Bold action to upgrade our system


Undergrounding is the process of burying powerlines. PG&E has two efforts focused on undergrounding:


  1. Undergrounding as part of our system hardening-related wildfire safety work. You can learn about other system hardening and wildfire safety work on our Community Wildfire Safety Program page. These efforts make our system safer, stronger, and more affordable for our customers in the long run. Moving powerlines underground eliminates nearly all ignition risk from those lines. Questions about undergrounding can be directed to wildfiresafety@pge.com or 1-877-295-4949.

    Expanding our electric system underground will:
    • Help prevent wildfires caused by equipment
    • Reduce power outages and improve reliability
    • Decrease the need for future tree work
    • Protect the environment
  2. Rule 20 is used to convert overhead facilities to underground. It includes telecommunication and cable, at the request of municipalities, developers and property owners. More information about this work is below.

See our progress


Data as of 9/15/2023


PGE Undergrounding progress image

We are on target to underground 600+ miles by the end of 2023. We have undergrounded 355 miles to date.
Meeting our state's climate challenges requires bold action. That is why we plan to underground 10,000 miles, or approximately one-third of our overhead powerlines in high wildfire-risk areas. This is the largest program of its kind in the U.S.


WATCH OUR UNDERGROUNDING VIDEO

DOWNLOAD OUR UNDERGROUNDING FACT SHEET (PDF, 2.29 MB)

Find more information about our undergrounding work plans, including maps, below.

PG&E also converts many miles of overhead electric facilities to underground annually. This work is completed by following the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) Rule 20 guideline that is an electric distribution tariff.


Rule 20 has three sections (A, B and C). The use of a particular Rule 20 section is determined by the type of area to be undergrounded and who pays for the work.


For more information on Rule 20, please see below. To view the current Rule 20 Annual Report (per Ordering Paragraph 14 of D.21-06-013), download the 2022 Rule 20 Annual Report (XLSX, 540 KB).