Southern California Edison has been out in force in Malibu lately, but it’s not the power crisis that has workers on their toes. By the end of the month, the overhead power lines between Carbon Canyon Road and the Malibu Pier will be completely removed.
Edison, Charter Communications and Verizon are taking down the overhead wires as the final step in a four-year project to move utility lines underground.
Residents and business owners now receive their electricity, cable television and phone service through underground conduits. The money for the $3 million project came from Rule 20A funds, according to Mark Olson, regional manager for Edison.
The state provision requires power companies to collect a small fee from customers to pay to underground the wires in highly visible, well-traveled areas.
“This program is not meant for neighborhoods but to beautify public thoroughfares of significance,” said Olson.
The current work covers approximately three-fifths of a mile and is the continuation of a previous project that undergrounded the lines in a small section south of the pier. Los Angeles County contributed $1 million to the construction budget. The city will complete future undergrounding projects along Pacific Coast Highway but it will be several years before enough money can be saved from the fees to start a new section.
Approximately 75 homes and businesses are located in the current project’s scope. Every property owner within the boundaries had to pay an electrician to install a device that would transfer their utility lines from the overhead wires to the new underground system. Depending on the size and age of the connection panel, the cost of the upgrade ranged between $500 and $2,000.
James Davidson is president of Budget Car and Truck Rental. He remembers paying an electrician approximately $1,500 last year to connect his power lines to the new underground cables.
“It was very painless when they transferred it over,” he said. “I thought we would be without electricity and we weren’t-not even for a minute.”
Olson said Edison plans to have their portion of the utility poles removed by the end of the month. Charter Communications and Verizon are following behind Edison, removing the bottom half of the poles where their power lines were located.
“I’ll be glad to have the ugly power lines removed,” said Davidson. “Plus I think the underground lines will be more reliable. Whenever we had a storm or if someone hit a power pole we would lose power. Now that won’t happen.”
Olson said other undergrounding programs are being contemplated in neighborhoods but will not be paid for with taxpayer dollars. Several homeowners’ associations are considering funding their own projects.