I remember back in the 90s in Finland there still used to be overhead medium-voltage powerlines in lower-density urban areas; those are practically all gone now

I remember back in the 90s in Finland there still used to be overhead medium-voltage powerlines in lower-density urban areas; those are practically all gone now, replaced with underground lines. In higher-density areas underground was the norm even back then. Many HV trunk lines (ie. tens to hundreds of kV) are buried as well, and those that aren’t, of course have wide buffer zones to avoid being hit by errant cars or falling trees. In the countryside (of which there is a lot in Finland), overhead lines are much more common due to the cost of burying them all. Still, it’s increasingly being done because a few storms in recent years left thousands of rural residents without electricity for days or even weeks – and such storms are only becoming more frequent while our lifestyles are getting even more dependent on electricity. Burying all those lines is of course expensive, and the expenses will ultimately be paid by the consumers. There has been some pushback due to this – transmission fees have gone up a lot in the 2000s and utility companies are accused of using the costs as an excuse to inflate their profits.