IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/juipol/v20y2012i1p31-37.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Cost and reliability comparisons of underground and overhead power lines

Author

Listed:
  • Fenrick, Steve A.
  • Getachew, Lullit

Abstract

This paper outlines the benefits of undergrounding power lines. We present research that reveals the reliability and operation and maintenance (O&M) impacts of electric underground lines relative to overhead lines. This research uses a comprehensive dataset from 163 US electric utilities. Holding the effects of other important operating variables constant, our research indicates that undergrounding reduces O&M cost and enhances reliability by reducing power outage durations. We also provide a brief discussion of other considerations that are important when weighing the benefits and cost of placing power lines underground.

Suggested Citation

  • Fenrick, Steve A. & Getachew, Lullit, 2012. "Cost and reliability comparisons of underground and overhead power lines," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 31-37.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:juipol:v:20:y:2012:i:1:p:31-37
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jup.2011.10.002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0957178711000622
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jup.2011.10.002?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Christian Growitsch & Tooraj Jamasb & Michael Pollitt, 2009. "Quality of service, efficiency and scale in network industries: an analysis of European electricity distribution," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(20), pages 2555-2570.
    2. Ben McNair & Peter Abelson, 2010. "Estimating the Value of Undergrounding Electricity and Telecommunications Networks," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 43(4), pages 376-388, December.
    3. Stanley W. Hamilton & Gregory M. Schwann, 1995. "Do High Voltage Electric Transmission Lines Affect Property Value?," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 71(4), pages 436-444.
    4. Francois Des Rosiers, 2002. "Power Lines, Visual Encumbrance and House Values: A Microspatial Approach to Impact Measurement," Journal of Real Estate Research, American Real Estate Society, vol. 23(3), pages 275-302.
    5. Anna Ter-Martirosyan & John Kwoka, 2010. "Incentive regulation, service quality, and standards in U.S. electricity distribution," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 38(3), pages 258-273, December.
    6. Fumagalli, Elena & Garrone, Paola & Grilli, Luca, 2007. "Service quality in the electricity industry: The role of privatization and managerial behavior," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(12), pages 6212-6224, December.
    7. Reichl, Johannes & Kollmann, Andrea & Tichler, Robert & Schneider, Friedrich, 2008. "The importance of incorporating reliability of supply criteria in a regulatory system of electricity distribution: An empirical analysis for Austria," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(10), pages 3862-3871, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Anuoluwapo Ajayi & Lukumon Oyedele & Hakeem Owolabi & Olugbenga Akinade & Muhammad Bilal & Juan Manuel Davila Delgado & Lukman Akanbi, 2020. "Deep Learning Models for Health and Safety Risk Prediction in Power Infrastructure Projects," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 40(10), pages 2019-2039, October.
    2. Ghasemi, Mostafa & Dashti, Reza, 2017. "A risk-based model for performance-based regulation of electric distribution companies," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 36-44.
    3. Daniel Thompson & Gianluca Pescaroli, 2024. "Financing electricity resilience in local communities: a review of the literature," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 44(3), pages 740-762, September.
    4. Kishore, T.S. & Singal, S.K., 2014. "Optimal economic planning of power transmission lines: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 949-974.
    5. Saastamoinen, Antti & Kuosmanen, Timo, 2016. "Quality frontier of electricity distribution: Supply security, best practices, and underground cabling in Finland," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 281-292.
    6. Matej Tazky & Michal Regula & Alena Otcenasova, 2021. "Impact of Changes in a Distribution Network Nature on the Capacitive Reactive Power Flow into the Transmission Network in Slovakia," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-16, August.
