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Support Surfaces For Buried Lines

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By ELLEN GEDALIUS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 1, 2008

Updated: 03/01/2008 12:14 am

TAMPA - Parts of Broward County sat in the dark for weeks after Hurricane Wilma struck the area in 2005.

"I remember it was a hardship for a lot of people," said Carl Fowler, spokesman for Broward County Emergency Agency. "Some of the buildings didn't have generator backup."

That's the sort of scenario some Tampa officials and residents say could be avoided if overhead power lines were placed underground. They are pushing Tampa Electric Co. to bury its overhead power lines, saying that would better protect them from hurricanes and be more aesthetically pleasing as well.

The issue has come up again because the city is in the process of negotiating its franchise agreement with TECO. The burying of power lines has been discussed, and numerous civic associations are joining the debate.

So far, though, that effort has accomplished little because TECO does not want to foot the bill and the city doesn't have the leverage to force the utility to move lines underground.

Support for underground utility lines has been gaining traction statewide, especially because some Floridians endured long power outages during stormy hurricane seasons in 2004 and 2005. Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale are talking about placing power lines underground, and Tampa's code already requires developers of new subdivisions to bury utility lines.

Pros And Cons

Hillsborough County spoke to TECO several years ago about putting lines underground, but nothing came of it. There have been no recent talks, Deputy County Administrator Wally Hill said.

One advantage to putting utility lines underground is aesthetics. Underground lines also tend to have fewer power outages and are protected from the wind during hurricanes.

However, when outages do happen, they tend to last longer, said TECO spokeswoman Laura Duda, because it's harder to pinpoint the location of the problem. Also, hurricanes accompanied by significant flooding can cause problems to underground lines.

For those reasons, Fowler said he doesn't know if having more underground lines would have helped after Wilma hit.

Darren Booth, a developer for the Heights, a multi-use project just north of downtown Tampa, said overhead lines are unsightly.

"I'm looking for a long-term vision that starts putting them underground," Booth said. "When you drive into an area that's run down, nine times out of 10, it's the overhead power utilities giving you that sense."

Putting lines underground, he said, could help property values. He also pointed to the aesthetic and reliability benefits.

One big disadvantages is cost. Putting utilities underground isn't cheap: It can cost five to 10 times more to bury utility lines than to build them above ground. TECO doesn't have a per-mile break down, but Florida Power & Light estimates it can cost between $500,000 and $4 million a mile, according to news reports.

"We are absolutely willing to do that for any customer, as long as they're willing to pay for it," Duda said.

That's not likely to happen soon. chief of staff Darrell Smith said the city has no immediate plans to pay for burying power lines. The most realistic approach, he said, is to have developers pay for it.

"We do not have any money in our budget to plan for undergrounding utilities in the Kennedy Boulevard corridor" or elsewhere, Smith said.

In many ways, the Davis Islands Civic Association epitomizes the debate over underground lines. The association supports efforts to research the possibility of putting lines underground, but "we don't have any consensus on how this would be paid for," association President Lisa DeVitto said. "We don't want any undue burden on our residents."

Lack Of Leverage

The city has no power to require TECO to move its lines underground. TECO is regulated by the Florida Public Service Commission, which has not mandated burying wires, City Attorney David Smith said.

And a 1991 Florida Supreme Court decision prohibits cities from requiring utilities to put their lines underground as a condition of granting a franchise, said Tom Cloud, an attorney the city hired to help negotiate with TECO.

Nowadays, many newer lines are buried, paid for by developers. TECO has more than 14,000 miles of distribution lines in its service area, which includes all of Hillsborough County and parts of Pasco, Pinellas and Polk. Almost 8,000 miles of those lines are underground, generally in newer developments.

Councilwoman Linda Saul-Sena has been championing underground utility lines. She wants to see TECO make a commitment to put the lines underground.

"They could pick up part of the tab," she said. "They could commit to doing a couple of miles each year." She said the cost of putting lines underground should be shared by TECO, homeowners and government.

Some city council members have their reservations.

"We have to look at it from a budgetary issue because we're in a budget crisis," Councilman Tom Scott said. "TECO is not going to pay for it."

Councilman Charlie Miranda said he's not opposed to putting lines underground, but cost is a concern.

"Who's going to pay for all this undergrounding?" Miranda said. "It ain't going to be me. Maybe the public should vote if they want to pay for undergrounding."

Reporter Ellen Gedalius can be reached at egedalius@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7679.

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