Think the power lines get buried now?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Never gonna happen.

I leave in upper NW and last spring we had workers takes misures all over the area. I chatted with one who told me that he was working to prepare for the lines to be put underground in our neighborhood and that the work was already scheduled for around spring 2024 if I remember.

A handful neighborhoods in DC with a history of outages are part of the DC PLUG program to bury power lines - keep in mind that program started 10 years ago!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Chuckling from the cheap seats. Our power lines in NE are buried. Never lost power in 19 years.

The laugh this gave me made the slog through this thread worth it. Thanks, PP!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I came to this country from a European country 20 years ago, and was astonished to see visible power lines in the city and suburbs. Power outages never happen in my home city. I don't know where the transformers are, but they're not exposed to the elements at all.

The USA is the richest country in the world. It's interesting that its residents should still be dealing with exposed power lines. I understand that earthquake-prone areas can't bury their lines, but it doesn't make sense for the rest of the country.

+100.

If you grew up in a place with buried power lines (like I did in Minnesota), it seems uncivilized to come to the DC area and see that perfectly nice neighborhoods still have above-ground power lines. And people just accept it, like it's normal. It's still a surprise to me. It looks so ugly.

Here's a brief anecdote: A few years ago, in Bethesda, we had a neighbor move in next door. They were from Germany and worked for the World Bank. They commented that the neighborhood reminded them of Mexico City, with the above-ground power lines.

The World Bank should station its people in Minnesota!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Chuckling from the cheap seats. Our power lines in NE are buried. Never lost power in 19 years.

We are in the wooded NOVA parts and lost power for about 5 hours. Dominion power gives you an ETA for your address and actual time we got it back was a bit earlier. I wonder what's going on with NWDC.. or it could be that there was some localized microburst explosion there other parts maybe didn't get.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Chuckling from the cheap seats. Our power lines in NE are buried. Never lost power in 19 years.

We are in the wooded NOVA parts and lost power for about 5 hours. Dominion power gives you an ETA for your address and actual time we got it back was a bit earlier. I wonder what's going on with NWDCl.. or it could be that there was some localized microburst explosion there other parts maybe didn't get.

The damage in NW was extreme. Many trees uprooted or shattered, landing on power lines, streets, cars, and even some houses. I’ve never seen anything like it. It really was like a tornado strike.

My impression of the cleanup was that both Pepco and DDOT Urban Forestry were badly unprepared for the storm. This was beyond what they could handle themselves, and they didn’t have outside contractors / mutual aid lined up in advance. Bringing the extra capacity online cost about a day.

This is going to keep happening, unfortunately. It’s bananas that NW doesn’t have underground power. The cost is high, but so is the cost of not doing it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Better spent on solar, geothermal, and batteries

Agreed. And transmission.

+1 Burying power lines is a huge waste of money given all the more urgent problems we have. We’ve lived in DC 20 years and lost power due to downed trees only a handful of times, including this weekend.

Have lived here for more than 10 and my power has been interrupted dozens of times. I also pay a massive amount in property and income taxes and get very little in services so am ready for something yo be done like this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Chuckling from the cheap seats. Our power lines in NE are buried. Never lost power in 19 years.

We are in the wooded NOVA parts and lost power for about 5 hours. Dominion power gives you an ETA for your address and actual time we got it back was a bit earlier. I wonder what's going on with NWDCl.. or it could be that there was some localized microburst explosion there other parts maybe didn't get.

The damage in NW was extreme. Many trees uprooted or shattered, landing on power lines, streets, cars, and even some houses. I’ve never seen anything like it. It really was like a tornado strike.

My impression of the cleanup was that both Pepco and DDOT Urban Forestry were badly unprepared for the storm. This was beyond what they could handle themselves, and they didn’t have outside contractors / mutual aid lined up in advance. Bringing the extra capacity online cost about a day.

This is going to keep happening, unfortunately. It’s bananas that NW doesn’t have underground power. The cost is high, but so is the cost of not doing it.

You don't bring crews in for a chance of afternoon storms, even severe ones. Sometimes stuff happens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Been chatter and workers “studying” this issue for a few years now but am hoping this finally gets the job done. I know some areas are already in ground but it would be great if this finally moves this forward for a wide swath of residences.

Do you have an extra $25K to have your power lines buried?

Yes. I also spent about $50k taking care of trees (dealing with the ash bore, pruning and ultimately removing some trees to sick to be saved) and I would like to move to buried lines.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The tree canopy rules and the costs to prune trees is a big factor here. Huge trees do not belong along roads and power lines. The reality is they have probably been there for a long time and the city's rules probably prevent them from being removed. Pepco butchered a ton of trees after the Derecho but they probably should have just removed them. Large old trees need maintenance. A lot of the downed branches should have already been removed. But that costs a lot of money and most homeowners aren't will to spend. The city now will only plant certain varieties of trees along sidewalks/roads so they do not grow to large and the roots do not crack the sidewalks and roads. But that doesn't help the existing trees.

I would rather lose power once every year or so, then lose our beautiful trees. One of the major benefits to our neighborhood is the leafy environment. If i lose power for a few hours, who cares.

Why cut down good looking trees that make the neighborhood beautiful?

Bad trees like tulip poplars need to go. They are weak and dangerous, not beautiful at all. Bring in oaks and planes to replace them but don’t get confused by their leaf coverage, many are not safe.