Conservative Commentary/Opinion on Local, State & National issues. Hours 6am to 7pm to respond to comments
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Sunrise this morning
Comment Up Now if we could only get these Lake Worth utility lines under ground like they want to do at College Park for millions and millions that we can't afford.
11 comments:
Anonymous
said...
If the RESIDENTS OF COLLEGE PARK,ONLY, no other part of the city pays for it, I say go for it!
When I did renovations at my home I had the electric and phone lines coming onto my property put underground. Hopefully when other lines go down mine won't. It should be mandated for new construction and renovations.
Sadly, Clay and Becky (Utility Director and Asst. Utility Director) have no idea as to the cost of underground distribution. Their utility budget called for the undergrounding of all electrical distribution East of Federal Hwy. They envisioned that they could do this, install Smart Grid, and convert the entire city to 13.2 kV for $22 million.
With little or no cost estimating experience between them, they did not realize that Smart Grid alone would have cost the city the entire $22 million.
The undergrounding East of Federal would have cost an additional $15 - $20 million and that does not include the $3 - $5 thousand that each and every homeowner would have had to fork over to convert their overhead service to an underground service.
Then, there would be the conversion itself, which would have cost an additional $15 - $20 million. In all, the entire conversion would have cost the city approx. three times the original budget.
Fortunately, Commissioner Maxwell and a few outside cost estimators have stepped forward to reign in the utility. Now, the undergrounding and Smart Grid have been eliminated from the current revision. But, without outside sources, the Utility Department would have either bankrupted the city or would have ended like Srednecki and Adair and had to stop the conversion altogether.
There are a whole host of issues that the Commission needs to address, but many of the most pressing would be the management of the Utility.
Yep, definitely should be a mandate, including the any work the City or CRA, etc. does. Expensive in the short term cheaper and wiser in the long term. Just like 6th Ave South and 10th Ave North.
Cheaper and wiser, a FACT based upon the cost to replace downed power lines over and over, the potential loss of power, and the safety factor of people dealing with downed power lines after a storm. Can you think of others? I am sure there are more....oh yeah the original point, asthetics, which is also a nice by-product of burying power lines.
The entire Atlantis area has all underground utility line and that community is beautiful. Cost has always been the factor for us but now with the special assessment loophole, who knows what will happen next in LW? The CRA, of course, dipped into that cookie jar BIG TIME and are still paying for the Gateways.
It seems that after every major storm (hurricanes in particular), we see interest in converting overhead systems to underground. Here are a number of points made by utilities when confronted by the daunting costs associated with this endeavor:
• Cost of putting distribution underground would be between $.5 million and $5.4 million per mile. Average underground about $1 million per mile. Average overhead about $120,000. (This fact was completely overlooked by the Utility Department)
• Cost of putting transmission underground would be about $10 million per mile. (Hypoluxo tie line)
• Service continuity could actually diminish (This is a major factor)
• Virtually all jurisdictions conclude that conversion is prohibitive
• Primary driver is aesthetics, not reliability
• Repair time for underground is about 160% longer than overhead
• Underground is still vulnerable to lightning
• Underground lines are more susceptible to rodents, corrosion, tree roots and accidental digging
• Outages per year would drop by 40%
• System longevity for overhead is 50 years but only 20 - 30 for underground
• Maintenance costs are about the same.
• 70% of US system is overhead
• Underground conversion cost per residential customer is approximately $20K to $40K
• Underground conversion cost per residential customer is approximately $20K to $40K
This is telling as the 1,000++ customers East of Federal would have cost the city between $20 million and $40 million for the conversion alone; and all of this on a $22 million budget for the entire electrical system.
Added to those costs are the $3 - $5 thousand per customer to convert their service from overhead to underground.
Additionally, the other utilities (Bell & Cable) would either have to leave their facilities overhead, or charge the city and the customer an equal amount to convert their cable to underground also. (It is not even remotely feasible that the city could afford this)
These costs only go to further illustrate the lack of experience within the Utility Department and their total disconnect from the reality of true costs.
