Californians Express Overwhelming Support for Undergrounding Powerlines to Reduce Wildfire Risk

Support comes as undergrounding plans face challenges from statewide energy regulators

OAKLAND, Calif., Nov. 19, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Just days after Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) announced that it had energized 1,000 miles of undergrounded powerlines, a new public poll shows that the vast majority of Californians support undergrounding as a key tool for wildfire mitigation, and strongly prefer it to other, less impactful tactics.

The poll, conducted by David Binder Research, found that nearly 90% of Californians surveyed supported their energy company burying power lines to eliminate nearly all wildfire risk posed by that equipment.

The poll went on to show that more than 70% of respondents believed that their energy company should be investing more in undergrounding power lines, when compared to less costly mitigation tactics such as installing covered conductor or implementing proactive outages to prevent ignitions.

"PG&E prides itself on using multiple layers of protection to keep our communities safe from wildfires, but this data demonstrates that our customers, and customers of all California energy companies, recognize the unique reliability and safety benefits that undergrounding brings to the table," said Peter Kenny, PG&E's Senior Vice President of Electric Operations. "Undergrounding eliminates nearly all of the wildfire risk on lines that have been buried, and when done at scale, protects hundreds, if not thousands, of critical facilities like schools, hospitals and fire stations from weather-related outages."

The strong show of public support comes at a critical time for California energy companies developing long-term undergrounding plans.

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is currently weighing guidelines that will help shape the multi-year undergrounding efforts requested by the Legislature through Senate Bill 884 in 2023.

Current drafts of these guidelines present significant challenges to long-term planning efforts, and if adopted, could jeopardize PG&E's ability to put forward a multi-year plan.

To date, more than 30 local governments, chambers of commerce and large energy companies have written to the CPUC, asking that the guidelines be revised to support more undergrounding in California.

The CPUC is set to vote on these guidelines during its Nov. 20 meeting.

To learn more about PG&E's wildfire safety efforts, visit pge.com/wildfiresafetyprogess.

About PG&E

Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG), is a combined natural gas and electric utility serving more than 16 million people across 70,000 square miles in Northern and Central California. For more information, visit pge.com and pge.com/news.

SOURCE Pacific Gas and Electric Company