You Said It: Should Power Lines Be Moved Underground?

Middletown Patch asked this question "Should Power Lines Be Moved Underground?" on Facebook and many readers weighed in with their thoughts. Here's what you're saying:

• Never happen and it would take a lifetime to complete as well as make the rates even higher. Furthermore if there was a problem where the hell do you start if they are underground????? It would take even longer to find the issue, meaning longer outages. Not logical.
• Not sure. I have lived in States where the lines are under ground. when power goes out, which is rare, it takes no more than a day or 2. beats 11 days that we have to wait here with above ground lines
• Have To Agree with Mike here. I think Power Lines Should be moved underground there would be many benefits A The Power Outages if there were any would be short B Nothing can hurt the Power Lines And C We Wouldint have to look at the ugly poles and we could plant more trees. The only problem tho with underground lines is it would be a expensive project to do.
• Valid points, but it all depends on what kind of an issue it is. It does have its pros and more cons. It would not be cost effecient in our lifetime. The terrain in New England is alot different then other states, alot slate and rock. Just not logicial now and we will never see it happen in our lifetime. If it was a good idea, then it would have been done many many years ago, long before the leadership they have now.about an hour ago

• It's amazing the wires are mainly above ground here in New England.
• They're above ground in New England, particularly in CT because this was one of the first places to get electricity. It's an example of early adopter remorse, and we're too invested in it to abandon and replace it without paying a HUGE amount of money.
• Very interesting and sounds reasonable to me. Time to switch up.
• But there's the rub. Who pays for it? Either the state pays or it comes out of rates but either way the cost will go back to the users and no one in this economy will accept the cost of an entirely new infrastructure.
• Concord, Mass., had a 40-year plan in which citizens paid a certain amount and each year one segment of electricity would be channeled underground. You're very right. The individual electricity customer could never afford it in general.
• Yes and while we are putting power lines underground... why don't we replace the miles of waterworks that are deteriorating under there too.

• In a lot of cases, yes.

Almost everyone who lost power in the October snowstorm probably spent some time wondering why, in the 21st century, we still rely on vulnerable wires strung on wooden poles to deliver our electricity.

The state is asking the same question and wants CL&P to examine the cost of putting power lines underground. Some say it would be prohibitive — perhaps up to $1 million per mile — while others say underground lines have their own problems. They can be damaged by flooding and they're harder to find and fix when the power goes out.

So what do you think? Should CL&P invest in a very costly project so that our lives don't come to a screeching halt when tree limbs fall? Or should the utility just do a better job of trimming trees and responding when we do lose power?