Council exempts some residential service-line replacements from mandatory undergrounding to ease electrification costs

Bettina Mueves, South Burlington's climate action manager, presented a narrowly focused amendment to the Utility Service Line Ordinance at the July 7 meeting. The change adds an express exemption: replacement of a residential service line connecting an existing building to the electrical utility may be exempted from the city's usual undergrounding requirement when an existing utility pole provides an available aerial connection and the electric utility permits that connection.

Mueves explained the rationale: undergrounding can be costly when there is no conduit to pull new cable, and the high price of trenching can be a barrier to homeowners seeking to electrify (for example, to install heat pumps or EV charging) because panel or service upgrades can be expensive if underground conduit does not exist. The amendment is intended to reduce upfront costs for electrification in neighborhoods where a pole and aerial connection are available.

Councilors asked about grid capacity and resiliency; staff and speakers said most South Burlington homes have 100- to 200-amp services and that single-lot solar installations are unlikely to overload neighborhood infrastructure. Councilors also noted staff had consulted Green Mountain Power's practices and that GMP said it will typically allow aerial connections and can install a temporary aerial if an underground service fails.

The city adopted the amendment by unanimous vote after a public hearing with no public comment.

Why it matters: The change reduces the upfront cost of some home electrification projects by allowing aerial service replacements where a pole and utility acceptance exist, potentially making heat-pump and EV-charging upgrades more affordable for homeowners. It does not remove utility approval or technical assessments by the electric company.

Speakers cited in the meeting are listed below.