When Winter Storm Fern hit earlier this year, and many of us (including myself) were left powerless for days on end, Nashvillians had questions.
How did this happen? Why couldn’t Nashville Electric Service tell us when we’d get power back? Who was at fault?
This week, some of those questions were answered, when an independent review found that NES’ storm preparation and response had serious deficiencies.
And at the capitol, the Tennessee legislature approved changes to the makeup of NES’ board.
But, some people are looking for practical changes from NES to prevent a mass outage event like Fern from ever happening again.
That might be why, in the aftermath of the storm, Curious Nashville got many versions of the same question:
“What would it take to bury Nashville’s power lines?”
WHAT TO KNOW
Photo: John Amis / AP
The answer is pretty simple: burying lines costs a lot of money.
That doesn’t mean NES isn’t looking into it — this week, the board allocated $3 million for a feasibility study to understand the costs associated with moving power lines underground.
The utility is also piloting underground lines in four neighborhoods, with the locations decided by the board in May.
But, the costs of burying an entire system can be prohibitive, according Wade Sexton, a Knoxville-based board member of the National Utility Contractor’s Association, who talked to Curious Nashville.
Overhead lines are simply cheaper.
“Electricity has always been a quality of life issue — you know, it needs to be affordable and we’ve got to get it to everyone,” Sexton said. “Overhead is always going to the be the least cost to install, least cost to maintain, least cost to repair.”
So, when moving things underground, there’s the cost of burying the main lines, plus the lines that connect individual houses to the meter. While Sexton says he’s never seen a utility company move their full system underground, he estimates that the cost per mile would be around $1-2 million. With thousands of miles of electrical lines in Nashville, the total bill could spill well into the billions.
Switching to underground lines doesn’t actually generate any new revenue for utility companies, so some of these costs end up on the shoulders of ratepayers.
And, unless entire neighborhoods buy in to moving underground, the process can prove futile. If some houses opt to remain on overhead lines, storm outages that take out overhead lines can cause outages in the connected underground ones.
“So you’ve done everything to get your neighborhood put underground, but the next guy didn’t — and your power is still out,” Sexton said.
Still, Sexton says moving underground is feasible for new construction. NES has buried lines in some new developments, and certain downtown areas.
But, as far as a solution to the impact of Winter Storm Fern? Sexton says it’s probably not the perfect approach.
“I know everyone wants to hear that ‘Hey, let’s put it all underground,’” Sexton said. “And I’ve been there, I’ve done it, I’ve tried to push these pilot projects through and they just seem to falter when you have to start getting everyone to contribute and it would take so long for them to see any real benefit from them.”
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MORE TO KNOW
- Metro Nashville Police Department wants to expand its use of drones. The Nashville Banner reports the department got the federal sign off needed to start a “Drone as First Responder” program earlier this month. MNPD already has about three dozen drones and uses them when police are already on site to get an aerial view of large, complex scenes like fatal car crashes, or when SWAT is deployed. Under this program, the drones would show up first and get real-time intelligence to officers en route.
- Yet again, an effort to end racing at the Nashville Fairgrounds has failed. The proposal would’ve amended the Metro charter, which enshrines racing at the site, to instead prioritize affordable housing there. To make that change, it would’ve needed voter approval. But Axios reports that a judge threw out that effort, saying it didn’t properly follow the complex rules for a charter amendment. That marks a win for racing supporters who want the city to work out a deal to bring NASCAR events back to the city.
- Tennessee lawmakers have passed a ban on kratom, a psychoactive substance made from the leaves of a tropical tree.Kratom products can include powders, drinks, and gummies with opioid-like effects. The Chattanooga Times Free Press reports synthetic versions were already illegal, but hard to tell apart, complicating law enforcement efforts. The new measure puts kratom in Schedule 1, and makes possessing kratom a misdemeanor, and manufacturing or selling it a felony. Several other states have passed similar bans, and Tennessee’s is set to take effect July first.
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