Alameda Municipal Power to Study Informed Consent on Undergrounding

Alameda Municipal Power e-mailed an alert today to say that, pursuant to public form in November, and a Public Utilities Board meeting earlier this month, it will dig deeper into the idea of ‘informed consent’ from property owners with regards to undergrounding projects and evaluate what to do when a neighborhood says ‘no’ to undergrounding.

In 2012, Alameda City Council put a halt to an undergrounding project after affected residents complained they were being forced to pay for it, whether or not they wanted it.

No, more than two years later, and with public input, the municipally-owned utility is working to update its policy on its processes for moving overhead electrical distribution wires to underground service; typically cable television and telephone cables move underground at the same time.

The utility expects to present an updated policy to the Public Utilities Board at its meeting on Monday, January 26 at 7pm.