- My Forums
- Tiger Rant
- LSU Recruiting
- SEC Rant
- Saints Talk
- Pelicans Talk
- More Sports Board
- Fantasy Sports
- Golf Board
- Soccer Board
- O-T Lounge
- Tech Board
- Home/Garden Board
- Outdoor Board
- Health/Fitness Board
- Movie/TV Board
- Book Board
- Music Board
- Political Talk
- Money Talk
- Fark Board
- Gaming Board
- Travel Board
- Food/Drink Board
- Ticket Exchange
- TD Help Board
Customize My Forums- View All Forums
- Show Left Links
- Topic Sort Options
- Trending Topics
- Recent Topics
- Active Topics
Started By
Message
re: I see the same thing after every hurricane that hits BR
Posted on 9/3/21 at 2:58 pm to tigerbacon
Posted on 9/3/21 at 2:58 pm to tigerbacon
Honest question, do you know how expensive it is to bury electrical?
I had no clue until we built our house and our neighbor allowed us to run electrical through their property but only if we buried it.
I had no clue until we built our house and our neighbor allowed us to run electrical through their property but only if we buried it.
Posted on 9/3/21 at 2:59 pm to LSU316
Reminds me of the VA story that broke a year or so ago where they were spending 100s of thousands renting hospital beds because they couldn't afford to buy them outright, but the costs over time of renting made the purchase price of beds seem laughable.
Eventually it will happen...or not.
I dont see the reason to invest in some different long term solution like different poles or underground in a state that can't attract new money for the life of them. Might as well keep buying the same poles and duct tape. I dont see where the money is? Do you?
Eventually it will happen...or not.
I dont see the reason to invest in some different long term solution like different poles or underground in a state that can't attract new money for the life of them. Might as well keep buying the same poles and duct tape. I dont see where the money is? Do you?
This post was edited on 9/3/21 at 3:02 pm
Posted on 9/3/21 at 2:59 pm to tigerbacon
quote:
has to be cheaper than replacing all the lines every few years in a city
It’s actually not. How many of the lines you see down are actually broken as opposed to the wooden supper poles down?
Posted on 9/3/21 at 3:01 pm to Oilfieldbiology
That's a good point....most of what we see at the consumer level is snapped poles and busted transformers. I'd imagine that the lines can be re-used most of the time.
Posted on 9/3/21 at 3:01 pm to tigerbacon
Someone posted a study from one of the Carolinas where the state looked into the cost of doing exactly this and it was in the $40-50 billion range. I believe that was only certain areas too.
But for the sake of argument let’s supposed we bury everything except the high tension lines in the greater area of every major city along and south of the I-10 corridor from Houston to Atlanta…
… that area has a population of about 100 million
… roughly 20 times that of South Carolina
… 20*$50 billion = $1 trillion!!!
Though I will say that’s cheaper (and more beneficial) for the US than a couple of decades of fighting in the Middle East.
But for the sake of argument let’s supposed we bury everything except the high tension lines in the greater area of every major city along and south of the I-10 corridor from Houston to Atlanta…
… that area has a population of about 100 million
… roughly 20 times that of South Carolina
… 20*$50 billion = $1 trillion!!!
Though I will say that’s cheaper (and more beneficial) for the US than a couple of decades of fighting in the Middle East.
Posted on 9/3/21 at 3:01 pm to LSU316
quote:
This is what people don't understand....directional drilling is an art when it comes to pipelining and it ain't cheap.....when you start basically pipelining electrical lines in Louisiana the amount of directional drilling costs become staggering.
It's hard enough to do on big money large diameter projects- I don't know how the little machines doing fiber pulls in towns make the economics work.
Power would be many more, larger diameter bores, for a product with much smaller margins than data.
You'd have to do separate drills for every service drop in some places.
to every service drop
Posted on 9/3/21 at 3:03 pm to SlapahoeTribe
quote:
Though I will say that’s cheaper (and more beneficial) for the US than a couple of decades of fighting in the Middle East.
It's not that much more that 4 rounds of stimulus checks as well
Posted on 9/3/21 at 3:04 pm to SlapahoeTribe
quote:
Though I will say that’s cheaper (and more beneficial) for the US than a couple of decades of fighting in the Middle East.
Can’t sell guns and blackhawks to power lines.
Posted on 9/3/21 at 3:04 pm to Oilfieldbiology
Can't get your buddies defense contracting company paid either.
