Plan puts power lines in the ground

Aug 15 - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News - Andrea Schoellkopf Albuquerque Journal, N.M.

Miles of power lines in Albuquerque could be forced underground under a proposed ordinance by city Councilor Michael Cadigan.

Cadigan contends that the utility poles and lines are a danger to the public. He said he will introduce the proposed ordinance at Monday's City Council meeting.

The bill would require all new electrical lines less than 40 kilovolts, communication lines and cable television lines to be placed underground, although current subdivision laws already require this.

But existing lines undergoing repair, relocation, replacement or refurbishing within the city jurisdiction would also be required to go underground.

The proposal was prompted by a recent proposal by Public Service Company of New Mexico to install 1.2 miles of overhead powerlines on Paradise Boulevard.

For years, the city had required power lines to be underground in new subdivisions. But much of the city, including parts of Paradise Hills, has above-ground lines.

PNM had said residents who want the power lines underground should have to pay for the extra costs, which are more than double the cost of overhead lines.

The project is needed to connect substations at Black Ranch and Paradise Hills in order to increase power reliability in case of power outages.

Members of the Paradise Hills Civic Association had feared they would have to spend money designated for road landscaping for the power lines.

Cadigan said a similar outcry came after PNM ran a powerline across Golf Course at Marna Lynn because new above-ground lines can be put in areas that already are subdivided.

Cadigan said Bernalillo County would have to enact something similar to protect the Paradise Hills residents outside the city limits, although he believes that because the new lines are being installed for future Albuquerque residents, the lines should be below ground at cost to developers and new homeowners.

"If PNM wants somebody to pay for these lines to be undergrounded, they ought to bill the developers," Cadigan said. "The houses that are there aren't using more electricity. Their neighborhoods are just being used as a conduit for new development."

PNM spokesman Don Brown said should Cadigan's bill become city law, utility customers would ultimately pay for more than just the relocation of a powerline below ground.

"Every home connected to that line would have to be upgraded to accept underground (lines)," Brown said. "Home owners would have to pay electricians to change service to accept underground. Once you change a service, then a city ordinance requires that the wiring in the building be brought up to code.

"It's possible entire homes would have to be rewired because the service was changed underground."

He said PNM typically has dozens of projects occurring within Albuquerque because of increased demand. He said it would cost "tens of millions of dollars" to locate those projects underground.

Cadigan said if the city can justify the underground lines for health and safety reasons "PNM has to eat the costs."

The proposed ordinance says underground lines would reduce safety risks by reducing the number of utility poles along the roadside, as well as make it safer for balloonists who might collide with overhead power lines.

The bill also says underground lines are safer and more reliable because they are not subject to knockdowns and weather-related damage.

"...underground lines provide the citizens of Albuquerque with an opportunity to plan development without the disruption of vistas and open space by unnecessary overhead electrical wires enhancing the citizens use and enjoyment of the natural environment," the proposal said.

Brown said Rio Rancho also tried to argue that it was a safety factor, but the state Public Regulation Commission sided with PNM and allowed the utility company to impose a three-year tariff of $1.01 per month on Rio Rancho residents to pay for below-ground improvements.

Brown said both above- and below-ground lines provide the same level of service, with "greater than 99 percent reliability."

"There are certainly tradeoffs associated with each technology," he said, adding that below-ground lines are more difficult to repair than above-ground.

Brown questioned whether, in case of repairs, all utility lines would have to go underground or simply the line that's being repaired. Most of the PNM above- and below-ground lines are accompanied by cable and telephone lines, he said.

"The issue is really, who pays?" Brown said.

Chris Dunkeson, vice president and general manager of Comcast, said roughly half of the cable television service's lines are aerial.

"We generally follow PNM," Dunkeson said. "We need to understand the implications of the (proposed) law."

Comcast has about 3,000 miles of cable within the city and 1,800 miles of that is underground, Comcast spokeswoman Tina Otteni said.

Qwest spokesman Vince Hancock said the telephone company has not yet received a copy of the ordinance and could not comment on its content.

For far more extensive news on the energy/power visit: http://www.energycentral.com .