The power company doesn't own the trees. They need permission to trim. If someone doesn't let them trim the tree they can't. The tree on your property is yours. So, When your power is out, blame your neighbor who's tree fell on the line. The only way to eliminate it would be to cut down every tree within 100' of a powerline. And that isn't going to happen with the environmentalist.

As far as the underground thing goes, it's the granite state. It would be so ridiculously expensive to put everything underground that it isn't going to happen. Also, when underground does go bad, and believe me, it does, finding and fixing the problem is its own special nightmare