El Cerrito has an estimated $2 million+ available from PG&E specifically for undergrounding local power lines — a once-in-a-generation opportunity to improve safety, reliability, neighborhood aesthetics, and property values. Despite this, the City Manager has shown no interest in pursuing the funds, even though PG&E is actively encouraging cities to partner on undergrounding as part of its statewide wildfire-prevention program.
PG&E is already undergrounding power lines across California to reduce fire ignition risks from wind, vegetation, and aging equipment. The goal is clear: bury 10,000 miles of overhead lines to ensure fewer sparks, fewer failures, and fewer disasters. As of late 2025, they have energized more than 1,000 miles and plan an additional 770 miles across 2025–2026.
For El Cerrito, the safety case is overwhelming. Overhead lines fail — underground lines don’t.
• High winds knock down poles or blow branches into wires, creating live-wire hazards.
• Aging transformers explode during heat waves, as residents have experienced firsthand.
• Vehicle collisions with poles cause outages, fires, and blocked emergency routes.
• During fire-weather events, overhead lines can spark dry vegetation on the city’s steep hillsides.
• Downed lines force police and fire to secure the scene before emergency response can begin, delaying lifesaving action.
Undergrounding removes these risks entirely — no poles to fall, no wires to spark, no equipment dangling above homes, streets, or evacuation routes. In a region defined by wildfire seasons, wind-events, and aging infrastructure, this is basic public safety.
But the benefits don’t stop at safety. Aesthetics matter in the Bay Area, especially in a city built on hills with sweeping views. El Cerrito residents pay a premium for views of:
• the Golden Gate Bridge
• Mount Tamalpais
• San Francisco skyline
• the Bay and Marin Headlands
• Richmond and Berkeley waterfront
Today, many of those views are sliced apart by poles, crossarms, sagging wires, and transformers. On hillside streets — Arlington, Terrace, Tamalpais, Shevlin, Belmont, and others — the difference between a clean, unobstructed view and a power-pole-centered view can be tens of thousands of dollars in home value. Realtors routinely cite undergrounded utilities as a “silent premium” that boosts curb appeal, reduces visual clutter, and increases buyer demand.
Undergrounding is not just a safety improvement — it is a value enhancement and a quality-of-life upgrade.
What Residents Can Do Now
If El Cerrito won’t pursue the $3 million available, residents must insist on it. Ask City leadership why these funds are being ignored, and demand a plan for undergrounding.
• Mayor Carolyn Wysinger: cwysinger@ci.el-cerrito.ca.us
• Mayor Pro Tem Gabe Quinto: gquinto@ci.el-cerrito.ca.us
• Councilmember Lisa Motoyama: lmotoyama@ci.el-cerrito.ca.us
• Councilmember Rebecca Saltzman: rsaltzman@ci.el-cerrito.ca.us
• Councilmember William Ktsanes: wktsanes@ci.el-cerrito.ca.us
El Cerrito has the money. The safety need is obvious. The aesthetic and property-value benefits are undeniable. PG&E is ready.
Residents must now push the City to act — before this opportunity disappears.
El Cerrito Committee for Responsible Government (ECCRG) 