EWEB buries section of power lines, in effort to thwart wildfires

In May, Mary DeMoll lost power when the driver of a stolen Mercedes crashed into a utility pole in her front yard at high speed.

The pole, weathered by years in the elements, already leaned as tree branches tangled in the lines. DeMoll had paid contractors to cut them before the wreck. 

Eugene Water & Electric Board crews worked through the night to restore power, she said, and later replaced the downed pole with a taller one that now towers above the south hills tree canopy.

DeMoll said she was impressed by the response but wants EWEB to take more proactive steps to harden infrastructure — not necessarily against vehicle collisions but against extreme storms and wildfires.

“I just look at this neighborhood as toast … one power line until we have a disaster,” said DeMoll, referencing the Los Angeles fires early this year that may have been sparked by power lines.

“It’s just a nightmare,” she said. 

A couple of miles away, EWEB is now starting to replace wooden poles with taller metal ones and is burying power lines, as well, as part of a project designed to improve reliability in the changing climate.

The utility wants to do such work, and ratepayers are asking for it. But as demand grows to scale up resilience efforts, federal grants that help fund those efforts have become harder to secure.

1,300 feet of wires replaced 

In hard hats and neon vests, construction crews loaded trucks with tools near Frank Kinney Park on a sunny morning, Wednesday, Sept. 17. They then made their way about a quarter mile uphill from the Amazon Headwaters Trail entrance, where utility poles about 40 feet high stood in a narrow clearing between decades-old oaks and heat-stressed, dying conifers — one reason EWEB prioritized the area.

“If the tree comes through the line, knocks it down, and it’s energized, an arc, and a spark, you got a fire,” said crew leader Marty Van Cleve.

Arcing is when electricity jumps through the air from one material, like a tree, to another, like grass. This can happen any time of year, especially during rainy seasons, because trees’ trunks and branches contain water and minerals that help carry electricity.

To minimize risks that range from ice storms to fire weather, Van Cleve’s team is removing nearly 1,300 feet of overhead wires and replacing it with underground cables, expected to last about 50 years.

Crews will bury the cables in a 4- to 5-foot-deep trench, running them through PVC pipe. The system will distribute power to about 1,000 people.

The underground network connects to transmission lines tied to the larger electrical grid, including Bonneville Power Administration, which supplies nearly 80 percent of Eugene’s electricity. Those lines run on poles made of iron and steel, which Van Cleve said are less likely to fall.

“The possibility of them coming down is pretty minimal. It would have to be a pretty big event, weather event, you know, high winds, very high winds for it to come down,” he said. 

FEMA funding uncertain 

Nearly half of EWEB’s systems are underground, mostly in the downtown core and newer subdivisions, according to division manager Tyler Nice. The Headwaters Trail project was funded by FEMA nearly a decade ago, and now, a two-week project there underway is the first focusing on managing wildfire risk, often referred to as mitigation.

FEMA approved a hazard mitigation grant of nearly $1 million for EWEB, expected to cover most of the project’s cost, although the utility is unsure now whether reimbursement will happen, as similar climate resilience grants have been frozen by the Trump administration, including one for emergency shelters in Eugene.

If the grant falls through, ratepayers would cover the cost. Nice has already penciled the project into his budget as a contingency.

“The grant funding I count as a bonus,” he said. “We believe in [this project] enough that we are doing it. The grant funding will help, but you want to do things within your vision, and this one definitely fits.”

EWEB’s wildfire mitigation plan, approved by the utility’s board of commissioners in April, directs projects like the one happening in south Eugene, as well as other operational practices like shutting off power on high risk fire days. 

‘Frog in hot water’ 

Both Van Cleve and Nice have about two decades of experience at EWEB. In that time, they’ve seen weather grow more extreme while figuring out how to adapt the systems that serve customers. 

“It’s a bit of a frog in hot water,” Nice said. “When you line out the data, it’s bigger and more often. But on the flip side, we have also learned the tactics, mitigate more, so it might even out.” 

Nice described his approach as chipping away at risks that can feel insurmountable. Residents like DeMoll have tried to do the same. 

Last week, she was in a yoga class at the YMCA when she saw smoke rising from Spencer Butte. Lightning had struck a tree, setting a fire that burned about 20 acres near the popular Ridgeline Trail. Helicopters dropping buckets of water were just the latest reminder of fires creeping closer to her doorstep.

Recently, she joined a Firewise community, a long-standing national program that helps people keep their property clear of flammable vegetation.

Traditionally rural, Firewise communities are starting to pop up within city limits, with DeMoll’s group among them. She and her neighbors take on what looks like basic yard work — hauling leaves and branches, clearing blackberry bushes and removing debris from beneath decks.

But these efforts won’t do much if power lines arc, said DeMoll.

“That’s why we can’t have sparks.”

This story was updated to clarify FEMA funding.