4 ms·

What was the reason(s) the lines weren't buried in the first place?

• bytematic 7y ago
  Have to cool the lines somehow. When they are in the air they are naturally cooled, when they are underground they need to pump water along them.
• deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
• inferiorhuman 7y ago
  What was the reason(s) the lines weren't buried in the first place? PG&E was too busy spending its income on cash bonuses, dividends, and stock buybacks. It really is just a matter of money. https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/pge-underground-power-lines-cost-14503808.php https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/pge-underground-power...
• toast0 7y ago
  In 'normal' soil conditions, underground lines start at about 3x the cost of above ground lines. In difficult soil, ex rocky soil, it's even more. Maintenance also becomes much more expensive, although less frequent maintenance may offset that. Non-maintenance changes, such as adding new service, etc would be much more expensive. I don't know about California regulations, but in Washington State, the regulator does not allow the utility to spend general funds to underground wires unless it's strictly required; the cost must be assessed to only the customers it benefits, which is fair, but can generate a lot of pushback.
• Rebelgecko 7y ago
  It would cost hundreds of billions of dollars. Underground power lines cost $5-10 million per mile and PG&E has ~100,000 miles that would need to be buried. A lot of PG&E's lines are in more rural areas which tend towards the cheaper side of that range, but it's still a ton of money.