Recent comments in /f/vermont

DrBouvenstein t1_j3w2uu4 wrote

Reply to comment by danielllegover in Why doesn’t Vermont bury its power lines? by tcchen

Same. I'm on a small neighborhood in Burlington's New North End near Ethan Allen Park, and we've got all utility lines buried. But that was easier to do since this section wasn't expanded/built in until the late 1960's. Much easier and cheaper to do at the time of than to retrofit (though still more expensive than regular lines.)

1

americanipa802 t1_j3w2cyu wrote

Reply to comment by randombrosef in 5 Vt. utilities ask state regulators for rate hikes by thinkB4WeSpeak

I don’t think any one of these utilities is really the large corporation we may put it out to be. GMP is definitely big, but that is not one of the DUs requesting a rate increase. Below are the utilities. Most are town/city ran or are a coop: Stowe Electric, Burlington Electric, Washington Electric Co-op, Vermont Electric Co-op, and Morrisville Water & Light

7

alextorpey t1_j3vzq8j wrote

Reply to Why doesn’t Vermont bury its power lines? by tcchen

This is a common public policy/funding issue IMHO, not speaking to Vermont specifically, which I know a little less about, but this issue generally.

Although it's "expensive" it's not necessarily more expensive than doing it the current way. Though it might be, but nowhere near as much as is claimed, and I've worked on these issues about costs in the past as a mayor and municipal administrator with utility companies for example after Hurricanes Irene and Sandy.

The problem is that the current way we pay for this, the costs are spread out over many years, capitalized over time through utility's rates as well as state, and mostly federal, taxes when grants from FEMA, etc are provided back to reimburse after major events, etc. Plus the huge costs of lost food, time, economy, gas used in generators, injury, etc, etc that are not really tracked on any one agency or entity's balance sheet, but we still all pay for. So we're paying, but we're paying in smaller amounts to many different parties, whereas the cost to bury lines would collapse all of that into one place and immediately seem higher. It's a similar dynamic with things like homelessness. On that case, we actually do spend *more* on homelessness through the costs of police, ambulances, and ERs, and other healthcare and criminal justice issues that result from chronic homelessness, (plus lost economy, plus it's just morally horrible, how do we put a price on that?), but all of that costs more than it would cost to simply house homeless people. But by doing that you put all the money in one place upfront, so it seems more, rather than it being spread out in different years/governments/sectors.

1

bruclinbrocoli t1_j3vxrf4 wrote

Reply to Why doesn’t Vermont bury its power lines? by tcchen

From reading just abt everyone’s comments here.

My question is, What about cutting more trees around those lines? I’ve seen them do that on 89. But there’s a heck ton more to do in other areas…? I’m sure this would be an investment, but it should help when stories come in, no?
I’m aware it would mean cutting billions of trees. So I’m not saying let’s do it, just for the sake of the argument, maybe investing in cutting trees can save us money and carbon footprint in the long run

1

vDorothyv t1_j3vvq2z wrote

Reply to comment by happyriverone in Why doesn’t Vermont bury its power lines? by tcchen

It's difficult to trend, you aren't as susceptible to certain kinds of failure but it makes maintenance and repair much more difficult. Linemen can visually confirm hazards and sources in the air and change out broken or old equipment quickly. Underground requires a heavy amount of planning and engineering. I'm still a bigger fan of underground but it's not an easy swap.

5

Southern-Fox6524 t1_j3vu4e3 wrote

Reply to comment by BeckyKleitz in Why doesn’t Vermont bury its power lines? by tcchen

Yeah I’m on your side here. Aesthetically more pleasing, less damage done when major storms happen, and yeah it costs a lot for upkeep and to get things started but then if it’s done correctly, the amount of times someone is gonna have to dig it up for repairs becomes minimal.

−2

Kitchen_Nail_6779 t1_j3vsqrw wrote

Reply to comment by JaimeGordonLannister in Winter heating cost survey: Last month how much do you pay, what source, how much space, and what temp? by Ok_Slice_2952

It's a VT subreddit so, as you can assume, I'm in VT. Same temp as anyone else in this state. I don't have a battery, and haven't done much research on them, but I was always under the impression they were like a generator and only used when you lose power. I'd love to be educated if I am wrong about that.

And, I do still have my forced hot air furnace in the house but am actively looking to get that and the oil tank removed.

0