Same here. Been out since 9 am on Sunday, as we were grinding the coffee beans!

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to acquire a generator, unlike many of my neighbors who run the damn things all night long. Grocery shopping last Friday has turned into this week's trash.

There are still downed power lines on 114/Diamond Hill Rd, in Cumberland. That's about as a main thoroughfare as it gets.

I just wish many of these idiotic motorists would get it through their heads that traffic light off doesn't mean free for all and zip through at 30-40 mph. It's a four way stop.

It is interesting to get back to a simpler time. By 7:30 pm, it sure is dark, even eerie when you can't hear anything with all the generators drowning out all the usual summer night sounds.

Let's face it, National Grid is a controlled industry. This tends to distort spending towards things which are commpensable under the state's rules. Sneak calls to the radio by NG employees suggest that manyof the sub stations are equipped with 50 year old equipment. This is no longer supported by manufacturers and spare parts are unavailable. There are also reports that NG is out of poles.

It would be interesting to see what the cost difference would be to bury all the electric lines from now on. Maybe it's cheaper up front to put up poles, but isn't this proving more expensive for NG to fix this mess than if they'd buried these lines in the first place? I imagine it takes a little longer to dig a trench and lay the lines down and maybe it requires different insulation for buried wires vs. high wires, but does it take a lot longer? Are there other considerations for buried wires when you think that you have no more power outages due to falling trees, high winds or vehicle accidents?

Patrick,

Many "classy" towns, for instance Brookline, MA, have required underground utilities since the inception of utility lines. Many more towns require them in all new sub-divisions.

About costs. When they ran power lines through my property, they took, and paid for, 4.3 acres. Essentially, they have eminent domain power. It would have been cheaper just to take a 20 foot strip. Upkeep of poles and right of way are also expensive. Utility lines need not be buried as deep as sewer and water.

Contra. "Working in the street" makes you subject to all municipal regulations and can be quite expensive. Sewer is currently around $200 a foot "in the street". Power lines simply leap over streets. Next, little thought of, is wetland regulations. Initial wetlands regulations specifically exempted the utility companies, for previous installations. For instance, of the acreage they took off me, probably 30% is wetland. They are able to do things, such as mowing, that would send me to jail. However, "new construction" must comply with wetlands regs. I hesitate to even guess at the cost in "compliance" to cross a 3 acre damp area. Certainly hundreds of thousands.

So, where installed, I would expect elevated lines to be with us for quite a while.

P.S. In consideration of costs,many towns are permitting utilities to be run in unpaved "side walk" areas.

"Are there other considerations for buried wires..."

I imagine that low-lying areas near bodies of water could actually have their conduits flooded. Troubleshooting becomes much harder since you can't just look at the line. And of course, initial costs for buried lines are much higher.

I think it's worth it for aesthetic reasons. I wonder if the ancient sewer lines in the cities are big enough to run conduit through, which would prevent a lot of digging.

Mangeek

One of the Die Hard movies, the one where the terrorists attack an airport, shows a lot of underground electrical service and how it is accessed. It was shot on Long Island and most of the facilities shown are real.