Austin Energy staff present undergrounding feasibility study; find full conversion cost-prohibitive

Austin Energy staff and their consultant presented results of an undergrounding feasibility study on April 14, 2025, finding that converting the remaining overhead distribution lines to underground across the entire service territory would be expensive, technically complex and in most places not cost-effective.

The study, performed by 1898 & Co. (the consulting arm of Burns & McDonnell), estimated that retrofitting roughly 5,000 miles of overhead distribution line to underground could cost on the order of $50,000,000,000 and identified only a small number of sections where monetized benefits could exceed estimated costs. "We are not currently recommending a system-wide overhead-to-underground conversion of the distribution system," Arla Meer of 1898 & Co. said during the presentation.

The commission was told the study divided the remaining overhead system into roughly 5,000 sections to estimate site-level costs and life-cycle benefits. Staff and the consultant combined reduced future utility costs (for repairs, pole inspection and vegetation management) with monetized customer outage reductions (using the U.S. Department of…