2 questions: What happens if a public utility is found responsible for a fire? Would it bankrupt the municipality that owns it? A 3rd question: What is the estimated cost to bury transmission lines and would environmental protections even allow it?
1) Any public utility can be found liable for a fire just like a private one. LADWP equipment started the Powerhouse Fire in 2013 and it paid out $100 million.
2) Also similar to a private utility, public utilities have liability insurance up to a few hundred million dollars, and beyond that they use rate hikes to make up the costs. But they can also go bankrupt and either get bailed out or bought by a private utility (this happened to New Hampshire's gas and electric utility after cost overruns from a disastrous nuclear project).
3) PG&E is burying transmission lines now at an estimated cost of about $2 million per mile. It's obviously a bigger construction impact than overhead lines but I don't think environmental protections are prohibitive.
Burying provides the greatest protection but not necessarily the greatest cost-benefit. Its important to note that transmission infrastructure, like whats in Eaton canyon is significantly more expensive than distribution infrastructure. Depending on topology and other factors it can cost 6-100 million/mile to convert existing transmission infrastructure.
It'd be nice if we could figure out how to spend more of this money on prevention and less on lawsuits...
2 questions: What happens if a public utility is found responsible for a fire? Would it bankrupt the municipality that owns it? A 3rd question: What is the estimated cost to bury transmission lines and would environmental protections even allow it?
Thank you for the questions.
1) Any public utility can be found liable for a fire just like a private one. LADWP equipment started the Powerhouse Fire in 2013 and it paid out $100 million.
2) Also similar to a private utility, public utilities have liability insurance up to a few hundred million dollars, and beyond that they use rate hikes to make up the costs. But they can also go bankrupt and either get bailed out or bought by a private utility (this happened to New Hampshire's gas and electric utility after cost overruns from a disastrous nuclear project).
3) PG&E is burying transmission lines now at an estimated cost of about $2 million per mile. It's obviously a bigger construction impact than overhead lines but I don't think environmental protections are prohibitive.
You might find this edifying: https://www.renewableenergyworld.com/power-grid/outage-management/what-would-it-cost-to-bury-all-of-californias-power-lines
Burying provides the greatest protection but not necessarily the greatest cost-benefit. Its important to note that transmission infrastructure, like whats in Eaton canyon is significantly more expensive than distribution infrastructure. Depending on topology and other factors it can cost 6-100 million/mile to convert existing transmission infrastructure.
It'd be nice if we could figure out how to spend more of this money on prevention and less on lawsuits...