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NES moves ahead with undergrounding pilots and a strategic study to inform resilience investments
Summary
NES told the committee it has four undergrounding pilot projects in the capital budget and is launching a strategic underground study to identify where burying lines is most cost-effective for reliability and speed of restoration; NES said collocating work with Metro capital projects could reduce costs.
Nashville Electric Service described a series of pilot projects and a broader strategic undergrounding study designed to evaluate whether burying overhead lines can improve reliability and speed restoration in high-value corridors.
NES said four pilot projects are in the capital budget starting July 1, including a larger Thunderbird-area project that is fully designed and expected to start earlier in the budget year, while three smaller pilots will be designed at the start of the new fiscal period. The pilots will test different construction methods (bore vs. trench) and evaluate trade-offs between cost, reliability and speed to restore.
Nut graf: The utility emphasized that undergrounding is technically complex and more expensive than overhead lines, but that targeted undergrounding — especially when coordinated with Metro infrastructure projects or all-access corridor trenching — can be economically and operationally sensible.
NES said the study will analyze system segments for cost and reliability benefit, incorporate "choose how you move" corridor projects and evaluate collocation opportunities with Metro Water. NES cautioned that state highway right-of-way rules often limit options for underground placement within driving lanes and that equipment and protection devices require space at ground level.
Council members urged NES to prioritize segments where undergrounding provides the clearest reliability benefits and to quantify the long-term cost of repeated restorations compared with the up-front cost of undergrounding. NES said they will use the pilots and the strategic study to build clear metrics for future capital decisions.
