Two years ago, after Austin's lush urban tree canopy froze and downed power lines – leaving hundreds of thousands without power – the city resolved to look into a simple solution: burying the power lines.
Now, a new city-commissioned study shows that would be damn near impossible.
The draft study from consulting firm 1898 & Co. found that burying Austin Energy's network of overhead power lines would cost $50 billion. Cost aside, burying the lines wouldn't be possible in the vast majority of Austin's neighborhoods because of the city's rocky, limestone-laden topsoil and environmental concerns.
The report, which was commissioned after blackouts in 2023 left nearly 400,000 Austinites without power, does "not recommend undertaking a system-wide effort to convert existing overhead lines to underground at this time," citing costs and environmental risk.
The Kansas City-based firm didn't rule out the possibility entirely, though, suggesting the city bury some portions of the lines that aren't in environmentally sensitive areas.
But the report found 70% of the city is in an environmentally sensitive area.
"The cost required for a given underground conversion project in Austin makes it difficult to justify when compared to other alternatives," the report states.
Austin's craggy soil would make it difficult to bury lines the mandatory depth of roughly 4 feet, particularly west of I-35. Relocating the lines of telecommunications providers, which typically piggyback off Austin Energy's power lines, would further complicate burial efforts.
The study notes that some cities, particularly hurricane-prone cities like Tampa, Florida, have successfully buried some of their critical infrastructure like power lines. In light of the costs and environmental concerns, the consultant recommended Austin take that piecemeal approach.
As for the rest of the network, 1898 & Co. suggested Austin Energy trim trees near power lines and "harden" its individual power circuits on the local grid.
David Tomczyszyn, Austin Energy’s vice president of Electric System Engineering & Technical Services, told the city’s Utility Oversight Committee on Tuesday that the price tag to “underground” the whole network of power lines is untenable for the city alone.
He added it’s also tricky to do the same with the larger transmission lines. Those will be necessary as Austin builds out light rail in its multi-billion dollar Project Connect plan. Tomczyszyn said the state’s Public Utility Commission doesn’t cover the costs of that work.
“It is significantly more expensive to underground, and that is something that the Public Utility Commission does not typically reimburse us for,” he said. “So, that being said, I think we [should] just, look at [each] section ... digest the results of it, and then work with our community to figure out the projects that make sense.”
All told, just 33 of 5,000 sections of the city-owned utility lines could feasibly be buried.
Council Member Chito Vela said the city should look at getting a pilot program off the ground. Given Austin's recent history with blackouts due to downed tree limbs, that would likely be an enticing prospect for some Austinites.
"I'm sure that there would be some volunteer neighborhoods out there that would be first on the list to say, 'Please come to our neighborhood,'" Vela said. "I just think that an attempt ... in a couple of different areas might help us kind of flesh out some of the concerns. [It] might help us realize that this is easier than we thought, this is harder than we thought – whatever the case may be."
Both Tomczyszyn and Austin Energy COO Lisa Martin seemed receptive to that idea, saying the utility could include that in its forthcoming plan to address resiliency.
