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Task force urges 50-year plan and 5% utility surcharge to finish undergrounding wires; PG&E and fire officials back reforms
Summary
A task force recommended a citywide plan to underground all overhead utility wires within roughly 50 years, estimating costs at about $5.7 million per mile for typical Rule 20B projects and proposing a 5% electric and natural-gas surcharge as the preferred funding source; the fire department emphasized safety benefits.
The Utility Undergrounding Task Force presented its final report to the Government Audit & Oversight Committee and recommended a citywide plan to complete undergrounding of overhead utility wires within 50 years. The task force chair and staff outlined a package of recommendations including a preferred funding mechanism (a 5% surcharge on electric and natural-gas bills for San Francisco ratepayers), strategies to prioritize disadvantaged or under-served districts, and operational best practices intended to reduce construction time by up to 50% and project costs by up to 25%.
Task-force staff said the most recent program phase had cost approximately $4.0 million per mile for the electric utility's Rule 20A work and about $5.7 million per mile for full project costs under Rule 20B when city costs, street lighting and other utilities are included. They noted that a city surcharge program — analogous to a San Diego surcharge — could, paired with Rule 20A credits, allow steady progress rather than a 12-year pause in new projects. Survey work summarized by the task force found broad public support: many respondents expressed willingness to pay between $2 and $4 per month; roughly 38% indicated comfort with a 5% surcharge on electric bills.
PG&E representatives and the city’s fire department supported the task force’s safety and efficiency goals. Fire Department officials described incidents in which overhead wires hampered firefighting operations or posed electrocution risks, and urged accelerated undergrounding for safety reasons. Task-force members and city staff urged an implementation strategy that blends city-level surcharge funding, targeted community assessment options (e.g., Mello-Roos or other local financing) and improved project scheduling that avoids piecemeal single-block undergrounding.
What happens next: the committee continued the item to the call of the chair but supervisors signaled support for exploring the recommended funding paths and directed staff to prepare enabling legislation and public outreach materials, including "toolkits" and guidance for neighborhoods interested in local assessment districts.
