Undergrounding Electric Infrastructure Could Start in 2014 in Ward 3

The Mayor's Power Line Undergrounding Task Force, charged with addressing issues in the District's electric distribution infrastructure that led to significant power outages during last summer's derecho, has proposed a plan that could have construction of so-called electrical "feeders" underway as soon as 2014 in five wards, including Ward 3.

During the July derecho storm most households in Ward 3's Glover Park and the Palisades, where power lines are above grade, were without power for days. Whereas just a few hundred Georgetown homes lost power and only briefly at that; Georgetown's power lines are below ground.

The first phase of a multi-year program proposed by the Power Line Undergrounding Task Force would begin its first phase by undergrounding up to 60 high-voltage lines at a cost of nearly $1 billion. Undergrounding these lines could improve service for Pepco customers on those feeders by 95 percent, according to a press release.

• Read the full report here.

“This proposal is a win for the District. I asked these task force members to find a solution to this problem worthy of the nation’s capital, and it appears they have been successful at that,” Mayor Vincent Gray said in a press release.

The task force proposes identifying the problematic electrical feeder lines most impacted by storm damage and overhead-related outages. A Technical Committee would use a defined set of criteria—such as historical reliability and customer minutes of interruption—to rate the poorest performing feeders in Wards 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8. From those 60 lines would come five priority feeders— one priority feeder per affected ward.

"Undergrounding construction for the initial group of five feeders (covering approximately 3,000 customers) is targeted to start actual construction activities in 2014. The remaining undergrounding is based on a production schedule from 2015 to 2022," according to the report. 

Should the feeder that services Glover Park be ranked poorest, construction to move that line underground could begin in 2014. If not, residents will have to wait for relief until as far out as 2022. 

Task Force Member and City Administrator Allen Lew called the proposed financing arrangement for the underground, "the first of its kind."

The project would be financed through a "combination of traditional Pepco funding of debt and equity for $500 million, $375 million in District-securitized bonds, and between $62 million and $125 million in District Department of Transportation (DDOT) street-paving funds that will be leveraged to support undergrounding," according to a press release.

Rates would increase for District PEPCO customers starting with about $1.50 extra per month and increasing to a maximum of $3.25 after seven years. Low income residents would not have to pay the new fees.

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