American States Water Spends Big for Fire Protection

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San Dimas-based American States Water Co.’s primary business is owning a water utility with customers throughout the state, so why is it spending tens of millions of dollars on a project to prevent power lines from sparking wildfires?
 
American States Water happens to own a small electric utility in Big Bear Valley in the fire-prone San Bernardino Mountains. And Bear Valley Electric Service is now a few months into an $86 million, 20-year project to insulate roughly 200 circuit miles of transmission wires.


“Wildfires are now a year-round threat for California communities like Big Bear, which is designated a ‘high-fire threat district,’” Paul Marconi, president of Bear Valley Electric Service, said in a statement. “The safety of our customers and the community is a top priority for Bear Valley Electric Service, and we are investing to help mitigate the risk of wildfires in our service area.”


The utility is replacing all of its bare transmission wires with new thicker wires covered with three layers of fire-resistant insulation. The aim is to prevent sparking when trees or other vegetation bump up against the wires in high-wind events or whenever branches break off and fall onto power lines.


According to Marconi’s statement, nearly eight circuit miles of wire have been replaced to date, and the utility plans to replace roughly 13 circuit miles of wire each year for the next six years. (Circuit miles measure the total length in miles of separate circuits regardless of the number of conductors used per circuit.)


Marconi said Bear Valley Electric Service was one of the first investor-owned utilities in the nation to install fire-resistant transmission wires. He noted that the cost of $420,000 per mile to install the insulated wire is roughly 10% of the cost of putting a mile of transmission lines underground.


“It’s a cost-effective wildfire prevention investment,” Marconi said.


Of course, the much larger regional investor-owned utility, Southern California Edison, a subsidiary of Rosemead-based Edison International, has also been installing fire-resistant transmission wires.

 
According to SCE’s latest wildfire prevention report released last month, it had installed about 960 circuit miles of insulated transmission wires in 2020, well ahead of its target of 700 circuit miles. That utility has installed about 1,500 circuit miles of insulated wires to date.


Both utilities have also been taking other steps to reduce wildfire risk, including cutting back trees and other vegetation next to power lines.

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Howard Fine
Howard Fine is a 23-year veteran of the Los Angeles Business Journal. He covers stories pertaining to healthcare, biomedicine, energy, engineering, construction, and infrastructure. He has won several awards, including Best Body of Work for a single reporter from the Alliance of Area Business Publishers and Distinguished Journalist of the Year from the Society of Professional Journalists.

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