By JESSA LEWIS
6 News Reporter
KNOXVILLE (WATE) - Power is expected to be restored to all KUB customers affected by the storm by Sunday night. But with storm-damaged power lines taking days to repair, many are wondering - why not bury them?
Every time a storm hits and power lines get knocked out as a result, KUB engineers look at the options, including burying lines underground.
"We always look at that option. We look at the system as a whole, we look at the costs, and what keeps us from doing that is the initial cost to do that service," said KUB Manager of Engineering Gabriel Bolas.
KUB has about 5,300 miles of power lines, and about 4,000 are above ground.
"We've looked at the numbers in the past, it's $1 million to $1.5 million per mile to do that kind of work for existing power lines. That would be a big rate increase and burden to our customers to do that," Bolas explained.
"I completely understand why they do that, just from a cost standpoint. My family has worked in the telephone company for generations, so it's a lot cheaper to continue putting them up instead of burying them," said rate payer Lillie McCall.
KUB says the average customer would pay about twice what they pay now if underground lines were installed, and for many customers, it's just not worth it.
"I can deal with the unsightliness, especially in this economy right now. That's something that if we were to sell and buy a new home in the area, we just could not afford that extra cost," McCall added.
Other rate payers say it's about more than aesthetics.
"I think it has to do with security. It has to do with beauty, but it's a long-term versus a short term decision. This is a short-term decision based on today's pricing," stated Margaret Massey-Cox.
KUB says it costs about ten times more to bury power lines than it costs to leave them above ground.
KUB says it costs about ten times more to bury power lines than it costs to leave them above ground.
We look at the system as a whole, we look at the costs, and what keeps us from doing that is the initial cost to do that service," said KUB Manager of Engineering Gabriel Bolas.
