Quote:
Originally Posted by DavGoodlin
I think the US is so larger yet suburban in sheer land coverage, so overhead is the default due to its lower expense to run, visually inspect and maintain. Many more miles for sure.
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Pretty much what DavGoodlin said. My old neighborhood built up about 65 years ago still has the original utility poles which also support AT&T's old copper phone lines as well as their new fiber system, and Spectrum (ex-TWC) cable.. Looks like maybe 8 homes are served by one transformer on a pole behind my neighbor's house. Then maybe 20-30 years ago people started getting concerned about aesthetics and those ugly poles and power lines, so newer developments started going with the more expensive buried power and utilities. One thing we don't have to worry with our overhead lines and transformers is having a ground or buried transformer getting invaded by ants and shorting out the system. That happens sometimes. Occasionally we will hear on the news about a whole block of houses in a buried power lines area that got a big power surge through the 120V lines frying everything plugged in inside the homes.