Superstorm Sandy: US reliance on overground electricity cables The main reason why power lines in America are not buried is cost. According to US calculations it would cost ten times as much to bury a line as run the cables overhead, despite their vulnerability to the elements. The country's difficulties are intensified by its size and the fact that houses are often further apart than in Europe, meaning that the lower population density would require far more cable in the first place. During the summer heatwave there was mounting criticism of the electricity industry over the power outages. In Washington DC, Vincent Gray, the mayor, urged the utility industry to consider burying the cables. A study in the city found that spending just over $1 billion on burying the major power cables would reduce the number of power cuts by 65 per cent. Lines can be buried, as in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, where this was done for aesthetic reasons to preserve the feel of a historic site.