SoCal Edison Commits to Undergrounding 63 Circuit Miles in Altadena

Southern California Edison announced plans to underground 40 circuit miles of power lines in Altadena’s high wildfire risk areas and an additional 23 circuit miles outside those zones. The announcement came during the Altadena Community Meeting held on Monday, April 28, part of ongoing recovery efforts following the Eaton fire.

“We just announced that we will be undergrounding 40 circuit miles in Altadena in a high wildfire area, an additional 23 miles of circuit miles outside of the high wildfire area,” said David Ford, a Southern California Edison representative at the meeting.

The undergrounding project is still in the design phase and moving toward implementation. Ford acknowledged the timeline for completion would be extensive due to the massive spread of the fire throughout the community.

“We’re still a long ways out from actually completing that project. It’s going to take a while to complete. As you know, this was a pretty massive spread of fire throughout the community, but our commitment is to, and our restoration process is to restore and build back better our infrastructure in Altadena community,” Ford said.

The announcement was part of a broader community meeting that included updates from various agencies involved in Altadena’s recovery efforts.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger opened the meeting by highlighting progress in the rebuilding process.

Barger noted that only four Altadena residents had received rebuilding permits from Los Angeles County so far, prompting her to introduce a motion for a pilot program allowing self-certification during the permitting process.

She also announced plans for a unified permitting authority and the exploration of AI solutions to streamline approvals.

Other agencies providing updates included the United States Army Corps of Engineers, which reported completing debris removal on over 3,300 properties, and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, which has implemented a Home Check Program that has conducted over 14,000 checks on approximately 600 homes.

The meeting also addressed concerns about air quality, with Payam Pakbin, Ph.D.from the South Coast Air Quality Management District presenting data showing that air quality measurements have remained below federal standards during cleanup operations.

The community meeting provided residents an opportunity to ask questions about various aspects of the recovery process, including insurance protections, property assessment, and debris removal services.