2 weeks Ago
Bay Park resident Robert Mowry watched the last remaining utility pole removed from his neighborhood on Wednesday with a mixture of pleasure and nostalgia. He and his wife live in the same house Mowry’s mother and father built in 1957 on Princeton Avenue, with Mission Bay in the distance. “My parents probably saw that pole put up,” he mused, but was quick to add that he’s glad to see it go.
“Reliability-wise, we don’t have to worry as much about fires and stuff like that,” Mowry said. “Certainly, during a severe storm, we have a better chance of having continuous power.” In a procedure that took only a couple of minutes, a crew extracted and lowered to the ground a 40-foot wooden pole from a nearby sidewalk — one of many ongoing projects between the city of San Diego and San Diego Gas & Electric that replaces overhead power lines with electrical, telephone and broadband infrastructure in neighborhoods around town.
“Putting electrical and telecommunications lines underground makes these services safer, more reliable, and beautifies the neighborhood,” said City Transportation Department assistant director Naomi Chavez. “We are proud to complete this project here in Bay Park as we get one step closer to our goal of undergrounding every residential overhead utility line in San Diego.” Converting overhead power and communication lines done through the city’s Utilities Undergrounding Program , part of a collaboration between the city government and SDG&E that is funded by the franchise agreements the two parties hammered out in 2021 .
About $54 million is spent each year in various neighborhoods. San Diego residents pay a surcharge of $5 to $8 per month on their SDG&E bills to support the efforts. The money is then passed on to the city, which reimburses the utility for design and construction costs.
City officials say the funds are dedicated exclusively to undergrounding and may not be used for other purposes. “We currently have about 55 projects in design and construction,” said Chelsea Klaseus, deputy director at the city’s transportation department. “We try to start two to five projects every year, so we always have projects in the hopper at various stages of the process.
” Work is being done in neighborhoods such as Barrio Logan, Egger Highlands and Sherman Heights. “If you talk to (San Diego City Council) members and attend council meetings, you’ll see this is definitely something that citizens want,” said Brittany Applestein Syz, president of communications at SDG&E , who estimated it costs $3,500 to replace one pole, which includes trenching to put the lines underground. Putting lines below ground reduces the risk of downed power lines sparking a fire or knocking out power to neighborhoods during extreme weather conditions, such as the fierce Santa Ana winds that blew through the region earlier this year .
Within the city limits of San Diego, 110 square miles, or one-third of the city, is located in what the California Public Utilities Commission considers a High Fire Threat District . In addition, taking down utility poles and overhead power lines give residents unobstructed views of the sky, ocean and nearby mountains and foothills. “We try to divvy them up between all the council districts,” Klaseus said.
All told, 203 poles were taken down in Bay Park, which served 418 properties on three miles of city streets. In addition, roads in the neighborhood will be repaved, along with the installation of 34 new high-efficiency streetlights and 56 curb ramps that are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act ..
