PG&E raises 811 awareness during April's National Safe Digging Month

Digging without knowing the location of underground lines dangerous, it can also result in expensive repairs and inconvenient outages. Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is joining with others across the country during National Safe Digging Month to help raise awareness of the importance of calling 811 before you dig.

Underground utility lines can be shallow, sometimes only a few inches below the surface, due to erosion, previous digging projects or landscaping, shifting or settling of the ground and uneven surfaces. Customers should call 811 a minimum of two business days before starting any digging project, large or small, as damaging an underground utility line while digging is dangerous and can leave customers responsible for repair costs averaging $3,500.

"Calling 811 before any size digging project will help keep you, your family and neighbors safe and will also help you avoid expensive repairs averaging $3,500 should you damage an underground line while digging. Professional utility locators will come to your home and mark the location of underground utilities free of charge so that you can dig safe and know what's below," 

Warmer weather months see an increase in digging projects, and unfortunately many of those projects are proceeding without a free call to 811 to have underground utilities marked for project sites. In fact, according to a recent national survey conducted by the Common Ground Alliance (CGA), 56% of homeowners plan to dig without calling 811 first. But, failure to call 811 before digging resulted in over 1,300 incidents during 2024 where underground utility lines were damaged due to digging in PG&E's service area alone.

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