my own drum

The news reports are in for this week, and a major winter storm dumped a lot of snow across the midwest US, from Texas to Michigan. Up to 18 inches of snow was reported in Butler, MO, with many places reporting more than a foot.

And then the power outages began.

[More:]

450,000 customers in Illinois and Missouri were still without power yesterday, after ice snapped power lines and tree limbs Friday

I don't know about you, but I can remember hearing the same kind of news every winter, year in and year out. And it isn't just winter weather and ice that causes power outages. So my question is this, why do we continue to suffer power outages in the worst of weather. The answer is simple, look around you, and you'll see power lines stretched from pole to pole through your town. Is there some compelling reason that we cannot put these lines underground?

I've run across a study, titled "Out of Sight, Out of Mind" that looks at this issue, prepared by the Edison Electric Institute. This study makes a comparison of underground and overhead distribution systems in the US. The fact is that there is a move to install new service underground. But that still leaves miles of overhead lines. And the cost to convert to underground is estimated to be around a million bucks a mile. Seriously? Give me a shovel.