September 2024 Vol. 79 No. 9
Editor's Log
Editor’s log: ‘Shocking’ news
(UI) — After Houston had yet another hurricane smash through the city shortly after the Fourth of July, widespread power outages in the millions that lasted, in some cases, for weeks, resulted in heavy criticism of the area’s power grid.
Largely operated by CenterPoint Energy, local and state officials raised concern about why this disaster happened. Wasn’t CenterPoint prepared? After all, tropical storms and hurricanes are a way of life along the Gulf Coast. What went wrong? Why was there such a widespread and prolonged power outage for 2.7 million services for what was, quite frankly, a minor, Category 1 hurricane? (In all fairness, can any hurricane truly be called “minor?”)
There were all kinds of reasoning, excuses, finger-pointing and blame passed around. Hurricane Beryl hit the city’s westside, meaning the center and “dirty” side of the storm blasted the city full-on. Still, most expected better preparations from CenterPoint.
Much of the problem was a plethora of low-hanging electric power lines, both transmission and distribution in heavily populated areas of the city. Once again, that raised an obvious question among both the masses and politicians: Why aren’t our power lines underground, especially in a city ripe with risk for severe storms?
I read and viewed various reports from both local and national sources and, along with feedback from readers and colleagues, the general opinion was that it was crazy to not better prepare for storms by going underground with utility lines. After several decades in this business, I dare say I’ve heard all the excuses for not going underground and that line of reasoning is getting feebler with each storm, whether it be wind and rain or snow and ice.
Since the early 1990s, prohibitive costs have been the primary line of defense by electric utilities for not going underground, claiming HDD was too expensive and risky. That might have been true in 1990, but cost structures and efficiencies are a different story in 2024. Electric distribution lines can easily, effectively and more economically be installed in virtually all markets – rural or city.
Continuing to place overhead electric poles and potentially dangerous wires and transformers above ground is ludicrous.
Sometimes it is cheaper – for a few years. But the annual maintenance required for such systems constantly drives long-term costs higher and higher. When you factor in the first ice storm that rolls in next winter or a tropical storm that blows through next summer, the breakeven number is essentially upon underground installation. Those weather events will snap poles like twigs, block roads and leave live electric lines and a trail of damaged transformers on the ground. And, as we’ve learned recently in Houston, it may take weeks to repair.
Another ridiculous excuse I read came from a supposedly highly educated professor. “It’s expensive to place lines underground as other utilities are already there.”
Hogwash. Sure, it’s expensive if a contractor consistently hits underground pipes and conduit. But that rarely happens these days for quality contractors – the ones that know to not only call 811 before they dig, but also make it incumbent upon themselves to perform potholing, run cameras up water or sewer lines before and after a drill, and use other types of proven methods to drill a bore path with minimum risks.
Ah, but what about larger transmission power lines, which can heat up, so are more difficult and thus expensive to place underground? That used to be a factor, but current technology allows transmission lines to be safely installed with newer conduits and thermal grouts that prevent heat build-ups by allowing it to be safely radiated out into surrounding soils.
Still, such modern tools for transmission lines can be expensive, but billions in funding are now available from the federal government to “harden” electric lines from the weather and wear issues. Increasingly state utility commissions are looking favorably upon rate adjustments for taking plant underground. Moving both distribution and transmission lines underground is the obvious and most favored solution.
Another absurd objection I read from a so-called expert was that taking electric lines underground left poles and related equipment in right of ways. Recently, we published our annual Horizontal Directional Drilling Survey, and I received some very interesting comments from a Midwest electric company senior official. This utility does some of its own directional drilling and is a big advocate of both HDD technology and using it to take its overhead plant underground. His utility is aggressively placing its power lines underground.
“Too many ice and snow storms, too many thunderstorms, too much flooding over the past 50 years have made us realize the time has come to lower maintenance costs, reduce downtime for our customers and extend the lifecycle of electric distribution and even our transmission lines,” he wrote.
He even addressed the objection to leaving abandoned overhead materials. “We (the electric utility) created a disassembly crew whose primary job is to simply remove old equipment such as poles, wire and transformers. Removing wire and poles is pretty straightforward, but old transformers are tricky – we have to be very careful that those aren’t already leaking and, of course, have to be disposed of properly.
“Our customers certainly want poles and wires to be taken away, but are okay with a short wait. Most have had poles and wires running down their streets for 50, 75 years or more – a few more months doesn’t bother them.”
The public, political and practical message for all utilities is that going underground in a proactive manner will build a utility for the future.
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