6-month breather will help in power line debate
ComEd's decision this week to delay the application for a permit to erect nine miles of power lines along the Elgin-O'Hare Expressway is a welcome timeout in a frenzied battle over the project.
The utility said it will delay its application to the Illinois Commerce Commission for at least six months to give all concerned a chance to hash things out.
"We're still trying to figure out what our options are," Hanover Park Village President Rod Craig told Staff Writer Eric Peterson. "But this takes us out of the panic mode and gives us some breathing room."
Breathing room is what this controversy needs. Craig's village and four others along the route are fighting the project, which calls for a transmission line strung along steel poles 140 to 170 feet tall that would connect substations in Bartlett and Itasca.
ComEd says the project would improve power reliability for 100,000 commercial and residential customers in nine communities.
But those nine towns that would benefit from the power lines are not the same as those whose towns the lines would run through. And that is the crux of the issue.
Hanover Park, Schaumburg, Elk Grove Village, Roselle and Itasca have pledged $100,000 each to fight the project, via lobbyists, public relations people and attorneys.
Craig and others are concerned that the power lines, similar to lines already running along the Jane Addams Expressway, would be ugly and cause a reduction in property values along the route.
Valid concerns, of course.
But the alternative is to bury power lines. And that comes with a hefty price tag for ComEd and its customers.
When the bury-or-not-to-bury controversy erupted after East Coast storms several years ago, the U.S. Energy Information Administration released a study in 2012 comparing the costs of stringing power lines between poles and burying them.
"The cost of underground power lines is significant - up to five to 10 times more than overhead distribution lines," it reads.
Furthermore, the cost to maintain underground lines is higher because of potential water infiltration and because it's harder to find and fix problems.
The upsides of buried lines are that they're out of sight and are not susceptible to wind and ice damage.
The Illinois Public Utilities Act requires that ComEd provide cost-effective solutions so customers don't pay more than they have to, and the utility has cited that in its argument for overhead lines.
Whether there is any wiggle room remains to be seen, but the six months delay at least ought to give all concerned a chance to put their cards on the table, discuss the situation rationally and see whether there might be some middle ground.