‘The work is ongoing’: Dominion Energy expands underground power line initiative ahead of hurricane season

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- As hurricane season officially begins on June 1, Dominion Energy says it’s been working year-round to minimize storm-related power outages across Virginia.

One of the company’s most aggressive strategies is moving more power lines underground, where they are shielded from wind, rain and falling trees.

Downed trees, broken poles and days without electricity have become familiar sights during hurricane season, especially in storm-prone areas of the Commonwealth. But Dominion said it's taking proactive steps to reduce the damage and duration of outages.

“The vast majority of power outages are, in some way, tree-related,” said Craig Carper, a spokesperson for Dominion Energy. “So, when you bury that line, you are drastically lowering the risk of an outage.”

The company’s Strategic Undergrounding Program — launched in 2003 — is aimed at placing vulnerable overhead distribution lines beneath the ground, particularly in neighborhoods with a history of frequent and long-duration outages.

So far, Dominion has buried about 2,500 miles of lines across Virginia. According to Carper, the impact on reliability is already being felt.

“We’re able to make those outages much shorter,” Carper said. “We can go from eleven and a half hours to two minutes, on average, for a neighborhood like this.”

In 2023 alone, Dominion buried 500 miles of lines and reinforced several of its most outage-prone circuits. Carper said the company uses a data-driven approach to determine which areas need attention most.

“We are looking at neighborhoods in a data-driven way and determining where we see the worst outages across our service territory,” he said.

Many neighborhoods built in the last few decades already benefit from underground systems.

“There are other parts of the system that have been underground for 40 or more years,” Carper said. “Post-mid 1980s, undergrounding was kind of the standard.”

But with tens of thousands of miles of overhead lines still in use, Dominion acknowledged there’s a long way to go. Still, officials said the investments are necessary as climate change intensifies storm frequency and severity.

Beyond infrastructure improvements, the utility company is urging customers to take steps to prepare for hurricane season on their own. That includes keeping cell phones and backup batteries charged, storing extra food and water, refilling prescriptions and having a generator or alternate power source on hand.

“The work of preparing for the next storm — that’s a 365-days-a-year business,” Carper said. “It never stops.”

Dominion said it will continue expanding the undergrounding program in the coming years, alongside broader efforts to harden the electric grid. The company hopes these improvements will not only speed up restoration times but also reduce the number of outages that occur in the first place — keeping more Virginians safe and connected when severe weather hits.

To report a power outage to Dominion, you can go online, through the Dominion Energy app or by calling 866-DOM-HELP.