UTILITIES & COMMUNICATIONS
SummitWest has worked on utility projects since our founding in 2010, serving large clients such as Southern California Edison (SCE), Pacific Gas & Electric (PGE), San Diego Gas & Electric (SDGE), SoCal Gas, Los Angeles Department of Water & Power (LADWP) as well as smaller clients. Our work has been diverse in services as well as geography, including desktop reviews, GIS, data QA/QC, biological surveys & construction compliance, lead liason, project management, cultural resources support and full scale project life-cycles and final reports.
EXPERIENCE
The SummitWest team has worked over 200,000 hours in support of various utility and communications projects, including fiber optics across over 22 unique clients and primes.
Our desktop support includes desktop surveys and analysis, such as cross-walking of environmental constraints, generation of environmental clearance documents and assignment of surveys. Our field work support includes nesting bird surveys, endangered species surveys and monitoring, rare plant surveys, waters surveys and monitoring and cultural resources support. Our project management team has overseen our own staff as well as staff from other companies on large-scale projects and have managed over 10 Covered Conductor Projects (CCPs) for SCE, including scheduling, communication and clearances with construction teams, reporting, and updating databases.
SummitWest team members supported several mutli-year capital projects, including Sunrise Powerlink (SDGE), Tehachapi Renewable Energy Project (SCE), and West of Devers (DVP2, SCE).
RAPID DEPLOYMENT
Utility and communications work frequently requires rapid deployment of staff in order to accomodate construction schedules, environmental clearance windows, and weather constraints. Our in house scheduling team is well versed in such scheduling needs, and commonly staffs same-day field requests. Our decentralized business model ensures we have talented, trained and well-equipped field staff across the western USA, ready to deploy on both short and long term projects.
At the peak of our season, we can staff up to 65 field biologists and cultural resource specialists at a time, with some on long-term efforts, offering continuity and consistency, and others performing daily and weekly assignments.
WHO WE SERVE
SummitWest has been serving utilities since 2008.
- SDG&E – 2008
- SCE – 2010
- SoCal Gas – 2010
- PGE – 2021
- LADWP – 2022
SummitWest has successfully completed more than $15 million in projects for these utilities, demonstrating our deep understanding of the industry’s demands and our ability to adapt to fluctuating workloads.
Our longevity with these clients is a testament to the consistent quality, reliability, and responsiveness we bring to every project. These lasting relationships enable us to anticipate our clients’ evolving needs and deliver solutions that support their critical infrastructure, even as industry requirements and priorities change. Remaining a trusted partner over time allows us to seamlessly integrate with utility teams, providing continuity and value that only comes from years of collaboration.
REPRESENTATIVE PROJECTS
Southern California Edison (SCE) – California City Substation 115 KV Upgrade Biological Surveys
2021-present. Antelope Valley, California
SummitWest provides ongoing support for the proposed 140 mile Cal City Substation 115 Kilovolt (kV) Upgrade Project including wildlife habitat and rare plant surveys, technical reports, Nesting Bird Management and Burrowing Owl Mitigation Plans.
SCE: SKYWRAP VINCENT-MONROVIA ENVIRONMENTAL SUPPORT
2019. Angeles National Forest, CA
SummitWest provided biological services and program coordination for the SkyWrap Vincent-Monrovia Project, a multi-month fiberoptic telecom installation project by SCE within the Angeles National Forest. SummitWest’s team of coordinators and biologists worked in tandem to support the project with scheduling, contractor coordination, and environmental support such as biological surveys and resource monitoring for nesting birds and sensitive species.
ZAYO FIBER OPTIC PROJECT RARE PLANT SURVEYS
2019. Eugene to Reedsport, OR
SummitWest provided botanical surveys along the 83 miles of fiber cable within the ODOT Right of Way on Highways 126 and 101, running from Eugene, OR to Reedsport, OR. This is part of a larger project to install broadband from Prineville, OR to Reno, NV.
SCE INTERPACE 33KV DETERIORATED POLE REPLACEMENT
2019-2020. Corona, CA
The Interpace 33kV Deteriorated Pole replacement project was a multi-month, ongoing, Southern California Edison (SCE) project near Corona, CA. SummitWest provided environmental support, scheduling, and coordination with contractors for biological surveys and resource monitoring for Stephen’s kangaroo rat, coastal California gnatcatcher, and nesting birds, including raptors.
SoCalGas L4000 Hydrotest:Habitat and JD Waters Mapping
2022 – 2024. San Bernardino, CA
SummitWest provided wildlife habitat and vegetation community mapping and a jurisdictional waters delineation in support of pressure testing for a segment of the Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas) pipeline.
Southern California Edison (SCE): Environmental On-Call Services
2014 – current. State-wide within service territory, CA
SummitWest has worked with Southern California Edison (SCE) since 2010, and has served as a DBE partner on SCE environmental contracts since 2014. Currently, SummitWest serves as a subcontractor to six SCE prime contractors across much of SCE’s service territory for large and small-scale project work and desktop support.
Southern California Edison (SCE): Creek Fire Response and Restoration
2020 – 2021. Shaver Lake, CA
SummitWest’s qualified biologists joined Southern California Edison (SCE) in October of 2020 to support efforts to reinstate infrastructure to multiple electrical grids affected by the Creek Fire in the Sierra National Forest. The project contained critical habitat for numerous listed species requiring environmental compliance, such as the Yosemite toad, Pacific fisher, Western pond turtle, and Foothill Yellow-legged frog, as well as protected water resources.
