随着加州野火在整个州的爆发中，批评家正在重点关注公用事业的火灾风险管理和预防策略。尽管在短期内使用了电力关闭和植被管理，但社区越来越多地要求电力线（最近几个野火的来源）将其埋葬在地下。

Though utility PG&E is burying distribution lines in Paradise, Calif., a town all but destroyed by the 2018 fires, utilities themselves say the cost to bury all lines is prohibitive. According to PG&E estimates, it costs approximately $3 million per mile to convert underground electric distribution lines from overhead, compared with the $800,000-per-mile cost of building overhead lines. Additionally, the underground lines are still at risk from earthquakes, flooding and excavation work. Still, as the damage mounts in California, the option has begun to look more attractive.

加利福尼亚大学劳伦斯大学伯克利国家实验室的电力市场和政策小组的研究科学家兼副集团彼得·拉尔森（Peter Larsen）说，研究的研究通常表明，地下成本远远超过了收益。新利18备用官网登录他在一项关新利18备用于德克萨斯州地下地下成本的研究中发现，地下的成本将超新利18备用官网登录过21亿美元，每花费每花费30亿美元。

他说，加利福尼亚州提供了一个独特的案例。拉尔森说，当某些因素结合在一起时，地下应被视为预防火灾风险的有效方法：高人种密度；预期的火灾，风暴和恶劣的天气频率；和脆弱性。

“那些风险最大的地点往往最困难（树木和私人特性），但是在等式的另一侧，如果您可以通过间接费用降低风险，则可以在没有英雄的假设上表明收益超过成本，新利18备用官网登录“ 他说。

The life-cycle costs of vegetation management of overhead lines also might tip the balance in favor of underground lines.

“还有待观察是否实用程序找到one-time cost of burying their lines align with their continuing costs of vegetation maintenance and insurance premiums,” says Robert Baylor, director of communications for the National Utility Contractors Association, a Fairfax, Va., trade association representing the utility construction and excavation industry. Some electric utility systems share the cost of excavation with other utilities that also have underground infrastructure needs in the area, such as telecom and cable, he added.

San Diego Gas & Electric began burying transmission lines over a decade ago after it was faulted for sparking major fires that resulted in deaths and economic loss.

But the state’s other major utilities, including PG&E and Southern California Edison, have been slow to implement changes. In July, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed into law AB 1054, which establishes a Wildfire Fund that mandates public utilities companies to create fire mitigation plans, which include replacing equipment and establishing protocols for public safety power shutoffs.

PG&E says that the scope of the hardening work is dependent on local conditions. “Not every measure, such as undergrounding, is effective at every location,” says Ari Vanrenen, spokesperson for PG&E. “While cost is not directly a factor that is considered, constructibility—the ability to efficiently install the assets per the selected hardening methodology—is.”

James L. Sweeney, director of the Precourt Energy Efficiency Center and professor of management science and engineering at Stanford University, says the higher the voltage, the higher the cost to underground, and notes local low-voltage distribution systems have been relatively easy to underground, which wealthy communities often fund for aesthetic value. But burying lines through locally funded measures could lead to a socioeconomic divide in which richer communities face less fire risk than poor areas.

斯威尼说：“我认为在大多数情况下，地下是最后一个解决方案，而不是第一个解决方案，除非出于美学目的。”“我认为没有一种适合万能的饼干解决方案。”