California Wildfire Mitigation: CPUC’s Resolution SPD-37 Risks Delaying Grid Undergrounding

California is facing a persistent wildfire crisis that has escalated beyond seasonal occurrences to a year-round threat, severely impacting communities and the insurance market.

Over the past decade, wildfires have destroyed tens of thousands of homes and devastated more than 7 million acres, leading to a significant number of Californians now residing in high fire-hazard zones. This increasing risk has prompted many insurance companies to withdraw from the state, exacerbating coverage challenges for homeowners and businesses alike.

In response, California lawmakers enacted Senate Bill 884 (SB 884) in 2022, mandating utilities to develop comprehensive 10-year undergrounding plans aimed at mitigating wildfire risk. This legislation intended to replace reactive, piecemeal wildfire mitigation efforts with a coordinated strategy to harden the electrical grid, enhance its reliability, and safeguard vulnerable communities.

Following SB 884, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) adopted Safety and Performance Directive 15 (SPD-15) to operationalize this long-term undergrounding initiative with a focus on cost efficiency and public safety. However, the CPUC is now considering Resolution SPD-37, which would shift the process back to a fragmented project-by-project approval system. This change threatens to delay critical wildfire mitigation work, increase costs, and undermine the reliability improvements achieved under SPD-15.

Undergrounding electrical lines is recognized as one of the most effective measures for wildfire prevention, limiting ignition sources and reducing the need for disruptive Public Safety Power Shutoffs. It also plays a role in stabilizing the homeowners insurance market by lowering the wildfire risk that has led many insurers to exit California.

Labor representatives from International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 1245, who are directly involved in maintaining the power grid and responding to wildfire incidents, emphasize the urgency of advancing rather than reversing these initiatives. They highlight that delays in implementing undergrounding programs prolong exposure to wildfire risk and hinder community recovery efforts.

While SB 884 was designed as a long-term investment in safety and economic resilience, the proposed SPD-37 resolution could hinder progress by introducing unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles. The call from stakeholders is for the CPUC to uphold the original intent of SB 884 and establish a durable, statewide undergrounding framework that protects lives, secures homes, and improves power system stability for the future.