The clamoring for cities and utility companies to bury power lines underground, where wind cannot blow them down and spark fires, has grown exponentially since the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles County in January.

But despite calls from politicians, residents and almost everyone affected by the Palisades and Eaton fires, progress has been slow and uneven. Even in Pasadena, where an undergrounding program is operating through the municipal utility, the efforts have been fairly substantial but slow and far from complete.

Many residents who want to rebuild in Pasadena and Altadena are frustrated that there hasn’t been a commitment to undergrounding distribution lines in the fire zones and that high-tower transmission lines may never go underground.

“In the weeks after the Eaton Fire, SCE (Southern California Edison) was reluctant to discuss anything with the Town Council, including undergrounding. At some point it was relayed that they could not underground in parts of Altadena where the towers are, or over bedrock,” Victoria Knapp, chair of the Altadena Town Council, said in an emailed response.

Knapp particularly wanted guarantees from Edison that it wouldn’t restring lines on poles in the areas burned out by the fire.

“It would be unconscionable to allow residents and businesses in a high fire severity zone to rebuild without undergrounding the power lines,” she concluded.

The Eaton fire destroyed more than 9,000 structures and killed 17 people, nearly wiping out the entire unincorporated community of Altadena in the worst natural disaster in county history.

Numerous lawsuits allege that Edison’s lines were responsible for starting the fire. Edison has said it is looking into the possibility that its equipment was involved.

A lawsuit filed by Los Angeles County said: “Edison failed to de-energize all of its electrical equipment in and around the area of the Eaton Canyon on January 7, 2025, including multiple transmission lines and other equipment in the Eaton Canyon.”

Attorneys also point to a public filing by Edison with the California Public Utilities Commission noting that a fault was detected at approximately 6:11 p.m. on its Eagle Rock-Gould transmission circuit “at or near the same time that the Eaton Fire ignited under the base of its transmission towers in Eaton Canyon.”

Edison is moving ahead with limited undergrounding projects in Altadena. It plans on burying 1.3 miles of wires in trenches, all within state-designated high-fire risk areas. The project replaces above-ground wiring in the Gorge circuit, Edison spokesperson Jeff Monford said. High risk areas are closest to the mountains, where wildfires start.

Edison calls their program “targeted undergrounding,” meaning areas are assessed for feasibility and cost.

“The cost has to be approved by the California Public Utilities Commission and ends up on the bill,” Monford said.

He said Edison cannot underground where the terrain is rocky or where chaparral makes trenching difficult.

“In some areas, targeted undergrounding makes sense. In other areas is it not feasible because of the terrain and other factors,” Monford said.

While he pointed out that putting wires underground protects them from winds, the private utility looks at limited locations where it makes the most sense.

“Affordability needs to be considered,” he said.

L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, whose district includes Altadena, is pushing Edison, the California Public Utilities Commission and Gov. Gavin Newsom to require the undergrounding of utilities before rebuilding starts.

The supervisor is recommending all utilities use the single trench method for electric, cable TV and broadband to be undergrounded together. Trenches are lined with conduit, which houses the wires, underground vaults and other structures needed for transformers.

“With that in mind, she has made it very clear this is an incredible opportunity to do this, both from a visual perspective and the obvious need to ensure we harden our electrical grid,” said Anish Saraiya, Barger’s director for the Altadena recovery efforts.

In Malibu, dozens of beachfront homes were burned to the ground as a result of the Palisades fire, which also burned in Pacific Palisades. The blaze killed 12 people and destroyed a total of 6,837 structures, including 5,419 homes, 135 multifamily residences and 158 commercial buildings.

Edison crews are working to underground power lines along a 25-mile stretch of Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, according to a report on Energized, an Edison International website.

Often agreements are needed from property owners, or undergrounding projects can be delayed or halted, the utility reported.

In the Palisades, a neighborhood of the city of Los Angeles, the L.A. Department of Water and Power was starting construction on undergrounding some burned-out areas Monday.

“Since Day 1 of the restoration we have decided to go fully underground,” department CEO Janisse Quiñones said March 6 in a news briefing.

