Recommended Planning for Undergrounding in Monterey
Here is Appendix F from the new Rule 20 Handbook related to our suggestion of plans and committees. I highlighted where the suggestions are to coordinate the plans to underground with other street repairs or when the road is being torn up for other underground activity.
Planning Tips for Cities and Counties
This Appendix defines recommended means for cities and counties to plan ahead for underground conversion projects. This includes a Conversion Master Plan, Conversion Planning Committee, and a Utilities Conversion Plan.
The undergrounding of all the overhead lines in a city or county will take many years to complete.
During this time, the utility companies need to be active partners with the city or county.
Utilities can sometimes take steps to reduce future conversion costs by making alternative arrangements for the reinforcement of overhead lines in areas earmarked for underground conversion or by performing the undergrounding work in conjunction with some other city or county infrastructure project. To take maximum advantage of these opportunities, each city or county should consider establishing a Conversion Planning Committee.
Conversion Master Plan
The Conversion Master Plan is used as a means of laying out a long-term vision and building consensus among city or county leaders, business owners and citizens. A local government can create a Conversion Master Plan as a standalone document or it can be a part of the agency’s General Plan.
Many cities and counties use a developer fee program to support underground conversion activities. (See Government Code Sections 66000, et seq.)
In such cases a Conversion Master Plan would normally be considered a prerequisite to the adoption of such a program.
A Conversion Master Plan should include:
● A statement of objectives
● The manner in which priorities are to be set for conversion projects
● A map showing all currently proposed conversion projects (updated regularly)
● A ranking of project priorities
● Basic information about each project, including the purpose of each project
Project-specific information should include such basics as:
● The measured length of the project
● The approximate project costs based on periodically updated unit costs for a similar, recently completed project
● The extent to which the project would include portions of intersecting streets
The Master Plan will not be realistic if it attempts to precisely define the timetable for each conversion project. This should be included in the “Utilities Conversion Plan” detailed later in this section. However, sharing the city or county’s basic project information with the utility companies will help facilitate the exchange of critical planning information between the utilities and city or county planners.
Conversion Planning Committee
A Conversion Planning Committee could be useful if a municipality wants to underground multiple locations. This Committee is comprised of representatives from the city or county and the utility companies. Its primary function is to identify and prioritize projects in the Utilities Conversion Plan (next section). The Committee also plays an important role in identifying projects that qualify for funding under the utility companies’ tariffs.
The Committee’s first task would be to develop the Conversion Master Plan which identifies and prioritizes potential projects for underground conversion. These conversion projects would be within a program that incorporates the availability of funds and the utility companies’ capability to perform their necessary tasks. A well-rounded conversion planning committee should include:
● City or county staff (e.g. planners, engineers, finance department, economic development representatives)
● Elected and/or appointed officials (e.g. council members, planning commissioners, design review)
● Utility representatives, including electric, telephone, and cable company representatives
The utility representative on the Conversion Planning Committee can play an important role in helping to identify projects that qualify for utility funding and the current status of such funding.
Moreover, the utility companies periodically revise their labor and material costs, and the utility representatives would play an important role in helping the committee update the Conversion Master Plan.
Utilities Conversion Plan
To begin a Electric Rule 20 conversion process, every city or county is encouraged to develop a “Utilities Conversion Plan” covering at least five projects.
This is a short-range plan for use in assigning conversion priorities, cost estimates, and project schedules on the basis of a city’s or county’s current planning assumptions.
The Conversion Planning Committee should be tasked with directing a city or county’s Utilities Conversion Plan and recommending flexible project timetables. Over time, a well-functioning Committee will help to assure the logical progression of conversion projects and be instrumental in minimizing construction delays and maximize the use of conversion funds.
A Utilities Conversion Plan should include a set of objectives, project priorities, and rough cost estimate provided by PG&E, flexible for each project and based on sound planning assumptions.
Since utility conversions are often triggered by other improvement activities (such as street widening or storm drain replacement), a Utilities Conversion Plan will be extremely useful to a city or county when trying to accurately budget the total costs of an improvement project which includes underground conversion. Such a plan is best developed through the collaborative effort of a Conversion Planning Committee.