Why Not Put The Wires Underground?
Why don't the power companies put lines underground? - Scott, Graniteville (Westford)
With all the power outages that happen so regularly whenever there's a wind or snow storm, why haven't the power companies ever instituted a systematic program to bury power lines, so they won't get damaged during storms? Especially in areas with a lot of trees. I'm sure they'll claim it's too expensive, but it's done in large cities like New York and Boston. It's all about wanting to do it or not. - Lucia, Falmouth
Lucia hit the nail on the head....it's too expensive according to not only the power companies, but Gov. Deval Patrick as well. He says it would cost a trillion dollars to bury all the power lines in the state.
Check out this story by Jon Keller to hear what the Gov. had to say, and what some power companies say about their own efforts to cut back trees near power lines.
Of course, in this storm, trees heavily weighted with wet snow did the damage when branches cracked and hit wires. The power companies spend millions every year cutting back trees, and sometimes people in some communities don't want them to do even that.
What do you think? Are the power companies doing enough to prevent the outages in the first place?