Posted on 9/3/21 at 3:06 pm to beerandt
quote:
I don't know how the little machines doing fiber pulls in towns make the economics work.
I've always figured that the money those towns have to put out up front is astronomical. I figure that's a big reason why smaller communities with small tax bases simply can't do it.
Posted on 9/3/21 at 3:06 pm to tigerbacon
The newer neighborhood attached to my neighborhood has underground lines and they never lose power. My power goes out 1-5 times yearly for winds or rain.
Posted on 9/3/21 at 3:09 pm to beerandt
quote:
Trench burial rule of thumb is 10x multiplier. Urban burial can approach 100x.
Too many things to hit that your can't see. Too much pavement to replace. To many directional drills to bore.
Bingo. The amount of shite down there you can rip out in an instant, by going half an inch in a direction, and the insane costs to repair it?
Not to mention you can’t just run huge transmission lines next to other things without serious insulation and shielding.
The people saying “just stick it in the ground” don’t grasp what is involved. If it was as simple as sticking what’s in the air in the ground…well, they probably still wouldn’t do it. If it ain’t broke, why spend billions trying to fix something that might break once a decade?
Posted on 9/3/21 at 3:11 pm to tigerbacon
I think the better, cheaper, easier solution is to restrict trees from being a certain distance to all utility lines and poles. I mean it sucks losing trees, I get it—but Mother Nature gonna do her thing.
Bad thing is the trees do help block a lot of that wind—and places without them are still without power also.
Bad thing is the trees do help block a lot of that wind—and places without them are still without power also.
This post was edited on 9/3/21 at 3:12 pm
Posted on 9/3/21 at 3:11 pm to beerandt
quote:
I don't know how the little machines doing fiber pulls in towns make the economics work.
If you are lucky you can use existing underground infrastructure. Existing ducts, abandoned ducts, etc.
If not it’s either pothole or pray
Posted on 9/3/21 at 3:12 pm to AtlantaLSUfan
That's interesting....my power is above ground and we've had plenty of thunderstorms where we get 30-40mph winds and gully washers of about 3in rain/hr and my power never flinches.....now it flinched for a good while during Laura and Delta but we had 80mph+ winds for both of those.
Posted on 9/3/21 at 3:16 pm to Pendulum
quote:
The premise is invalid for multiple reasons. Who do you think is paying the other half? The customers pay 100% of the cost one way or another, either directly, or indirectly. You ain't splitting shite.
If only there was an infrastructure bill trying to get passes that actually had infrastructure instead of entitlements.
Posted on 9/3/21 at 3:24 pm to LSU316
quote:
The logistical and technical headaches of burying distribution lines in the state of Louisiana bears a cost that I don't think anyone is willing to even discuss.
Like that time Baton Rouge had to overhaul the sewer lines costing billions of dollars.
Something had to be done. Unfortunately power outages and reliability doesn't get the same focus as shite coming up peoples toilets does.
Entergy simply doesn't do it b/c they Don't HAVE to. They aren't profit driven they aren't punished for this catastrophic failure in infrastructure. They aren't even summoned to Senate Hearings.
Entergy should have started undergrounding EVERYTHING they repaired and every NEW line since 19 fricking 99.
Other countries(obviously Germany and the Netherlands lead the way) are taking undergrounding seriously. In fact parts of the US are as well.
The bullshite "it's cost prohibitive" excuse can kick rocks with Entergry.
This post was edited on 9/3/21 at 3:28 pm
Posted on 9/3/21 at 3:37 pm to mikelbr
Fun fact about regulated utilities: the primary factor in getting rate increases approved is through their capital spending. That's why they replace their trucks so often. If they were to bury the lines, that cost would be carried by the end user in the form of rate increases. Low income and some middle income families would be priced out of the use of electricity.
Posted on 9/3/21 at 3:41 pm to tigerbacon
quote:
Above-ground lines cost around $10 per foot and underground lines cost in the range of $20 to $40 per foot. In highly urbanized areas, the cost of underground transmission can be 10–14 times as expensive as overhead. However, these calculations may neglect the cost of power interruptions.
Quick google search. Let’s say it’s $20 per foot. How many feet are in an average neighborhood. A lot. The cost would skyrocket very quickly. That’s not even considering maintenance and repairs.
Posted on 9/3/21 at 3:43 pm to tigerbacon
Our neighborhood has buried lines but we still lost power. They come above ground at some point
Popular
Back to top
Follow TigerDroppings for LSU Football News