The east coast just experienced a different type of summer hoopla — a humongous storm that knocked out power to 4 million business and residential customers. Many millions are always spent repairing the damages to the energy infrastructure during such times. But would underground lines help?

For sure, during periods of extreme weather conditions, that technique has proven to be more reliable. But going underground is an expensive proposition: The direct costs are much more than those associated with traditional overhead power lines. Meantime, it is far more time consuming to fix trouble spots. The trend, though, is toward placing electrical lines underground in developing communities.

via Upgrading the Grid by Going Underground – Forbes.

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