syphax t1_j3ug3t9 wrote on January 11, 2023 at 3:22 AM

Reply to comment by Nutmegdog1959 in Why doesn’t Vermont bury its power lines? by tcchen

I typically see a range of 3-5x more for buried vs overhead, but these numbers are in the right ballpark (btw $100/ft works out to $528k per mile). In my town in MA, we used to be able to install underground for $1-2M per mile (mid 2010's), but it's probably crept up since then.

And because Vermont is rural, infrastructure that is network-based is expensive per capita (many miles to cover, not so many people). My neighbor in VT 2 doors down got a quote for running electrical service (which currently stops at the house in between ours); it was something like $100k. So, he decided to go off the grid: solar, small wind turbine, batteries. It was cheaper.

Nutmegdog1959 t1_j3ukrc9 wrote on January 11, 2023 at 3:57 AM

Ha, ha, ha! People think all you gotta do is dig a trench and drop the wire off the poles, not quite as easy as that. Cost varies wildly from rural to city, but fact is, where ever you are, it ain't cheap! And you're right, everybody winds up paying.

Public utilities are what keeps housing expensive. People are funny, they get accustomed to lights, heat, fresh water and sewers and of course internet and cell phone.

I was an early investor in Plug Power 25 yrs ago. They are a hydrogen fuel cell developer. Their goal was to build fuel cells that could power a 3br 1200 sq' house with a 1.5kw hydrogen fuel cell. The goal was, "The size of a washing machine price $5,000." (never quite got there. more like $25k-$50k powering remote cell towers and now indoor forklifts)

Anyway, off grid electric power technology would do wonders to open up huge amounts of land currently not financially suitable for development. Would reduce housing crisis dramatically in VT and across the country. I'm still waiting for this paradigm shift.

Loudergood t1_j3yswlk wrote on January 12, 2023 at 12:08 AM

Solar has largely filled that gap. Septic is the expensive thing that everyone overlooks.

syphax t1_j3uldsb wrote on January 11, 2023 at 4:02 AM

Interesting re: Plug Power; I live a couple miles from their electrolyzer facility in MA. And my company has looked at their stuff for forklifts; that's a pretty good use case for them.