When PG&E committed to underground 1,000 miles of power lines in high-fire-risk areas across California, the goal seemed practically impossible. Conventional undergrounding costs roughly $3 to $4 million per mile and requires multiple crews, multiple passes, and handoffs between operations—adding weeks to timelines and thousands in daily costs. Cable Protect North America (CPNA) changed that equation.
Working alongside PG&E across Plumas County and other fire-prone regions where the Dixie Fire and Camp Fire started, CPNA deployed its patent-pending single-pass trenching and cable wrapping technology. The integrated system eliminates handoffs: one machine, one crew, one continuous operation that digs the trench, lays conduit, and backfills—all in a single pass. The result is a 5x speed advantage over traditional methods, with daily cost reductions exceeding $20,000. More importantly, it makes undergrounding economically competitive with overhead construction, enabling communities to actually get protected.
PG&E has now undergrounded 1,000 miles across 27 counties. Work continues through 2025 targeting completion before winter, with the utility aiming for 1,600 miles by end of 2026. For fire-prone communities, it means power lines that stay in the ground. For an industry that's historically struggled to make infrastructure modernization work financially, it proves that redesigning the process from the ground up transforms the impossible into inevitable.
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Cable Protect North America delivers specialized one-pass trenching and integrated cable installation services for utility grid hardening, renewable energy infrastructure, and telecommunications projects across North America. Ready to accelerate your next undergrounding project? Contact CPNA.
