In Germany, the power grid has outages of an average of 21 minutes per year -- even during high winds, rain storms and other major weather events. The reason is simple -- Germany has buried nearly all of its low and medium voltage power lines, the type that serve homes and businesses. In many parts of the US, however, we still have overhead power lines -- the kind that fall down during wind and rain, sometimes resulting in fires.
Yes, burying our power lines would cost more in the short term, but it would go a long way towards preventing the week-long outages experienced during summer storms, hurricanes, and other events. It would save on disaster relief and other costs borne after storms and improve quality of life.
Burying our power lines should be a national infrastructure priority.