Village Council Discussed Potential for Burying Power Lines Along West College Street

Village Council in their Wednesday, February 3, 2010, meeting considered several issues related to the improvements scheduled for College Street. One of the questions concerned the potential for burying power lines. Rod Winrod from AEP was present to speak about burying power lines in the portion of College Street that would be under construction. Mr. Winrod spoke of very high costs of burying the lines, and it was clear that he was not in favor of burying power lines, especially the three-phase power lines that are main thoroughfare of electrical power.

At one point, Mr. Winrod’s bias against burying the lines bordered on the amusing. As part of his powerpoint presentation, he chose a photograph of a type of electrical box that would be required throughout College Street if the electrical lines were buried. This box looked similar to the boxes that are located throughout Bryn Du where the power lines are already buried. But the picture that Mr. Winrod chose was of one of these boxes that had what appeared to be graffiti on it. During the rest of the presentation, he superimposed this box, with the graffiti, over various pictures of College Street. Clearly, he appeared to be making this option look as unattractive as possible.

Still, much of this portion of College Street that is slated for re-paving has a steep hill on the north side of the road, and this is where the overhead power lines are located. Because of this special topography, there are not a lot of trees immediately near the power lines. When asked, Mr. Winrod said that only about 9 trees would not have to be trimmed along this portion of the road if the power lines were buried. Although Council had a lot of questions of Mr. Winrod, Council showed no signs of pursuing any burying of the lines in this part of the Village. One of the questions asked of Mr. Winrod concerned where AEP would bury the lines, and Mr. Winrod said he preferred to bury them under the sidewalk rather than under the street. He said the lines needed to be buried under the sidewalk so that they were not impacted by other utilities, such as gas lines and water lines. Interestingly, the gas lines and the water lines in Granville are buried along the side of the road, not under the road. A reliable source said later that the real reason AEP does not want to bury the lines under the street is that AEP would lose control and be subject to the orders from the Village whether AEP could work on the lines and also be subject to orders from the Village to move the lines. The source said that, if ordered, AEP would have to move the lines at its cost. 

Council Member Barsky asked where in the Village AEP would recommend burying the electrical lines if College Street was not a good candidate. Mr. Winrod responded that he would bury the single-phase wires, not the three phase wires. Three-phase wires are the main power thoroughfares that bring electrical power into and through the Village. Single-phase wires are the wires that branch off from the three phase wires to serve only local areas. By responding this way, Mr. Winrod made it clear that he would not prioritize burying the main electrical thoroughfares located along South Main Street, Broadway, and North Pearl Street. 

In the end, Council voted unanimously to proceed with advertising for bids for the 2010 Street Improvement Program, and there was no proposed modification to the plan to add underground electrical wires along College Street.