Call to underground ESB wires in pilot project in Erris
A NOVEL proposal to underground all the ESB infrastructure in the Erris Region has been made by Mayo Deputy Michael Ring. His appeal to the ESB to put electricity wires underground comes in the wake of the recent hurricane which left the area without power over the Christmas. "When a storm hits this country," Deputy stated, " the people of Erris are generally the first to be deprived of electricity and they are also the last to be re-connected. It is unfair to the people in the Erris area. They pay their ESB bills the same as everybody else and yet they don't have the same service." Deputy Ring called for a cost benefit analysis of his proposal to be carried out. " I'm well aware that there is an additional cost to placing wires underground but Erris would be a good pilot area to carry out such a project. Much of Erris is bog and the cost of burying wires would not be great. There would also be the additional benefit of removing unsightly poles and wires from an uniquely open landscape," he said. Deputy Ring pointed out that Erris was open to the Atlantic and had no mountains to protect it. As a result damage to electricity infrastructure occurred on a more regular basis than in more protected parts of the county. The area suffers more blackouts than most parts of the country and there is a cost to the ESB of restoring that infrastructure. If the wires were placed underground it would eliminate costly repair work. The initial cost would be high but the ongoing repairs would be considerably reduced," he argued. |
