Consumers Energy wants to bury power lines in these six counties to prevent outages

“It is important to remember burying our lines might be the right solution for some areas but not others,” said Chris Laird, the company’s vice president of electric operations, in a statement. “… By using a few different strategies to strengthen the grid, we will be able to deliver a brighter future for all the communities we serve.”

Consumers Energy will need to evaluate the “total cost of ownership” over the life of OH vs UG assets. As many utilities have discovered and reported in their FERC filings, UG transmission and distribution lines cost less to operate and maintain over their life.