Cost keeps power lines above ground, PPL official says

[jakeXT]

Cost keeps power lines above ground, PPL official says

Four times this year, PPL and Met-Ed have paid hundreds of workers overtime, brought in crews from throughout the East Coast and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars repairing wires mostly downed by falling trees.

Tornadoes in May. Hurricane Irene in September. Massive flooding from the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee. And now, a rare October snowstorm.

It begs the question: Why not put more utility lines underground?

PPL spokesman Jim Nulton said the answer is simple: cost.

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2011/10/cost_keeps_power_lines_abovegr.html

[Scuba]

1. Yes, and People keep dying as a result. n/t

[SheilaT]

2. It really is horrendously expensive to

put current above-ground power lines below ground. I have no idea how common it is, but many companies put the lines underground in new construction and have done so for years.