Project to relocate electric lines from power poles to under Nevada Avenue winds down in Colorado Springs

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU) is in the final month of a project it started in March, moving a mile of overhead power distribution lines to under a stretch of Nevada Avenue north and south of Fillmore Street.

The lines are being relocated between Harrison and Commerce streets -- near Common Spirit Penrose Hospital, the historic Old North End neighborhood and the Birdsall Power Plant.

Workers are digging trenches along northbound Nevada and some side streets, installing the lines and paving over the trenches; northbound traffic is reduced to one lane in the construction zone.

The final phase of the project is currently happening north of Fillmore.

CSU spokesman Steve Berry said that the utility rarely relocates overhead power lines in established neighborhoods because of how disruptive the process can be, but the current project results from damage to power poles caused by a December 2021 windstorm.

"The Nevada Avenue corridor is one of the priority areas there because it serves a major hospital," he explained. "It's a major commercial corridor. It's a major travel corridor. Public safety equipment traverses that corridor a lot. It's a major route here in town. And so that really led into that decision. And it's also about what kind of funds do you have available, because relocating power lines is very expensive."

However, because of inherent risks of having underground power lines, Berry says that it's unlikely that we'll see more of them under existing neighborhood streets.

"We saw what happened with the downtown system when we had that fire, that electrical fire (in Sept. 2023)," he said. "The underground electric system can be prone to excavation damage. It also can be exposed to water. So, there's risks with both. It's not this very simple black-and-white answer as to what makes the most sense."

Berry said that 70% of CSU's power distribution lines -- those that provide electricity to homes and businesses -- are already underground, in response to customers considering them to be unsightly and the utility's desire to protect parts of its infrastructure from severe weather damage.

He added that higher-voltage transmission lines will remain above ground because they're easier and safer for crews to access for repairs and maintenance.

Finally, Berry said that a wider community discussion is needed to determine if relocating more power lines underground will prevent the possibility of wildfires starting; authorities determined that sparks from an Xcel Energy utility line was one cause of the Dec. 2021 Marshall Fire that became the most destructive in Colorado history.

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