How much should Austin Energy dig?
Study says it would take $50 billion to bury Austin's power lines.
Remember that time two years ago when all the trees fell on the lines and we lost power for a week?
Winter Storm Mara was not nearly as traumatic as Winter Storm Uri, the statewide disaster two years prior. The roads were passable and the weather, after the first day or so, was not dangerously cold during the outage. We drove down to San Antonio for the weekend.
But Mara was an ominous reminder of the big challenges that are coming with climate change. It was hardly comforting when Austin Energy leaders stressed the "unprecedented" nature of the event. What is "unprecedented" in 2023 may soon become the new norm.
What was there to do to prepare for the new norm? Besides firing the city manager (a tremendous political gift to the new mayor), City Council members started talking about burying utility lines. Austin Energy General Manager Jackie Sargent warned that it wouldn't be feasible citywide, but Council passed a resolution asking the utility to study the cost of burying some or all of its infrastructure.
Today, two years later, we finally got an answer. The consultant hired by the city estimates that it would cost $50 BILLION to move all of Austin's existing overhead lines underground. So, $50k per resident.
