Consumers plan to bury power lines pending approval
JACKSON, Mich. (WLNS) — In efforts to improve grid resiliency and public safety, Michigan’s largest energy provider proposed a targeted pilot program to bury power lines underground on Wednesday.
Consumers Energy’s proposed undergrounding program is pending approval from the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC), according to a press release from Consumers Energy on Wednesday.
Consumers and other utilities were recently urged to examine shortcomings in repairing storm damage by the State of Michigan.
The pilot program will focus on circuits in Genesee, Livingston, Allegan, Ottawa, Montcalm and Iosco counties that have frequent and long outages and dense forestation.
“The program is meant to help the company better understand how to bury power lines in a cost-effective way to strengthen Michigan’s electric grid and reduce outages,” said representatives from Consumers in the press release.
Consumers, which currently has about 15% of its lines buried underground, is estimating it can improve resiliency by 90% along circuits where lines are buried.
“The pilot will study real-world resiliency improvements that result from burying power lines, and how those improvements compare with other approaches to improving electric service for nearly two million Michigan homes and businesses,” the statement continued.
Some benefits of buried power lines include protection from lightning, hind winds, tornadoes, snow, ice and falling tree limbs, according to the company.
They also help to reduce electrocutions, fires, car crashes and falling poles, they said.
“Historically the costs to bury lines have been too expensive, but we have driven down the cost per mile to be equivalent to above-ground hardening costs. This pilot will help us learn even more about how to bury lines in ways that keep costs as low as possible, allowing us to bury additional lines in the future,” said Greg Salisbury, Consumers Energy’s Vice President of Electric Distribution Engineering.
The company has an overall $5.4 billion electric reliability plan for investments in new technology, repairs and maintenance, and upgrades.
Source: WLNS
