Post here if buried power lines would have prevented a power outage for you sometime in the last 10

[thucythucy]

82. All these issues can be addressed.

1. Expense. Over time the cost of burying at least the major lines (the ones on the massive towers that cut across the landscape on utility owned land) will be less than the cost of continually repairing and re-repairing and re-re-re-re-repairing lines and towers that are continually under assault from the elements;

2.) I'm assuming, since the power companies are able to, at will, construct these enormous and unsightly towers, spray the land with herbicides to cut down underbrush, and, in this case, cut down trees without any public input at all, burying the lines would not present any great legal obstacles;

3.) Even second tier lines that are buried generally have warnings to workers about cutting into them. We bury sewers, water mains, gas lines as well. Yes, there are accidents. No system or structure is infallible. But oddly enough, even when my power has gone off (several times in the past several years) my water, sewer, and natural gas connections manage to hold. What's the difference? Power lines are mostly above ground, the other systems are mostly below.

Nothing is an "unmixed blessing." But some forms of infrastructure work better than others. In the long run, burying as much of the power grid as we can would seem to make a good deal of sense.