    7. Rauschkolb, Noah & Limandibhratha, Nathalie & Modi, Vijay & Mercadal, Ignacia, 2021. "Estimating electricity distribution costs using historical data," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    8. Yi, Ji Hyun & Cherkaoui, Rachid & Paolone, Mario & Shchetinin, Dmitry & Knezovic, Katarina, 2022. "Expansion planning of active distribution networks achieving their dispatchability via energy storage systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 326(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yuan, Peng & Pu, Yuran & Liu, Chang, 2021. "Improving electricity supply reliability in China: Cost and incentive regulation," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 237(C).
    2. McNair, Ben J. & Bennett, Jeff & Hensher, David A., 2011. "A comparison of responses to single and repeated discrete choice questions," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 554-571, September.
    3. Richard T. Boylan, 2016. "Power to the People: Does Ownership Type Influence Electricity Service?," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 59(2), pages 441-476.
    4. Saastamoinen, Antti & Kuosmanen, Timo, 2016. "Quality frontier of electricity distribution: Supply security, best practices, and underground cabling in Finland," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 281-292.
    5. Charles Thomas & Gerd Welke, 2017. "The Effect of HVTLs on Property Values: An Event Study," International Real Estate Review, Global Social Science Institute, vol. 20(2), pages 167-187.
    6. Olivier JOALLAND & Tina RAMBONILAZA, 2017. "Assessing the impact of renewable energy infrastructure on the “tourist value” in rural landscapes: a spatial hedonic approach," Cahiers du GREThA (2007-2019) 2017-10, Groupe de Recherche en Economie Théorique et Appliquée (GREThA).
    7. Nepal, Rabindra & Jamasb, Tooraj, 2015. "Incentive regulation and utility benchmarking for electricity network security," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 117-127.
    8. Silvia Banfi & Massimo Filippini & Andrea Horehájová, 2012. "Using a choice experiment to estimate the benefits of a reduction of externalities in urban areas with special focus on electrosmog," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(3), pages 387-397, January.
    9. Barbosa, Ailson de Souza & Shayani, Rafael Amaral & Oliveira, Marco Aurélio Gonçalves de, 2018. "A multi-criteria decision analysis method for regulatory evaluation of electricity distribution service quality," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 38-48.
    10. Carlo Cambini & Elena Fumagalli & Laura Rondi, 2016. "Incentives to quality and investment: evidence from electricity distribution in Italy," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 49(1), pages 1-32, February.
    11. Ovaere, Marten, 2023. "Cost-efficiency and quality regulation of energy network utilities," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    12. Tang, Cheng Keat & Gibbons, Stephen, 2024. "Are friends electric? Valuing the social costs of power lines using house prices," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    13. Jorge E. Galán & Michael G. Pollitt, 2014. "Inefficiency persistence and heterogeneity in Colombian electricity distribution utilities," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 1423, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    14. Corton, Maria Luisa & Zimmermann, Aneliese & Phillips, Michelle Andrea, 2016. "The low cost of quality improvements in the electricity distribution sector of Brazil," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 485-493.
    15. Sally Sims & Peter Dent, 2005. "High-voltage Overhead Power Lines and Property Values: A Residential Study in the UK," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 42(4), pages 665-694, April.
    16. Galán, Jorge E. & Pollitt, Michael G., 2014. "Inefficiency persistence and heterogeneity in Colombian electricity utilities," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 31-44.
    17. Laura Abrardi & Cambini Carlo & Rondi Laura, 2018. "The Impact of Regulation on Utilities’ Investments: A Survey and New Evidence from the Energy Industry," De Economist, Springer, vol. 166(1), pages 41-62, March.
    18. Thomas Bue Bjørner & Jacob Victor Hansen & Astrid Fanger Jakobsen, 2021. "Price cap regulation and water quality," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 60(2), pages 95-116, December.
    19. Michael Schmidthaler & Jed Cohen & Johannes Reichl & Stefan Schmidinger, 2015. "The effects of network regulation on electricity supply security: a European analysis," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 48(3), pages 285-316, December.
    20. Çelen, Aydın & Yalçın, Neşe, 2012. "Performance assessment of Turkish electricity distribution utilities: An application of combined FAHP/TOPSIS/DEA methodology to incorporate quality of service," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 59-71.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:juipol:v:20:y:2012:i:1:p:31-37. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/utilities-policy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.