PACIFIC GAS & ELECTRIC COMPANY (PG&E) ON CALL SERVICES
2022 – present. Entirety of PG&E Jurisdiction, CA
SummitWest has worked with Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) since 2022, serving as a strategic partner to six prime environmental service subcontractors who provide critical support to PG&E’s Vegetation Management and SHURG (system hardening, undergrounding, and remote grid) programs. These programs are vital in mitigating wildfire risks by either pruning or removing high-risk vegetation near PG&E facilities or by undergrounding powerlines. Our team supports these programs with compliance and safety monitoring, cultural resources surveys, wildlife and botanical surveys for a multitude of species and scopes of work, and ensures mitigation of potential project environmental impacts.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EDISON (SCE) DEL VALLE SUBSTATION PROJECT RARE PLANT SURVEYS
2021-2024. Del Valle, CA
SummitWest was commissioned by Rincon to conduct four years of rare plant surveys necessary to support the Southern California Edison (SCE) proposed Del Valle Substation Project. Specifically, SummitWest has been responsible for collecting and analyzing data on botanical resources by conducting full floristic surveys, in which all plants were identified to the lowest taxonomic level possible to determine rarity. The skilled project management team then thoroughly QC’d field data, analyzed the spatial data with GIS, and composed a comprehensive technical report along with associated spatial data files each season.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EDISON (SCE) HOWLAND’S LANDING WELL PROJECT
2014. Catalina Island, CA
SCE commissioned SummitWest to conduct biological monitoring in support of the drilling of a replacement single-source fresh water well at Howland’s Landing on Catalina Island due to salt-water intrusion of the current well. SummitWest’s team of two wildlife biologists were on site full time during construction activities to monitor drilling, water discharge, appropriate covering of holes and water basins, water runoff, slope erosion, and submitting daily reports. Due to the remote location and emergency nature of the work, the biologists performed 2-3 week shifts and were present during overnight drilling and testing to facilitate the rapid completion of a crucial water source.
ENVIRONMENTAL CONSTRUCTION SUPPORT ON COVERED CONDUCTOR PROJECTS (CCPS) FOR SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EDISON (SCE)
2019-2024. Entirety of SCE Jurisdiction, CA
Since 2019, SummitWest’s Environmental Construction Support (ECS) team have provided environmental document review, Point of Contact (POC) and scheduling support, data management and tracking, as well as conducted threatened and endangered species surveys and monitoring across large scale Southern California Edison (SCE) covered conductor projects (CCPs). SummitWest communicates with construction crews and superintendents, checks environmental site constraints, schedules biologists, recommends mitigation to reduce impacts, and writes reports summarizing all environmental efforts and results.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EDISON (SCE) TRANSMISSION LINE RATING AND REMEDIATION (TLRR) BIOLOGICAL SURVEYS
2017. Desert region, CA
SummitWest provided a team of lead botanists and a wildlife biologist to assist in Southern California Edison’s (SCE) Habitat Assessment field surveys for the Proponents Environmental Assessment (PEA) on five SCE transmission lines as part of the Transmission Line Rating and Remediation Program. Surveys focused on multiple sensitive resources, including habitat assessments for special-status plant and wildlife species, plant community mapping, focused surveys for rare plants, focused surveys for desert tortoise, focused surveys for burrowing owl, and incidental observations of San Joaquin kit fox and American badger. SummitWest botanists also performed desktop analysis to create the list of target rare plant species within the project area.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EDISON (SCE) TRANSMISSION RIGHT-OF-WAY (TROW) AVIAN SURVEYS AND MONITORING
2018-current. Various locations, CA
SummitWest’s permitted biologists performed surveys and monitoring for threatened and endangered bird species along 45 miles of Southern California Edison’s (SCE) Transmission Right-of-Way (TROW) vegetation clearing work in Orange County, CA from 2018-2021. SummitWest is currently supporting other TROW projects for SCE in their service territory.
LADWP ON-CALL ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES FOR SWCA
April 2023 – current. California (Haiwee Dam, Barstow, and more)
Since 2023, SummitWest’s California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) Designated Biologists have monitored demolition, realignment, and construction on a number of projects including the LADWP North Haiwee Dam Project. Our Designated Biologists have performed the full gamut of monitoring roles including sweeps, Workers Environmental Awareness Program (WEAP) training, and a variety of special status species specific monitoring activities. Of note, our monitors have provided support for potential Desert Tortoise (DETO), Mohave Ground Squirrel (MGS), Western Joshua Tree (WJT), kit fox (KF), American badger (AMBA), burrowing owl (BUOW), Mojave fringe-toed lizard, and rare plants.
LEAD ENVIRONMENTAL INSPECTOR (LEI) FOR SAN DIEGO GAS AND ELECTRIC (SDG&E)
2012-2023. Orange County, CA; Talega Substation and Rancho Viejo Substation
SummitWest has supplied Lead Environmental Inspectors (LEI) to two large SDG&E Projects. The LEI provides unwavering oversight of compliance monitoring and of construction crews through all stages of construction, as well as constant communication and coordination to ensure compliance of project activities. SummitWest’s LEI responsibilities include providing cultural and paleontological advisorship, safety education on identifying biological hazards, and streamlined coordination between environmental, paleontological and construction crews. Deliverables include daily and weekly documentation of monitoring and work accomplished by field crews, as well as the associated environmental restrictions and mitigations that were enacted.
LA-RICS Construction Monitoring, First Carbon Solutions
2020. Los Angeles County, CA
FCS International (First Carbon Solutions) retained SummitWest to provide personnel to conduct daily biological resources monitoring at The Los Angeles Regional Interoperable Communications System (LA-RICS) project near Los Angeles in 2020. The project was part of a long-term initiative to improve communication systems for public safety agencies across Los Angeles County. SummitWest staff worked at construction sites to ensure compliance with environmental mitigation measures, conduct pre-construction surveys as needed, report non-compliance, complete a daily monitoring log and/or preconstruction survey form for each monitoring day at each site.