Building Reliability and Safety into Underground Rural Distribution

The public is interested in underground power distribution lines primarily because this is a way of putting substantially all elements of the power system out of sight. At the present time underground distribution is being promoted almost entirely on the basis of improved appearance. To the operator of a power system, however, underground distribution offers two additional attractions, both of which eventually may be more important than appearance. It is reasonable to anticipate that the underground system of today will prove to be both safer and more reliable than any overhead system. With continuing advances in the development of new equipment, further progress in these advantages can be expected.