Lobby Kincardine council for buried hydro lines, says Westario rep

To the Editor:
RE: “Westario should bury power lines, says reader”

I would like to make a quick comment regarding Dennis Flavell’s letter to the editor about burying power lines.

Westario Power is 100-per-cent supportive of burying power lines. The company regularly meets with each municipality’s public works department in preparing capital and maintenance programs and budgets.

The capital cost of burying power lines is roughly double that of overhead construction; however, a significant amount of that incremental cost would be saved over the life due to decreased maintenance costs and more importantly, increased reliability and better visually.

It all comes down to who pays the incremental cost. Westario Power follows the prevailing standards and codes for all installations and just as buying a car, there is the standard model and the loaded model with all the options.

When Westario Power meets with each municipality to plan the work, the customer (i.e. the municipality) has the option to go with buried services as it often does in the downtown business core. Westario Power is open to discuss how the incremental costs are shared; however, there is an extra cost and in most cases, the municipality declines to spend that additional money even if it is a reduced portion.

Going forward, residents should lobby council to plan and budget for buried power lines where feasible and make that the new standard.

Thank you,
Randy Hughes
Westario Power representative
Kincardine