Bill requiring removal of unused power lines dies

The state legislation would have required utilities to take steps to avoid causing fires.

- BY CONNOR SHEETS

AL SEIB Los Angeles Times. POWER LINES in the north San Fernando Valley. A proposed bill would have required utilities to remove decommissioned lines and other infrastructure.

A state bill that would have required Southern California Edison and other investor-owned utilities to take steps to avoid causing catastrophic wildfires died in Sacramento on Friday.

Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez's (D-Pasadena) district includes Altadena, which was devastated by the Eaton fire in January.

She introduced SB 256 earlier this year to make power infrastructure more safe and less prone to starting wildfires, citing reporting in the Los Angeles Times about some investigators and experts' concerns that a decommissioned transmission line in Eaton Canyon may have been the fire's ignition site.

power That reporting also revealed that Edison knew that some of the electrical towers under investigation were long overdue for critical upkeep and were classified as an "ignition risk" in company records.

Her legislation would have required Edison and other investor-owned utilities to make a plan to remove decommissioned power lines across the state.