Some residents consider the electrical transformers an eyesore, magnets for graffiti

By Monica Garske | SDUN Reporter

Through the Utilities Undergrounding Program, San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E) employees are in the midst of moving overhead power lines underground in communities including Kensington and Talmadge.

In moving the power lines underground, green utility boxes called transformers are replacing the power lines. SDG&E representatives said the primary reason for the replacement is safety. Some Kensington and Talmadge residents are unhappy with the transformers being installed along their sidewalks and yards.

SDG&E Communications Specialist Erin Koch said, “Having these transformers above ground is safer and more reliable for both electrical workers and residents. That’s our main focus with this project.”

Koch said SDG&E’s portion of the Kensington-Talmadge undergrounding project will include 96 new utility boxes in the area by the time the project is completed. The project is scheduled to begin in late 2012.

Gigette Caldwell, president of the Kensington-Talmadge Community Association, said she has attended community meetings where several Kensington residents voiced opposition to the boxes.

“They’re unsightly and, frankly, look out of place in such a historic neighborhood,” Caldwell said. “When you start putting utility boxes near the antique street lamps and structures in Kensington, it really detracts from the visual appeal of the area.”

Caldwell said she’s noticed more utility boxes appearing along Adams Avenue and said she fears residential areas are next. She also she doesn’t want a transformer installed near her home.

“Honestly, if they were to put one of these in front of my house, I’d landscape around it to hide it. I’m sure not everyone would do that, but I would,” Caldwell said. “Personally, I’d rather keep the overhead poles and power lines here; at least they look old and blend in.”

Koch said the company is open to discussing the look of the transformers, and that SDG&E, the City and local leaders must be involved.

“If a community is interested in changing the appearance of the utility boxes, we can work with their councilmember to come up with ideas to possibly make that happen,” Koch said. “We’d be happy to discuss options with [District Three Councilmember] Todd Gloria.”

Talmadge resident David Moty, chair of the Kensington-Talmadge Planning Group, said the controversy surrounding utility boxes in Talmadge and Kensington dates back to 2006. The Kensington-Talmadge Planning Group has been monitoring the ongoing undergrounding projects in the area.

“The transformers that have already been placed along Adams Avenue and Meade Avenue [in Talmadge] have given us an example of what to expect in residential areas of Kensington,” Moty said. “Concerned residents want a better solution than what was done in Talmadge. That’s why we want to have influence on this now, early on, before more of these boxes appear.”

Moty said he believes the undergrounding work done in Talmadge was a good idea, but it was poorly executed with transformers placed in awkward, obtrusive locations.

“It’s sloppy workmanship. All they’ve done is take an eyesore from the air and put it at eye-level, right in your face,” he said.

Moty said the utility boxes are magnets for graffiti, and said he has personally counted more than 100 tagged transformers in Talmadge. The Planning Group doesn’t want that same problem in Kensington, he said.

For now, Moty said the project is at a standstill due to opposition from locals who want more time to explore better alternatives for the placement of the boxes. Moty and the Planning Group are awaiting a legal memo from the City Attorney’s office indicating how much leeway the City might have in ensuring upcoming projects are designed more aesthetically.

Moty said the next steps for the project are based on the response from the City. The most important of which is having the topic docketed at the San Diego Committee on Land Use and Housing where the Kensington-Talmadge Planning Group could make a presentation.

“At [the Committee on Land Use and Housing], we would request the formation of a city-community-utility task force to develop guidelines so that in the future, these projects will be better designed and executed,” Moty said.

“We’d like to see the priorities of the community reflected in the design choices made at the very beginning,” he said. “We don’t want to be in the position of desperately trying to make a few a changes as the crews are on site about to dig up our streets and yards.”