tree/vegetation trimming: After recent lawsuits, PG&E now often over-trims around power lines, leaving unsightly and crippled trees.
Economic impact
On businesses: Extended power outages due to either downed equipment or PSPS's have serious consequences for businesses. This includes not only grocery stores and restaurants that have to discard thawed and spoiled foods, but any business that relies on the internet or phone service.
On residents: The enjoyment of families playing games by candle light isn’t always that comforting when refrigerators warm up and houses cool down. Many, especially older folks, also rely on medical equipment needing power. Any extended lack of power can result in dire circumstances requiring emergency evacuations.
Fire insurance rates are increasing for many residents to unaffordable levels, exposing folks to losing their homes without compensation.
CONs:
Installation Costs; We do need to find sources of money, which can be tough in these times with so many other needs. It may take more wildfires, but in the long run, undergrounding has proven to be cost-effective.
Installation inconvenience; If done efficiently, installation can be done while repairing streets.
Maintenance; Underground utility repairs generally cost more and take longer than overhead wires, but experience has shown that the much lower failure rate of underground utilities result in lower maintain costs and much higher reliability.