"So why don't they bury power lines so tree limbs don't keep falling on them?" you might ask. Council Member Chito Vela asked Austin Energy's Thomas Pierpoint that question last year. Basically: It's too expensive.

@CMChitoVela @austinenergy what’s the cost / benefit of weather proofing the most critical commonly affected lines, vs leaving things as-is and conceding yearly infrastructure damage and emergency repair costs?

@CMChitoVela @austinenergy Keep in mind that even buried cables age & decline over a typical lifespan of 40-50 years. Replacement of them is also a pricey proposition nobody budgets for.

@CMChitoVela @austinenergy Burying utility lines could be part of an incentive package for neighborhoods that upzone.

@CMChitoVela @austinenergy Hmmm I remember Gov Abbott boasting how he was gonna spend the multi-billion dollar budget surplus on property tax relief... maybe he could spare a billion or two for infrastructure upgrades 🤔

@CMChitoVela @austinenergy Lines are underground here in Round Rock. No outage in my neighborhood in 2021 or this week. "It is too hard" is not a reason, it is an excuse.

@CMChitoVela @austinenergy Even with underground lines, my neighborhood is impacted by outages bc of other reasons due to ice. Trimming trees back is key. I’ve lost many limbs due to all types of Texas weather. 🌳

@CMChitoVela @austinenergy Well maybe if we didn't spend $700B dollars on defense every year and made corporations pay a minimum amount of taxes we could easily afford to upgrade critical infrastructure.

@CMChitoVela @austinenergy Ours *are* buried (in the entire area) and we still don't have power!

@CMChitoVela @austinenergy Hopefully, there are dollar figures as part of that public explanation. It’s close to worthless for one siloed team to claim the cost-benefit analysis doesn’t pan out when it’s a group decision.