Making storm-proof electrical wiring systems in Kentucky is a difficult challenge
Republished from WEKU.
Utility crews have been tackling power outages since Helene’s remnants crossed the Commonwealth. Preventive measures to lessen the loss of electricity are challenging.
Trimming trees is a common practice to help reduce the number of limbs breaking down power lines. Moving existing above-ground lines to underground routes is often deemed too expensive. Aaron Cramer is chair of UK’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He said wireless power transmission in neighborhoods is not in the foreseeable future.
“We’re pretty far away from that. Our ability to move power efficiently through the air with sort of no conductive medium is limited to sort of very short distances,” said Cramer.
Cramer said costs to make changes system-wide, no matter the means, would be relatively high, even with a hurricane event, when only a fraction of the total users is impacted.
Laying utility wires underground when neighborhoods are built is an option. But, Cramer said making changes to high-tower transmission lines bringing power to communities would be expensive.
“You’re talking about a factor of at least five if you can even do it. The voltages at that level are so high that it’s actually practically and technically pretty hard to do it. And so you’re talking about a very high cost to run sort of higher voltage transmission lines underground,” said Cramer.
Cramer noted the estimate to do the underground installation in a neighborhood might be two times the cost compared to pole to pole. He added making a thicker more sturdy wire would also carry high costs and might still come down in a storm.
Here’s more with Aaron Cramer:
4AARONCRAMER.mp3
Listen • 8:34
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Originally published by WEKU.
Republished with permission.
