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UnfairAd7220 t1_j5q9awa wrote

Reply to comment by 01Zaphod in Why does this state seem to lose power so frequently? It’s always related to downed power lines from trees? Or is this a grid issue? by JayBisky

You think a billion dollars is pocket change?

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Acanthaceae_Square t1_j5qnuls wrote

Cumulatively compared to the cost of continuing to repair outages and downed lines from storms, plus associated costs of not having power, year after year? Yes

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01Zaphod t1_j5yj5s2 wrote

I’m not going to argue with you there. I’m with you on that.

However, if the infrastructure had been put underground to start with, recurring maintenance costs due to inclement weather, natural disasters and animal/human accidents would be dramatically less than it is now. A bonus to that situation would be better protection against EMP discharge or terrorist attack.

If you think about it, all of our other services are underground - waste (for obvious reasons), water, propane, natural gas, etc. Why not our power grid?

From a historical perspective, I believe the decision was made to utilize the existing telegraph structures to transfer electricity because it was cheaper and faster to install. I’m not a historian, so don’t quote me on that - it’s just conjecture.

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