Maybe installing underground electric lines is cheaper than we have been led to believe

According to an article from the Greenville Texas Herald Banner, "Budget constraints may limit streetscape improvements," the cost of burying utility lines is:

roughly $30 per foot for underground three-phase power lines, not counting the cost of conduit or boring under streets.

Multiply that out for one mile, and it's just shy of $160,000. Yet the major utility companies always quote a figure of $1 million/mile. What gives? Obviously, if the street is going to be torn up anyway, the cost of digging up the streets is moot.

Index Keywords: urban-design-placemaking; utility-lines