Angry Altadena residents are asking officials to stop Edison’s underground operation

The anger of Eaton fire survivors over Southern California Edison’s burying of power lines in Altadena boiled over Tuesday as residents asked state officials to temporarily halt the work.

In a letter to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, more than 120 Altadena residents and the city council wrote that they had seen Edison’s “blatant failure” in recent months as it demolished roads and dug trenches to bury cables.

Residents cited the unexpected financial cost of the work to homeowners and potential damage to the city’s remaining trees. They also revealed how the work will leave communication lines above ground on poles.

“The current lack of communication increases the pressure on the community still reeling from the Eaton Fire, and risks causing further irreparable damage,” the residents wrote.

The council voted unanimously Tuesday night to send the letter.

Scott Johnson, a spokesman for Edison, said Wednesday that the company was working to fix the problems, including looking at other sources of money to help cover the costs for homeowners.

“We know that this community is already facing many challenges,” he said.

Johnson said the company will allow homeowners to keep existing lines that connect their homes to the grid if they are concerned about costs.

Edison employees, Johnson said, are trained to use equipment that avoids roots and preserves the health of trees.

The agency said burying the wires as the city rebuilds thousands of destroyed homes will make electricity safer and more reliable.

But anger grew as workers showed up unexpectedly and residents found themselves on the hook for paying tens of thousands of dollars to connect their homes to buried lines.

Residents also found workers who were digging under the oak and pine trees of this town that survived the fire last year. Arborists say the ditches can destroy the roots of some of the remaining trees and kill them.

Amy Bodek, the county’s planning director, recently warned Edison that state law protects oak trees and that “canal logging is not exempt from these requirements.”

Residents also pointed out that in many areas of Altadena, telephone companies, including Spectrum and AT&T, refuse to bury their cables in Edison’s trenches. That means telecom cables will remain on poles above ground, which residents say is unsightly.

“While our community supports the long-term benefits of moving utilities underground, the current execution by SCE places unnecessary financial and planning burdens on homeowners, causes irreparable damage to our precious tree canopy, and continues without adequate consideration of the area,” the residents wrote.

They want the work to be stopped until the problems are fixed.

Edison announced last year that it would spend about $925 million to work underground and rebuild its grid in Altadena and Malibu, where the Palisades fire caused damage.

The utility — which costs about $4 million per mile — will reap billions of dollars in profits from its electricity customers for decades to come.

Pedro Pizarro, CEO of Edison International, told Gov. Gavin Newsom last year that federal utility laws would require Altadena and Malibu homeowners to pay for underground power lines from their house line to their house’s panel. Pizarro estimated it would cost $8,000 to $10,000 for each home.

But some residents who need to dig long ditches say it will be too expensive.

“We are rebuilding and due to the lack of insurance, our funds are already stretched,” wrote Marilyn Chong, an Altadena resident, in a comment attached to the letter. “Putting an additional burden on SCE’s infrastructure funding is not something we can or should do.”

Some survivors of the fire lamented Edison’s lack of planning and lack of communication with residents.

“I’ve started rebuilding, and it’s clear there won’t be any underground power lines to run early on when my house is built,” wrote Gail Murphy. “So obviously I have to use the generator, and how long!?”

Johnson said the company has set up a hotline for people with concerns or questions. That line — 1-800-250-7339 — is answered Monday through Saturday, he said.

Residents can also go to Edison’s Altadena office at 2680 Fair Oaks Avenue. The office is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

It’s unclear whether the Eaton fire would have been less catastrophic if the Altadena area’s power lines had been buried.

A fire broke out under Edison’s high-rise lines that pass through Eaton Canyon. Those lines hold a lot of power in the company’s environment. In Altadena, Edison buries small distribution lines, which carry power to homes.

A state investigation into the cause of the fire has not been released. Pizarro said the leading theory is that a 100-year-old transmission line, which had not carried power for 50 years, somehow re-energized to start the fire.

The fire killed at least 19 people and destroyed more than 9,400 homes and other buildings.