Subject: Re: Underground Transmission Lines
Me: It seems very likely that it is INSANE to considering high voltage lines at that cost.

Goofy: There is a way to double grid capacity, make it safer, and not have to add a single tower or clear any environmental regulations. It’s called “Reconductoring” the lines.

Oooops, I left a word out of that sentence. SHould've been:

It seems very likely that it is INSANE to considering burying high voltage lines at that cost.


So yes, I do indeed think we should use high voltage power lines above the ground, figure out how we want to allocate the risk and put that into law. But I would hope what we figured out included using LESS high voltage power lines carrying LESS electricity through flammable area that, apparently, have been frequently lit up.

And my point was that in a state (California) that has a fetish against building things that would actually improve the envioronment and other things humans care about, we are going to wind up with more and longer high voltage lines carrying more electricity than if we simply turned off the STUPID for long enough to build a few more (well probably a lot more) power plants closer to where the demand is than, say, Oregon is.

R: