Norco residents voice opposition to SoCal Edison's Riverside County power line project
Norco residents and city leaders are voicing their opposition to a Southern California Edison power line project that would bring miles of overhead power lines to the region.
The Riverside Transmission Reliability Project aims to add a second connection to California's power grid through both overhead and underground lines. Despite four of the six miles being built underground, the construction in Norco would be entirely overhead, much to residents' dismay.
"Not happy!" said Alex Gerber, who lives near the Santa Ana Riverbed at the edge of Norco. His home could soon sit right next to one of the 200-foot-high-voltage transmission towers.
"We're big proponents of undergrounding," Gerber said. "These overhead wires are no good to anybody. ... We're okay with the project, just underground it so that nobody is affected."
According to SoCal Edison's website, the project was approved by the California Public Utilities Commission in 2020, and the city of Riverside voted to move forward with the project in 2024. Construction began last year, despite opposition from Norco city leaders, which saw their appeal to the utilities commission denied.
"With advances in technology, we as a city don't understand why the project isn't being undergrounded," said Norco Mayor Robin Grundmeyer. "We just want equity. Our neighbors to the north in Jurupa, those lines are undergrounded on the other side of the river. It's about making sure communities are treated fairly."
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Sylvio Lanzas is a retired Cal Fire division chief who now lives in Norco. He says that the transmission towers create a potentially deadly obstacle in the event of a wildfire.
"This is one of the most dangerous fire corridors we have in Southern California," Lanzas said. "One of the biggest challenges we face from aerial firefighting is power lines. ... Placing these high-voltage transmission lines high into the sky will limit the ability to bring air resources into the corridor."
SoCal Edison shared a statement with CBS LA regarding the project.
"Like all SCE infrastructure, RTRP is being built with safety, reliability and wildfire mitigation top of mind," the statement said. "The PUC approved the RTRP in its current design, and we are moving forward with construction."
Lanzas believes that the decision not to build underground comes down to finances.
"Frankly, it's cost. At the end of the day, it's costly to bury them," he said. "It's also very costly to burn an entire community down."
SoCal Edison says that constructing power lines costs around $900,000 a mile, while burying them is around $4 million a mile — a cost that would then be handed down to customers. With the recent sparking from a SoCal Edison fire in Altadena, which led to the devastating Eaton Fire, and the Baine Fire that got dangerously close to Norco a few months ago, residents say they're not done fighting.
"That's not the Norco way; we fight till the bitter end," Grundmeyer said.
Norco's current fight is similar to one taking place in Temecula, where residents are fighting back against a proposed high-voltage power line project from San Diego Gas and Electric, which would run right through the center of the city. Residents there are also concerned about the wildfire risk from the transmission towers.
