I’ve seen general estimates of $1 million per mile, with the possibility of it being lower or much higher depending on the terrain and population density. Given that Austin is generally densely populated, has lots of hills, and there’s solid limestone 1-2 feet down, I’m guessing you can hit the escalators on that estimate.
Burying power lines costs roughly $1 million per mile, but the geography or population density of the service area can halve this cost or triple it. In the wake of a statewide ice storm in December 2002, the North Carolina Utilities Commission and the electric utilities explored the feasibility of burying the state’s distribution lines underground and concluded that the project would take 25 years and increase electricity rates by 125%. The project was never begun; the price increase was not seen as reasonable for the consumers.
A 2010 study on undergrounding a portion of the electricity system in the District of Columbia for the Public Service Commission found that costs would increase rapidly as utilities tried to underground more of their service territory.
The study concluded that a $1.1 billion (in 2006 dollars) investment could improve the reliability for 65% of the customers in the utility’s service territory, but an additional $4.7 billion would be required to affect the remaining 35% of customers in outlying areas. That is, over 80% of the costs for the project would be required to benefit roughly one third of the customers.
Yep. They hit -103°F wind chill today. We hit -44°F here in the Champlain Valley. It’y pretty darn cold with frostbite on exposed skin starting in 5 minutes. At those Mt. Washington temps, it’s 30 seconds.
I was just talking with a friend about that. In the normal winter cold, battery capacity is down like 30-35%. In this extreme cold, it’s down like 40%. This is from this evening at -14°F ambient air temp. It equates to just under 200 miles range on a typical 80% charge.
I apologize for my recent spikiness on here. I was feeling overly combative which was all to do with me and nothing to do with anyone here. So I took myself off the board for a bit to get my emotions straight.
With that said, let’s get back to normal. You’re all wrong and can go fuck yourselves. Ahhh…that feels so good to say.
With Six Nations rugby starting this morning, and Scotland and England renewing the beautiful, hate filled Calcutta Cup, I’m happy to tell you you’re still a Pom and can fuck off.
