Residents in a fire-scorched Altadena say they’re being burned by their power company’s high-priced plan to bury power lines in response to last year’sdevastating Eaton wildfire.
Some locals may have to pay up to $40,000 to connect their homes to Southern California Edison’s new underground lines, which the utility is building toprotect against future blazes, according to the Los Angeles Times.
“Residents are so angry,” Connor Cipolla, an Eaton wildfire survivor, told the newspaper.
“We were completely blindsided,” Cipolla seethed.
Angry homeowners in the unincorporated community of Los Angeles County are also infuriated that the SoCal Edison plan to bury 63 miles of powerlines could destroy local oak and pine trees that survived the fire.
Cipolla, whose home was damaged by smoke and ash, told the Times that he would have to pay between $20,000 to $40,000 to connect to Edison’s new underground line.
A neighbor received a $30,000 estimate for the work, Cipolla said.
To make matters worse, the Altadena residents have found dozens of SoCal Edison sites where deep tranches planned by the utility could sever the roots of precious remaining trees, the Times reports.
Homeowner Robert Steller said he’s trying to block the utility crew from burying a large transformer between two cedar trees.
The plan would “be downright fatal” to the venerable trees, Steller said.
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
