Utility crews are working on a significant project in Anderson to upgrade the local electric system to provide more reliable service to customers in the Shasta County city.
Crews began work this week to install 36 additional fuses, upgrade six transformers and install five radio-controlled switches to help reduce both the size and duration of power outages for about 2,500 customers served by 90 miles of power lines.
Work will occur primarily along Olinda Road between Happy Valley Road and Spring Street, along Highway 273 between Biggs and Hill streets, on Ox Yoke Road and other blocks in west Anderson.
Brief delays and one-way traffic controls will be necessary at times so crews can work safely. PG&E crews will generally work between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. weekdays, except holidays. The upgrades will be completed in late November, just ahead of storm season. PG&E is spending more than $800,000 in improvements.
“Through the targeted circuit program, we are using detailed 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. The targeted circuit program is one of the ways PG&E is enhancing its electric system to provide customers safe, reliable and affordable service.”
The work in Anderson is part of a utility-wide program launched in 2009 by PG&E to improve the reliability of electrical service throughout Northern and Central California. The program is targeting circuits where the upgrades will have the most impact in preventing conditions that can cause outages. Since the program began in 2009, outages on upgraded circuits have been reduced by 30 percent, while the duration of outages has decreased by 50 percent.
Every day, PG&E has crews working underground and overhead to enhance the reliability of our 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.
