OROVILLE – PG&E crews will start working on the last phase of a significant project in Oroville to upgrade the local electric system to provide more reliable service to customers.
Crews will begin work Oct. 1 to install nearly 2,000 feet of upgraded power lines, upgrade six transformers and install two new poles. When complete, the upgrades will help reduce the duration of power outages for more than 5,000 customers in the southern Oroville area.
In the first phase, PG&E installed radio-controlled devices that will allow for faster, remote restoration of customers during power outages. The new power lines will provide PG&E with more flexibility to reroute power around trouble spots during an outage, thereby restoring power to many customers before permanent repairs are made.
Work will occur primarily along Lincoln Boulevard, starting from the intersection with Walmer Road and proceeding north to a few hundred feet north of Virginia Avenue.
Brief delays and one-way traffic controls will be necessary at times so crews can work safely. Crews will work Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. The upgrades are scheduled to be completed by October 31 and ahead of storm season. PG&E is spending nearly $1 million dollars in improvements.
“We are using detailed local analysis to target projects that will have the biggest benefit for our customers,” said Russ Rylee, electric superintendent for PG&E’s North Valley division. “The significant upgrades that our crews are making right now will lead to more reliable service for customers along this circuit who have experienced numerous outages in the past.”
Every day, PG&E crews work underground and overhead to enhance the reliability of the electric system, which includes more than 141,000 circuit miles of distribution lines and more than 18,000 circuit miles of interconnected transmission lines. Last year, PG&E reduced the number of outages its customers experienced to an all-time low, and improved service restoration times to their best level in 10 years.