She said 4,000 feet of underground cables were designed and ready for construction. The cost of undergrounding is reportedly between $1 million and $4 million per mile.

Patricia Vahdat, who lost her house in the Upper Hastings Ranch area of Pasadena, said that as digging and construction begins, now is the time for putting lines under the streets.

“It has been talked about for years,” she said, adding that safety is the No. 1 reason to remove power lines but that doing so would also clear views of the mountains.

“For security and safety, it just makes sense,” she said. “For people considering rebuilding, there should be a conversation to do it right now. I’d prefer those wires be underground.”

Edison controls the high-tower lines in the Eaton Canyon area, where people suing the utility allege the fire started. The utility did not answer if there were any plans to underground those transmission lines.

Charlotte Bland, who made an unsuccessful run for Pasadena City Council in March 2020, often raised the issue of undergrounding large transmission lines in Eaton Canyon. She said, over the years, she has called Edison many times to talk about the issue with the homeowners association. They declined, she said.

Nearly five years later, the Eaton fire exploded, burning into the nearby Eaton Canyon Golf Course. Bland’s house was spared, as the winds pushed west, not south.

“I’ve always been concerned about the safety of those power lines,” she said Friday. “The lines are above ground and we do get a lot of wind.”

The city of Pasadena has been undergrounding local distribution power lines since 1967-68, when the program first started. The nearly 60-year effort has resulted in two-thirds of the electrical lines of the city being placed underground, said Jennifer Guess Mayo, assistant general manager for external affairs at the city.

Two areas, one around Mountain Street and Lake Avenue and the other at Raymond Avenue and Maple Street, just north of the 210 and 135 freeways, are next on the list for undergrounding, Guess Mayo said.

The Mountain Street and Lake Avenue project will cost $10.45 million, and the Raymond Avenue and Maple Street project budget is $36.07 million, she said.

“This is barbaric,” said Joe Bell, a resident of Pasadena who pointed at the power lines along Mountain Street while walking into Roma Market, the Italian deli and grocery store on the northeast corner famous for its $6 Italian sandwich.

“These should be removed. It creates an unnecessary risk,” Bell added.

The lines are in a commercial area, but offshoots travel up into the hillside toward residential neighborhoods.

Since Jan. 7, the city has added the Upper Hastings Ranch area to the list of projects for removing overhead wires and placing them underground, said Guess Mayo, who had no timetable.

“If it (that area) is suitable that is our recommendation. We are still looking at those things. The goal is to do it,” she said.

The city’s underground surtax collects about $7.39 million a year from Pasadena Water and Power customers. The tax is noted on bills and is based on a percentage of household power usage. It can average about $40 to $45 per customer each year, Guess Mayo said.

The surtax fund balance currently stands at $40.5 million, she said.

In 2014, the city discovered money was missing from the fund. Five years later, Danny R. Wooten, a 55-year-old former management analyst for the Pasadena Department of Public Works, was convicted of 53 felony counts, including embezzlement by a public or private officer. He reportedly stole roughly $3.5 million from the undergrounding fund by creating false invoices for the program.

While Pasadenans have been paying for undergrounding electric power lines for nearly six decades, some residents in Laguna Beach have asked to be taxed to pay for the service.

Residents of West Street, Monterey Street and Eagle Rock Way, making up about 101 parcels, would pay for undergrounding lines because the area is in a fire zone, residents told The Daily Pilot in a March 6 article.

The newspaper reported the city would contribute 20% of the $7 million project, with 80% coming from property owners. An undergrounding district would need to be formed and residents would vote on the assessment.

In Northern California, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. plans on undergrounding 10,000 miles of power lines in high fire risk areas. PG&E has already buried 800 miles of lines since 2021, with each mile costing between $3 million and $4 million.

From 2019 through 2023, the California Public Utilities Commission authorized the state’s three largest utilities to collect $27 billion in wildfire prevention and insurance costs from ratepayers, according to a report to the state Legislature.

“Undergrounding sounds wonderful, but it is much more expensive,” Monford of Edison said.