Snapped electrical poles/lines may have contributed to the fire. This was taken on the Via de las Olas bluffs. Now residents are asking if they have to pay for undergrounding wires.
An Alphabet Street resident wrote CTN asking about clarification for undergrounding.
“In the Alphabet streets are being told that we have to sign up or sign (something) with the LADWP by February 2026 and construction is supposed to begin this summer to underground power to our homes,” the resident wrote and added “there are some unknowns here.”
The resident said that supposedly LADWP had asked FEMA for about $900 million to underground power in Pacific Palisades, but funding was verbally denied, with an appeal taking place.
“What’s not been discussed publicly and I can’t get an answer to, is what will individual homeowners be assessed to repay for all (or a portion) of the cost to underground power?”
The resident added, “Just to be clear, we are not talking about what it costs for us to get our contractors to get power from the street to our house, but what we will be charged for getting the power underground in our neighborhood.”
CTN reached out to DWP for an answer.
DWP’s Christina Holland wrote in a January 27 email, “We continue to pursue state and federal disaster assistance and are also exploring other funding mechanisms. We will share more information when is becomes available.”
CTN responded, “what your saying is there not money to do it currently. Is there a backup plan if the Feds don’t come through? Will people be required to pay for undergrounding?”
On January 30, Holland wrote “We will update the community as soon as we have additional information on funding.”
That same day, resident Michael Kureth wrote on social media:
“Last year, we warned other Palisades Fire survivors that this would happen. Similar to Woolsey Fire survivors, we will be: 1) asked to pay for fire hydrants (never used during a fire); 2) restricted from rebuilding for not having an access road not wide enough for two fire trucks to pass and a turnaround (no fire trucks will come); 3) pay to underground utility lines and poles; 4) receive notices on our burnt lots to clear brush which will billed at a premium when the notice was never received; 5) more surprises to come!
Palisades Fire survivors will soon learn that permit fees are just a small fraction of the additional expenses required by the fire department and city just for a permit.
Well if our taxes have been paid to benefit all of LA these years, then all of LA can pay for our undergrounding.
Some 90272 residents believe that LADWP’s proposed $877 million undergrounding plan has received “gap funding”
Meaning that if FEMA will not provide the money to “underground” then someone, somewhere will provide the money (fill the funding gap left by FEMA)
SB 254, passed late in 2025, allows the State of California to issue bonds to build infrastructure
Supposedly SB 254 only allows issuing bonds for investor-owned utilities (such as PG&E, SoCal Edison and San Diego Gas and Electric), not for municipal utilities (such as LADWP)
However, if the legislature can write SB 254, they can amend SB 254 to provide funds for LADWP to underground 90272
Since 90272 is the beneficiary of this undergrounding plan then from the standpoint of the “equity” oriented voters of Los Angeles it is possible that 90272 will be held responsible for the cost of undergrounding
If the $877 million undergrounding cost is spread across 10,000 homes that means that on average each homeowner will be responsible for paying back $87,700
Since there are probably fewer than 10,000 homes in 90272 the undergrounding cost per home will be higher
Most likely this would just be added to annual property taxes and paid down over, maybe, 20 years
If LADWP’s undergrounding plan could be a boondoggle
If LADWP decides to show the high speed rail team what a real project cost overrun should look like, the cost of undergrounding could be $8.77 billion, not $877 million
In 1993 our Malibu neighborhood burned despite the fact that all utilities were underground. When I talked with the Carbon Canyon Fire Station Fire Captain after the fire, he said you “can’t fight a war without bullets. You can’t fight a fire without water”