[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by RICANRICAN

In palm coast they been replacing the electric polls last year we had a outage for a couple days after a strong storm but we have a back up generator! I don't know if it financially feasible for the city to Bury the lines!

The city doesn't pay for burying the power lines, it's the utility company's responsibility and should be a planned upgrade.

[hawk55732]

Originally Posted by sinatras

From what I can tell, this "stuff doesn't happen" in other cities/states.

You havent lived in many other states then.

[FL_Expert]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

The city doesn't pay for burying the power lines, it's the utility company's responsibility and should be a planned upgrade.

Isn’t this usually billed as an extra in the property taxes though? I haven’t had to deal with this thankfully, but my understanding is if sewer services were ever put in at property of mine I’d be on the hook for quite a bit.

[slduvall]

I live in a newish neighborhood (ranges from about 2011 - to some final lots being built on now) with underground utilities. BUT just outside the neighborhood they are above ground. Just got home to blinking alarm clocks AGAIN. Any storm seems to shut our power off. It's usually just for a moment, but sometimes those moments happen 4-5 times in a day. They admitted back in 2017 that the power grid wasn't updated to support the new houses, but have made an attempt to fix it. It has gotten better in the past 2 yrs, but we did switch from Gulf Power to FPL and our rates went up as well.

So bottom line - it doesn't matter what your neighborhood has if the grid it connects to isn't below ground.

[sinatras]

Originally Posted by slduvall

i live in a newish neighborhood (ranges from about 2011 - to some final lots being built on now) with underground utilities. But just outside the neighborhood they are above ground. Just got home to blinking alarm clocks again. Any storm seems to shut our power off. It's usually just for a moment, but sometimes those moments happen 4-5 times in a day. They admitted back in 2017 that the power grid wasn't updated to support the new houses, but have made an attempt to fix it. It has gotten better in the past 2 yrs, but we did switch from gulf power to fpl and our rates went up as well.

So bottom line - it doesn't matter what your neighborhood has if the grid it connects to isn't below ground.

bingo!

[djsuperfly]

Originally Posted by FL_Expert

Isn’t this usually billed as an extra in the property taxes though? I haven’t had to deal with this thankfully, but my understanding is if sewer services were ever put in at property of mine I’d be on the hook for quite a bit.

No, because sewer services are typically owned by the city or county. Power is typically a private monopoly. They'll find a way to raise your rates, though.

[Arcenal813]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

The city doesn't pay for burying the power lines, it's the utility company's responsibility and should be a planned upgrade.

False.

I oversaw the construction of this new feeder tie when I worked as an engineering contractor for Duke a few years ago:

https://www.google.com/maps/@29.0215...7i16384!8i8192

Notice the difference between the 2013 and 2022 shots. Residents in the area were incredibly upset, as the new primary feeders cutting through the street meant larger poles, larger wires, etc. I was confronted about this matter multiple times, about why can't we design UG feed. My response: "We CAN, if Volusia County pays for it... Or if the residents want to come up with the money to pay for it."

Duke Energy (or any other company) is not going to spend millions and millions of dollars to run UG feeds unless they absolutely have to, without getting paid first. The only way Duke was willing to go ahead with a UG design would have been if the county paid for it.

On the other hand, when I worked on Central Winds Park in Winter Springs, the City of Winter Springs was fully in charge of budgeting to bury the lines going into the extended areas shown here:
https://www.google.com/maps/@28.7076...7i16384!8i8192

I spent A LOT of time at their City Hall meetings dealing with this, and working on designs to fit within THEIR budget. The original design called for an overhead loop that would have tied Central Winds Pkwy (coming off the primary feed off 434) to Orange Ave. City of Winter Springs didn't want overhead lines going through their park, so they paid for the UG lines and the loop.

So yes, the city/municipality/county is FULLY in charge of paying to bury power lines. The utility company does not have to do this, unless it's for clearance issues such as down guys for road crossings, etc.
If it was required due to some FDOT project, FDOT paid for it. Although FDOT really hated doing anything underground unless absolutely required, as they don't care about aesthetics -- only functionality and budget.
Prime FDOT example, that I also worked on:
https://www.google.com/maps/@28.6591...7i16384!8i8192

You might be familiar with this area.
The entire feeder line here got redesigned. The only UG stretch was provided due to clearance issues with the new traffic signal. FDOT was not going to pay for anything extra. Duke's upgrades consisted of new poles (and new frames,) replaces equipment/gear, and larger conductors. Residents whined about the overhead remaining all the time, and again, I spent a lot of time listening to complaints. My response, the City of Altamonte Springs would need to pay for it. Duke won't do it unless they HAVE to, which they don't.

Upgrades that the utility company is responsible for alone are typically strictly upsizing of wires, transformers, other safety equipment (fuses, reclosers, etc.,) and wooden pole replacements. If the municipality wants concrete poles, for instance, they pay for it. If the pole collapses, a wooden pole will go in its place, unless the municipality pays for a new concrete pole.


If YOU want your OH lines to be converted to underground, YOU pay for it, and the utility company will provide the service. The same goes for a municipality. UNLESS there is no other option, and they HAVE to bury.

See example below, again, where we HAD to design an underground crossing, due to lack of clearance for down guys to cross Boggy Creek because of the train tracks:
https://www.google.com/maps/@28.3863...7i16384!8i8192

Trust me... It took EVERYTHING to convince Duke's budgeting departments that an overhead crossing anywhere near here was unfeasible.
We tried to cross here,(https://www.google.com/maps/@28.3943...7i16384!8i8192) where there was more space between road and track. ROW space wasn't adequate, and the city/county wouldn't budge.

Then you run into the issue of running into conflicts with storm drain and other UG structures. You can't run underground everywhere. A lot of places simply can't. But the OH construction can be upgraded to prevent failures such as those described by Sinatras.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by FL_Expert

Isn’t this usually billed as an extra in the property taxes though? I haven’t had to deal with this thankfully, but my understanding is if sewer services were ever put in at property of mine I’d be on the hook for quite a bit.

No, it's equipment owned by the power company which has no overlap with property taxes as a for-profit company. Sewer services are a municipal function so as such costs are recovered through municipal bonds, property taxes and water rates.

[cfbs2691]

Originally Posted by Corrie22

you keep saying "in Florida"

yet you have pages of people posting all over Florida saying they don't have that problem at all

this is a problem specific to your area.....

I’m in Fort Lauderdale and our power goes out about 5 times a year for no reason (not storming at the time)
This is thanks to FPL

[sinatras]

Originally Posted by cfbs2691

I’m in Fort Lauderdale and our power goes out about 5 times a year for no reason (not storming at the time)
This is thanks to FPL

Clearly there's a problem with power infrastructure in Florida, as I have been saying.