CORRECTION: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated the miles of overhead power lines in Connecticut Light & Power’s service territory. The correct amount is 17,000.
To harden the electric grid against disasters such as Superstorm Sandy, Connecticut wants utilities to consider undergrounding power lines while construction is underway on the proposed $7 billion expansion of the natural gas distribution system.
“We call it the triple play,” said Dan Esty, commissioner of the state Department of Energy & Environmental Protection.
The idea is to save costs on undergrounding power lines, which can cost $2-$6 million per mile. While one utility is performing underground work, it is required to notify the other utilities serving the area — electric, natural gas, water, sewer, telecommunications — that it would be an opportune time to put their services underground as well.
That way the utilities can share in the expense of the construction, reducing costs eventually passed onto ratepayers. This presents a smart way to improve an electric grid that has been neglected for a long period of time in an effort to keep rates in check, said Esty.
“In an era of cost-consciousness, this will get more attention,” Esty said.
While the utilities agree better communication can lead to efficiencies — particularly as Connecticut’s electric and natural gas utilities are owned by the same parent companies — they say there is little chance a significant portion of the utility grid will be underground in the near future.
“A new underground system is cost-prohibitive, even when done in conjunction with another utilities’ work,” said Tricia Taskey Modifica, spokeswoman for Berlin utilities Connecticut Light & Power and Yankee Gas, owned by Northeast Utilities.
CL&P has 17,000 miles of overhead power lines, and, at an average cost of $4 million per mile, undergrounding the entire system would be at least $68 billion, Taskey Modifica said. Working with the natural gas utilities would only slightly reduce those expenses.
“We don’t have any plans to underground any part of our service,” Taskey Modifica said.
Still, with Connecticut calling for an overhaul of its home heating distribution system, now is the time for the electric utilities to think about ways to go underground eventually, Esty said.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and the Department of Energy & Environmental Protection have proposed a comprehensive energy strategy that includes significantly expanding the natural gas distribution system so 300,000 more businesses and homes can heat with the cheaper, cleaner fuel.
The plan calls 900 miles of new gas mains, in addition to distribution lines and home hook-ups.
While the natural gas upgrade is underway, the electric utilities need to consider the improvements that can be made to the neglected transmission and distribution system, Esty said.
“We have had a longer period of inattentive policy,” Esty said. “There has been a pattern of neglect for several decades.”
The comprehensive energy strategy tells the natural gas companies that they must inform all the utilities in the area that the work is underway. The Connecticut emergency preparedness law that passed in the wake of 2011’s Halloween snowstorm and Tropical Storm Irene calls for the same level of utility cooperation, and regulators are finalizing the specific requirements, said Dennis Schain, DEEP spokesman.
Even if the electric utilities don’t want to underground immediately, they could at least put in conduits so the infrastructure is there for future undergrounding, Esty said.
Unfortunately, it’s not that simple, said Michael West, spokesman for New Haven-based UIL Holdings, the parent company for utilities United Illuminating, Connecticut Natural Gas, and Southern Connecticut Gas.
Underground electric lines must be buried deeper than gas mains, West said. The work isn’t as simple as undergrounding overhead lines; an entirely new system must be built. Obstacles such as rock formations can make undergrounding next to impossible.
“It is certainly not a foolproof method,” West said.
Portions of UI’s service territory that have underground service, such as downtown Bridgeport, still lost power during Superstorm Sandy, and the restoration process takes longer when lines are underground, said West.
While underground lines are less susceptible to weather and falling tree limbs — the current No. 1 cause of outages in Connecticut — they are more susceptible to outages from flooding and high temperatures.
“The question becomes one of costs, and how those costs are dealt with is a question that everyone must have,” West said.
CL&P’s plan to harden its infrastructure following the 2011 storms calls for tree trimming and better overhead line infrastructure.
“The most cost-effective hardening option is tree trimming,” Taskey Modifica said.
The only way CL&P currently will explore undergrounding is if a town or city asks. Then, CL&P will give the municipality a free assessment of the undergrounding. If the city or town still wants to proceed, it must cut CL&P a check for the entire cost.
No municipality in CL&P’s service territory had requested the undergrounding assessment, as of the end of November, said Taskey Modifica.
Even with the issues of undergrounding, cooperation that will soon be forced on the utilities presents opportunities for them to create efficiencies ultimately benefitting ratepayers.
“There should be coordination between the natural gas and electric utilities,” Taskey Modifica said.
