Many new developments in the US do use buried wires. But a lot also still use poles. It's hit and miss. From what I remember, PG&E is notorious for "procrastin

Many new developments in the US do use buried wires. But a lot also still use poles. It's hit and miss. From what I remember, PG&E is notorious for "procrastinating" on maintenance of its wires, as well. Wires need to be regularly checked and have nearby foliage trimmed to a safe distance. Keeping up on this maintenance would reduce the risk of fires, but California is big and the utility has decided it doesn't want to do that. So the poles are more dangerous than they should be.