Create an act to facilitate burying power lines in cities and towns around the country. It will improve people's lives, boost the economy, and make us less vulnerable!

Why is this important?
Hurricane Sandy: 8 Million+ without Power for at least a Week, Fires look at the town of paradise in California. Wikipedia on Thomas fire​, Wikipedia Easy Fire, & Wikipedia on Paradise fire. Cause of Powerline/Electrical Wildfires Wikipedia

Fallen trees on overhead distribution lines cause a great majority of power outages.

We, the undersigned, petition for these existing overhead lines to be installed underground. 

The most important benefits are: 

1. Drastically reduced power outages.

2. Improved public safety.

3. Improve our infrastructure

4. Improved reliability.

5. Improved aesthetics. 

6. improve communication with the public.

We are fully aware that utility underground conversion programs are costly. We are also aware that every time a prolonged power outage occurs, the general public demands action, with no results.

They are telling us once again that underground lines are too expensive.

They are telling us that this work is not "practical."

Every year, in the beginning, Edison and other power companies go in helicopters checking powerlines out. They have to do that every year again and again and again. Every year, one of these down powerlines starts a wildfire in the state of California. The Top 20 Deadliest Wildfires in California​, The Top Most Destructive Wildfires in California & Wikipedia on the List of California Wildfires. 

Predictably, their "Cost/Benefit" analysis does not favor moving the lines underground. Undergrounding is the replacement of overhead cables providing electrical power & telecommunications, with underground cables. It demonstrates the higher technology in developed countries for fire prevention and to make the power lines less susceptible to outages during high wind, thunderstorms, heavy snow or ice storms. An added benefit of undergrounding is the aesthetic quality of the landscape without the powerlines. Undergrounding can increase the initial costs of electric power transmission and distribution but may decrease operational costs over the lifetime of the cables.

What is the cost/benefit analysis of human lives lost to damaged "live" wires?

What is our children's cost of not being able to walk in their neighborhood or go to school safely?

How practical is it to repair the failing power grid over and over again, at the taxpayer's expense? For this reason, most utilities will install underground lines at the customer's request and cost.

Electrical circuits are generally placed underground to protect the lines from high winds, ice, and other damaging elements. Underground installation also improves aesthetics.

Underground powerlines of any type have very thick insulation. Besides, National Codes dictate the depth; below ground, these lines must be buried. Some low voltage underground circuits could be as shallow as 18 inches, while most higher voltage circuits will be deeper than 24 inches.

How practical is it for businesses to lose revenue because of the unreliable and unsafe electrical power supply?

There are undergrounding programs currently ongoing in several California municipalities, including San Diego, Anaheim, San Francisco, Camarillo, and Auckland. Utility conversion projects are being undertaken in Naples, FL, Conway, and Myrtle Beach, SC. And there are undergrounding programs in many parts of the world, including Holland and Germany.

All low and medium-voltage lines in Holland are now underground. In Germany, almost all of these lines are underground. Consequently, the German power grid has outages at an average rate of twenty-one minutes per year. 

Time and again, natural disasters cause power outages, often for extended periods of time. Outages are not inevitable. Why do Americans tolerate such outages? By comparison: The German power grid has outages at an average rate of 21 minutes per year. Why? Because most of their lines are buried.

The residents of the City or town in the United States deserve better than that.

In the United States, distribution lines are typically buried in large cities with high population densities. When all distribution lines are buried, Holland has a population density of 1,259 people per square mile, one of the world's highest. Germany: 609 people per square mile. The United States of America approximately 92.9 residents per square mile people.

The distribution lines in the United States of America must be buried. They should have been buried years ago. The undergrounding program should start now.

Furthermore, the financial burden should not fall entirely on property owners. State funding must be available for this project to run smoothly and efficiently. Federal government funding for infrastructure programs must be pursued by the state government and House of Representatives and Senators in Congress.

That same type of leadership is needed to undertake this monumental task. We cannot continue living in the 21st century while still using the 19th-century infrastructure.

Power outages do not only create personal hardship for the people in the affected areas; as Hurricane Sandy demonstrated once again, these power outages claim lives, negatively affect our economy and impact National Security. Fire hydrants need power look at how the Thomas fire exploded just in that one day on December 4, 2017. Some estimates put Hurricane Sandy's total cost at $60 billion, most of it lost business due to power outages. Power outages make us vulnerable!

Power companies around the country keep putting up the lines and repairing damages after natural disasters. Still, it took a complete town to be wiped out to get those powerlines are underground for Paradise, CA but in other places only to repeat the procedure after the next natural disasters and the next and the next... WHY? Bury the lines!