Utility Lines

Reprinted from BHA News, Summer 2000

Power Tower Plan Sparks Concern
A plan to bring additional electrical power to the Brickell area has BHA Directors, City Commissioner Johnny Winton and business leaders concerned.

Florida Power & Light Company has permits to install new transmission lines and poles from the plant just north of Miami River at Second Avenue to the substation behind the Brickell Village Publix at the 14th Street/15th Road/Second Avenue intersection.

It's a relatively short distance - only about 10 blocks, after going under the river. The problem is with the massive towers that must be erected to carry these transmission lines. Towers that stretch 105 to 110 feet high, the height of an 11-story building. Some 23 or 24 of these structures are planned along Second Avenue.

The business interest group, the Brickell Area Association, holds the position that all power lines should be buried, a method preferable to unsightly above-ground lines that pose a great threat during storms. However, FPL says that the Public Service Commission in Tallahassee dictates that the primary factor for deciding how lines should be installed is cost, not aesthetics. Safety and reliability also seem subjugated to cost.

In this case, in our very-built-up environment, overhead lines are simply cheaper to install than underground.

Not the First Time Questioned
Readers may recall an effort five years ago by Brickell residents to convert unsightly power lines along the west side of Brickell Avenue to an underground system (BHA News, Summer 1995). Along with enhanced aesthetics, many believed that underground lines would be better than overhead lines, given our experience with downed lines after Hurricane Andrew. FPL told BHA Directors at the time however, that surprisingly, maintenance problems and costs are about equal between the two.

"Wind is the enemy of overhead lines, where water and corrosion are the enemies in underground systems," FPL Manager Ralph Calleja had said.

Between the logistics, the projected costs and the need for 100 percent consensus among all property owners involved, the effort to beautify Brickell by burying lines died.

When new housing developments of eight homes or more are built, the utilities must go underground. Obviously, it's considerably less costly and easier to do before anyone lives there and the area is built up.

The BHA will continue to monitor this matter and do its best to help seek a better solution.

Reprinted from BHA News, Summer 1995

Overhead Utility Lines: What Price Beauty?
Recently some concerned Brickell residents began discussion about the unsightliness of the telephone poles, utility lines and related hardware that line Brickell Avenue's west side. Petitions were circulated in several condominium buildings with the intent of having Florida Power & Light eliminate the poles and bury the lines for a more aesthetically pleasing Brickell Avenue. Eventually the question had to be asked, "What's the cost for this added beauty?"

In response to this movement led by Rosalind Forrest, a resident of The Palace, BHA directors began investigation of what would need to be done to change the area's overhead utility system to an underground system. The hurdle of achieving 100% consensus, the track record of other communities trying to bury lines, and the unknown, almost unknowable costs involved, nearly killed the notion at the July BHA directors meeting, save for a few hearty advocates of the idea that want to take the effort further.

"It's important that people understand we're talking about a onetime cost," said Forrest, who circulated the petitions and is the leading proponent of switching to underground. After the initial costs are paid and the conversion is done, household electricity use is billed at the same rate as with overhead lines.

It's Not Up to FPL
It turns out that a request, petition or even an act of God like Hurricane Andrew is not sufficient to compel FPL to make the costly switch from overhead to underground. As a public utility, FPL is heavily regulated by the Public Service Commission, and has a detailed tariff outlining the rules and regulations about underground conversions.

The tariff is explicit in who must agree and who must pay: everyone - every owner in the area affected and every other utility that shares poles, such as Southern Bell, cable TV companies and county-controlled traffic signal systems are affected.

Once all those parties agree to go underground, those who would provide the underground space - whether it be owners needing to grant easements or condo buildings needing to allow their driveways and entrances to be cut up - would need to cooperate. Transformers, the big can-like hardware mounted on poles, would need to be relocated onto someone's property. FPL's experience is that people do not readily agree to these steps, Ralph Calleja, major accounts manager for FPL, said.

Assessing Costs
All these agreements would need to be secured, in writing, before FPL would be able to provide a binding estimate. Many residents said, however, they could not get consensus on a plan without a pricetag for each household.

"In established areas, the logistics are extremely difficult...and the costs are very high, Eloy Villasuso, corporate and external affairs manager for FPL, told BHA residents. "You have to deal with each property owner along the way."

Also to be included in the equation are the costs to those property owners that would be required to upgrade their electrical service to meet current code regulations, a customary mandate whenever new work is done in a home meeting old code standards.

Long Term Savings?
In new developments of eight homes or more, the utilities must be built underground. It's considerably less costly and easier to do before anyone lives there and the area is built up.

Many residents may share the belief that underground lines would be preferable to overhead lines in South Florida, given our experience in downed lines after Hurricane Andrew. However, surprisingly, maintenance problems and costs are about equal between the two, Calleja said.

"Wind is the enemy of overhead lines, where water and corrosion are the enemies in underground systems," he said.

Forrest contends that the Federal Emergency Management Agency "recommends they go underground;" however, the magnitude of expense FEMA would say is feasible to make a conversion in an area like Brickell is unknown. Forrest identified 29 poles to be removed between 15th and 25th Roads in her petition to the power company.

The Village of Key Biscayne recently tried to initiate an underground conversion but gave up the effort.

If You're Interested...
A committee of the BHA chaired by Magda Quiros has been formed to look into the matter further and report back to the BHA directors in September.