FAQ-ish

Some stuff I’ve learned…

Another disclaimer: as I’m neither an engineer nor an undergrounding expert, my terminology and application of concepts here is not field-tested. But it seems it could be useful.

On this page:

Will Power Outages Decrease if Electric Power is Undergrounded?

Yes, both in duration and frequency.

CEA requires all new undergrounding to have looped primary power lines – in other words, connected to the grid at two ends. Our existing overhead lines are not looped (they have dead-ends). In the instance of an isolated issue, having looped lines provides CEA with the ability to reverse the flow of electricity to the downstream side of a severed loop, and return service to the affected properties before the issue is isolated and addressed. This significantly reduces the duration of an outage.

More obviously, our neighborhood would no longer be vulnerable to certain types of outages such as those caused by wind or squirrels (though the local squirrel population could increase).

If CEA Can Only Underground Part of AtoA in 2023 (due to limited easements), Will They Do Other Parts in 2024 or Later?

No, at least not for several decades. CEA communicated that construction of AtoA will occur at one time only. So any portions of AtoA that are not undergrounded will no longer be under consideration and will be removed from CEA’s 5-year undergrounding plan.

This makes the signing of easements imperative for the project to proceed.

There is high competition for the limited annual undergrounding budget. When MLP added AtoA to it’s 5-year plan, AtoA was selected from dozens of neighborhoods. The AtoA project is a generational opportunity.

Easements

Easements are essential to the project. Being an older subdivision, with overhead power installed back when things were done somewhat loosely, many properties in AtoA never had utility easements. This means that CEA needs new land rights to complete the project.

It’s unfortunate that CEA did not establish utility easements when it first constructed the overhead electrical infrastructure in AtoA. The absence of utility easements is shaping up to be a significant impediment to a smooth project.

What if I Sign My Easement, and the Project Does Not Occur? Does CEA Keep the Utility Rights to My Property?

Chugach Electric has declared that they will not file (legally adopt) the easements they have received, until it is certain that the project can proceed. This guarantee came from the Vice-President of Engineering.

Road Right-of-Ways (RROW)

RROW is land owned by the municipality that sits between the curb and the residential property.

Many of us (most? almost all?) don’t own all of the land from our house to the curb. This was new to me. For us, the first 12 feet from the curb towards our house is part of the Muni’s road right-of-way, and thus technically not our property (even though we are responsible for maintaining it).

Design Philosophy: the Big Difference Between CEA and MLP

Land rights and road right-of-ways

Had MLP constructed this project, it seems they would have buried primary distribution lines within road right-of-ways (RROW), as they did on the 2013 undergrounding project on 18th & 19th Avenues.

Conversely, wherever possible CEA insists on burying distribution lines on residential property, and thus requires easements from property owners. CEA has some good reasons for this design philosophy – mostly driven by cost to its members – which they summarize as “reliability, maintenance, and safety”. But ours is an older neighborhood with odd-shaped lots and houses situated in locations that would not be acceptable if built today. CEA’s absolute refusal to use RROW puts an additional burden on some property owners, and in some cases, unnecessarily so.

Back Yards

CEA prefers to underground in back yards rather than in front. This is done to reduce visual impacts, to reduce impact related to driveways, and to keep above-ground equipment (such as pedestals and transformers) from being damaged or buried during snow removal operations.

Overhead Telecommunications Lines

GCI and ACS have the option to participate in the undergrounding. If they choose not to participate, the poles stay up (but will be 4 feet shorter). As of April 2022, Both GCI and ACS have indicated they will participate in AtoA. But it’s my understanding that their participation is not guaranteed, and sometimes comes down to the wire (pun intended).