Now if we could only get these Lake Worth utility lines under ground like they want to do at College Park for millions and millions that we can't afford.
11 comments:
If the RESIDENTS OF COLLEGE PARK,ONLY, no other part of the city pays for it, I say go for it!
Oh, no, another tax, ooops, assessment!
When I did renovations at my home I had the electric and phone lines coming onto my property put underground. Hopefully when other lines go down mine won't. It should be mandated for new construction and renovations.
Sadly, Clay and Becky (Utility Director and Asst. Utility Director) have no idea as to the cost of underground distribution. Their utility budget called for the undergrounding of all electrical distribution East of Federal Hwy. They envisioned that they could do this, install Smart Grid, and convert the entire city to 13.2 kV for $22 million.
With little or no cost estimating experience between them, they did not realize that Smart Grid alone would have cost the city the entire $22 million.
The undergrounding East of Federal would have cost an additional $15 - $20 million and that does not include the $3 - $5 thousand that each and every homeowner would have had to fork over to convert their overhead service to an underground service.
Then, there would be the conversion itself, which would have cost an additional $15 - $20 million. In all, the entire conversion would have cost the city approx. three times the original budget.
Fortunately, Commissioner Maxwell and a few outside cost estimators have stepped forward to reign in the utility. Now, the undergrounding and Smart Grid have been eliminated from the current revision. But, without outside sources, the Utility Department would have either bankrupted the city or would have ended like Srednecki and Adair and had to stop the conversion altogether.
There are a whole host of issues that the Commission needs to address, but many of the most pressing would be the management of the Utility.
Yep, definitely should be a mandate, including the any work the City or CRA, etc. does. Expensive in the short term cheaper and wiser in the long term. Just like 6th Ave South and 10th Ave North.
CHEAPER AND WISER, AN OPINION BASED ON?
Becky,the FMPA cheerleader, needs to be fired. She is ANOTHER incompetent director.
Cheaper and wiser, a FACT based upon the cost to replace downed power lines over and over, the potential loss of power, and the safety factor of people dealing with downed power lines after a storm. Can you think of others? I am sure there are more....oh yeah the original point, asthetics, which is also a nice by-product of burying power lines.
The entire Atlantis area has all underground utility line and that community is beautiful. Cost has always been the factor for us but now with the special assessment loophole, who knows what will happen next in LW? The CRA, of course, dipped into that cookie jar BIG TIME and are still paying for the Gateways.
It seems that after every major storm (hurricanes in particular), we see interest in converting overhead systems to underground. Here are a number of points made by utilities when confronted by the daunting costs associated with this endeavor:
• Cost of putting distribution underground would be between $.5 million and $5.4 million per mile. Average underground about $1 million per mile. Average overhead about $120,000. (This fact was completely overlooked by the Utility Department)
• Cost of putting transmission underground would be about $10 million per mile. (Hypoluxo tie line)
• Service continuity could actually diminish (This is a major factor)
• Virtually all jurisdictions conclude that conversion is prohibitive
• Primary driver is aesthetics, not reliability
• Repair time for underground is about 160% longer than overhead
• Underground is still vulnerable to lightning
• Underground lines are more susceptible to rodents, corrosion, tree roots and accidental digging
• Outages per year would drop by 40%
• System longevity for overhead is 50 years but only 20 - 30 for underground
• Maintenance costs are about the same.
• 70% of US system is overhead
• Underground conversion cost per residential customer is approximately $20K to $40K
• Underground conversion cost per residential customer is approximately $20K to $40K
This is telling as the 1,000++ customers East of Federal would have cost the city between $20 million and $40 million for the conversion alone; and all of this on a $22 million budget for the entire electrical system.
Added to those costs are the $3 - $5 thousand per customer to convert their service from overhead to underground.
Additionally, the other utilities (Bell & Cable) would either have to leave their facilities overhead, or charge the city and the customer an equal amount to convert their cable to underground also. (It is not even remotely feasible that the city could afford this)
These costs only go to further illustrate the lack of experience within the Utility Department and their total disconnect from the reality of true costs.
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