Mount Pleasant leaders considering underground power lines for some communities

MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (WCBD)- Residents in Mount Pleasant say they want to see changes in the way power lines are handled in the town, as they’re facing several frustrations.

A lot of the frustrated people live in the Hobcaw community and I went there to speak with some of them this morning.

Every person we spoke to said they would like to see the town invest in putting power lines underground.

“You can see they’ve butchered this tree. It’s still a beautiful tree but it was a lot prettier at one time,” Hobcaw resident, Ariel Trouche said.

Residents like Mark Pinosky say they’re tired of seeing their trees pruned and trimmed to accommodate power lines.

“The trees are beautiful and they really make up what Charleston is all about,” Pinosky said.

Pinosky has lived in the neighborhood for 25 years and says they also experience a lot of power outages during storms.

So to him and other residents, burying the power lines is a reasonable solution.

“The power company doesn’t have any accountability for the days we lose power, so perhaps if they were to be held accountable and have to reimburse us when the power is out, then they’ll realize that burying lines and saving the trees are mutually beneficial for everyone,” Pinosky said.

Town leaders discussed this issue during their planning meeting Monday morning. Speaking at the meeting was Mount Pleasant’s Urban Forester, Eddie Bernard.

“Nobody likes aesthetically how power line pruning looks in the end but it’s necessary,” Bernard said.

Bernard says pruning is something you can’t avoid with above-ground power lines. However, there are several areas in Mount Pleasant where they’ve put the lines underground.

Bernard says it’s time-consuming and costly, “It’s very expensive. Each phase of it is probably 3 to 4 million dollars…”

“I’d certainly be willing to do something towards the effort, but ultimately the power company should bear some of that responsibility, if not most of it. If they’re the ones paying these out-of-state contractors to come in and cut the trees,” Trouche said.

Mount Pleasant leaders also discussed power lines running through palmetto trees. Palmetto trees can’t be trimmed, so if a line is interfering with a palmetto they have to remove it completely.

Mayor Will Haynie proposed mitigating that loss by replacing them with smaller palmettos.