In the wake of the December ice storm that left much of the area without power for days, the Chapel Hill Town Council is considering a regulation that will make future power lines less susceptible to inclement weather but more expensive to install.
Under the regulation, a provision of the proposed Land-Use Management Ordinance, installing power lines would cost an average of $1 million per mile, power company officials said.
The provision will require burial of any new 3-phase power lines, which run along major roadways. The town already requires burial of smaller lines that run from the larger 3-phase lines to neighborhoods and individual homes.
The regulation the council is considering now entails the burial of 3-phase lines when it will not result in technical problems or excessive costs, said Planning Director Roger Waldon.
The additional costs will vary in new developments, Waldon said. "It depends. It is very context-sensitive."
The council will determine with each development if it is feasible economically to put the lines underground. More expensive developments likely will have to bury power lines, but developments that cost less might not, Waldon said.
Although the underground lines will be safer from inclement weather, they will not be without their problems, said Donald Hoover of the North Carolina Public Utilities Commission.
"If you have a line fail, it'll be more difficult to find the line because you can't do it visually, and if there is a problem, you're looking at digging up the street," Hoover said.
The aboveground lines typically are replaced every 60 years, compared to only 30 years for underground lines, he said.
