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Norco is repeating its call for the installation of underground electrical transmission line within the city’s borders, in the aftermath of a recent lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department Justice against Southern California Edison.
The lawsuit, filed Sept. 4 in U.S. District Court’s Central branch, alleges that the public utility’s negligence caused the Fairview fire in in September 2022, according to a statement released by the U.S. Attorney’s office.
That fire burned nearly 14,000 acres in the San Bernardino National Forest near Norco, killing two people and injuring three.
The blaze was caused by a sagging power line owned, operated and maintained by Southern California Edison. That line touched a Frontier Communications cable, which caused sparks that ignited vegetation, according to the lawsuit.
Red Mountain Lookout, a 1930’s-era wooden cabin on top of a tower that was used to spot fires, was destroyed.
The justice department maintains that Southern California Edison knew about the dangers high winds would pose to its transmission lines, but did not take action. It is asking for $37 million in damages sustained by the U.S, Forest Service, including an estimated $20 million for fire suppression costs.
In a statement posted on Norco’s website the day the lawsuit was filed, Mayor Greg Newton implored Southern California Edison to “heed the warning” contained in the legal filing and accept responsibility for the 2022 fire.
Newton also referred to the Eaton fire in January, which was started by faulty infrastructure also owned and operated by Southern California Edison. That fire killed 18 people, damaged 44 buildings, and burned nearly 8,000 acres in the Angeles National Forest in Los Angeles County.
The justice department filed a separate lawsuit in connection with that fire the same day it filed its Fairview fire lawsuit.
“We continue to see that above-ground transmission lines lead to destructive and deadly wildfires in communities just like Norco,” Newton said in Norco’s statement
Norco has opposed the Riverside Transmission Reliability Project since 2015, the year Southern California Edison and the Riverside Public Utilities proposed the project to the state Public Utilities Commission.
Approved by the utilities commission in 2020, the reliability project will build a 230,000-volt transmission line that will cover approximately 10 miles. It will be Riverside’s second connection to California’s power; a move Norco supports.
Plans called for the transmission line to span parts of Riverside, Norco and Jurupa Valley, according to burythewires.org, a website set up by Norco.
Some sections of the transmission line will be underground, but Southern California Edition plans to construct overhead transmission line through Norco, a rural community that calls itself “Horse town USA.” The power line would be strung above parts of the Santa Ana Riverbed, an area susceptible to high winds and fires, and above several neighborhoods.
Putting the transmission line underground will be more expensive, but the extra cost would outweigh the damage caused by a large fire, Newton said.
“By our own estimate, which is an educated guess, it would cost the average rate payer (in Norco) less than dollar a year to put the transmission line underground,” Newton said during a telephone interview. “Compare that to billions of dollars of destruction. Yes, it’s more expensive, but look at the tradeoff.”
That Southern California Edison won’t consider putting the transmission line underground after multiple catastrophic fires shows “a lack of common sense” on Southern California Edison’s part, according to Newton.
“It is the definition of insanity to repeat the errors of the past and expect a different outcome,” Newton said.
Norco officials have asked Southern California Edison what it would cost to bury the transmission line, but have yet to receive an answer.
“It’s only a few miles,” Newton said. “Are we talking $1 million a mile or $100 million a mile? We don’t know, because Southern California Edison won’t give us a number. But the bigger is question is why is the transmission line (in Norco) going to be above ground on the first place?
“They’re going to be underground in Jurupa Valley. Why can’t they be underground in Norco?”
Norco officials have been posing that question for several years.
In 2017, the city council voted to oppose the reliability project, and told the utilities commission it would fight the construction of any overhead transmission lines in and around the Santa Ana River, or any communities near Norco.
In October 2023, Norco asked the utilities commission to reconsider putting the lines underground through Norco, a request the utilities commission denied four months later.
Despite the years of back and forth, and the federal government now entering into the dispute, Southern California Edison doesn’t appear to be in a mood to change its mind, either.
“We are reviewing the lawsuits, and will respond through the appropriate legal channels,” said Diane Castro, spokeswoman for the public utility, in a prepared statement. “We continue our work to reduce the likelihood of Southern California Edison’s equipment starting a wildfire, and we are committed to wildfire mitigation through grid hardening, situational awareness and enhanced operational practices.”
Castro declined further comment.
Federal lawsuits can take years to resolve, which is why Newton is skeptical about whether the justice department lawsuit will help Norco in its battle with the public utilities commission.
“From the city’s perspective the lawsuit can’t hurt us, and it might help, but we’re approaching this from the local level.” Newton said. “It’s our most important issue, because the top job of a city government is to protect its residents.”
