Heading Underground

This story appeared in print in conjunction with “Interrupted Transmission.” 

One of the many questions surrounding the power lines project in south Columbia has been about undergrounding — the process of burying electric lines below the ground to avoid electromagnetic fields and tall, unappealing steel poles. Could the transmission lines be buried? Could parts of it be buried?

The city explored undergrounding as a potential option, but a few barriers came up: cost, popularity, and fairness.

In a 2012 interested parties meeting, Water and Light presented information on undergrounding to residents near the proposed power lines. The presentation noted that, although burying the lines was more aesthetically pleasing and reduced the risk of damage to the lines, it was seven to 10 times more expensive to build, and maintenance would be more expensive as well. The extra expense would have to be paid through the city’s utility rates, which would affect Water and Light customers across the city.

This led several people, including Councilwoman Laura Nauser, to support a hybrid solution — burying the lines near residential and school areas. City council ultimately voted in favor of no undergrounding, due to the costs of construction and the unknown effects undergrounding could have in the future. Water and Light has contacted other utilities to ask if they buried any transmission lines; nobody they’ve talked to has done so.

The city has been burying distribution (not transmission) lines across the city, which is a cheaper and easier project because distribution lines are smaller and less powerful. Distribution lines in south Columbia will be buried when the new transmission lines are built, wherever they are.

One notable area of undergrounding has been on Business Loop 70, where The Loop CID has been burying lines with the city. Carrie Gartner, CID director, also helped bury lines in North Village when she was director of The District CID. “When we started in North Village, [power lines] were all overhead, and that’s what makes it look bad,” she says. “It makes such a huge difference.”