PG&E asks Clear Lake council for letters of support as it outlines undergrounding, cost and emissions claims

Jason Terremino, Pacific Gas & Electric’s local government affairs representative, told the Clear Lake City Council that the utility has completed roughly 67 miles of undergrounding in Lake County and is forecasting about 19 additional miles this year, and he asked the council to back a multi‑year undergrounding program with letters of support. "We’ve included about 67 miles undergrounding," Terremino said, adding that undergrounding costs about $3 million per mile.

Terremino presented undergrounding and overhead hardening as dual wildfire‑risk strategies. He said undergrounding can "estimate[] by 98%" the reduction in fire risk in the affected circuits and that overhead hardening — insulating and reinforcing overhead lines — reduces wildfire risk by roughly 78%. He asked council members and local leaders to "express your values" to state decisionmakers and the Public Utilities Commission and to support preserving Diablo Canyon and nuclear generation as part of the system’s greenhouse‑gas profile.

The presentation included a breakdown of PG&E’s customer energy mix: Terremino said the utility has been "95% greenhouse gas free" for the last five years, with roughly half of supplied electricity coming from nuclear and the rest from sources such as wind, solar, hydro, biomass and geothermal; he said approximately 5% of the mix is natural gas. He framed public‑purpose programs and legislative mandates as a material factor in customer bills, telling the council that program costs represent a substantial portion of bills and that operational savings have reduced customer bills by about 11% over the past year and a further 3% recently.

Councilmembers asked for clarification on what lines and facilities the undergrounding work covers (Terremino said it is "almost exclusively distribution lines") and about ownership of generating assets; Terremino said PG&E owns some hydro facilities and Diablo Canyon and that the utility both owns and buys power in different proportions following market changes.

Why it matters: the council’s view carries weight with state regulators and elected officials; Terremino explicitly asked the council to help shape state policy by writing letters of support for undergrounding and for keeping nuclear capacity online. The council did not take action during the presentation; members asked questions and signaled willingness to consider support letters.

What’s next: Terremino said the utility will follow up with more details about undergrounding plans and the council can consider drafting support letters for the 10‑year program. No formal motion or vote on PG&E’s requests was recorded during the meeting.