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Consultants recommend PG&E interconnection as best path to electrify Post Mountain
Summary
Consultants who led a California Clean Energy Planning Grant study told the Trinity County Board of Supervisors that a PG&E–TPUD interconnection (option B2) offers the lowest environmental impact and an achievable path to grid service for about 200 customers, but will likely require $100,000–$200,000 in follow‑up technical studies and tens of millions of dollars in construction funding.
Chris Loesie, project lead for a Flora consulting team, presented a final report on a California Clean Energy Planning Grant for Post Mountain electrification, describing three strategies to bring grid power to the community: upgrading TPUD lines (options A1/A2), a PG&E interconnection with TPUD (option B2), and a locally run microgrid (options C1/C2).
Loesie said the county’s grant work showed broad community interest: “roughly 2 thirds of the public in Post Mountains really eager to get power,” while roughly a sixth opposed grid connections and about a sixth were undecided. He explained that the study focused on greenhouse‑gas impacts and permitting requirements and that the team had assessed resource impacts, likely NEPA requirements and potential routes.
The consultant said the PG&E interconnection (B2) emerged as the recommendation because it combines lower environmental disturbance with an established interconnection process. “It’s the least amount of ground disturbance, and, and it seems like it can be done,” Loesie said, while noting that PG&E now requires a dedicated switching station that can cost “a minimum of $20,000,000.” He also offered low‑end and high‑end cost estimates for various options and said that one quote for interconnection work was about $32,000,000; with higher estimates the project could approach $50,000,000.
Loesie described next technical steps if the county wants to pursue B2: refine design and cost estimates, identify a switching‑station site, and fund PG&E’s detailed technical studies — “$100,000 to $200,000 for initial studies,” he said — to obtain a fine‑grained overall cost.
Board members focused questions on funding, household costs and whether existing grant programs could be tapped. Loesie said the project team reviewed state and federal grant options but found few that directly fund bringing power to previously unserved communities; some programs explicitly require a community to already have power (grid‑hardening grants, for example). The consultant suggested outreach to legislators to broaden eligibility and noted a possible alignment with broadband projects if funding rules were changed.
On household expense, Loesie said the study included an estimated connection cost of about $11,000 per household and assumed roughly 200 customers for comparative costing. He cautioned that hookup costs would likely be paid by property owners rather than grant funds.
Public commenters voiced both support and skepticism. A Post Mountain district board president welcomed continued county and consultant work; other residents questioned feasibility, property‑permission logistics, and the long timeline given permitting needs on Forest Service land. Loesie acknowledged potential NEPA timelines of a decade or more for options that cross national forest and noted that option A1/A2 would require substantial clearing for new transmission corridors.
Loesie urged continued community engagement and follow‑up with TPUD and PG&E. He said the consultant team would continue to pursue funding conversations and legislative outreach and requested that the county consider modest planning support to maintain momentum for the next year. The board did not take formal action on the report; next steps would be for staff and the board to decide whether to fund the recommended technical studies to refine costs and siting.
