Worst storm damage ever!

Kalifornia...worst fires ever!

Right...how about clearing the brush and trees that fuel the fires and knockdown the above ground wires. Better yet, how about underground wires?

Mother Nature does what she does. Don’t blame your miss- management on her...please!

They installed underground lines in our neighborhood this year. We have been underground from the pole to our house for 20 years.

A few more decades and they may get to the rest of the state

Back in 2013 WPS started going underground on anything they could. Most of the big projects are long done, but Intercon has until 2024 to finish up on the smaller stuff.

My power has been underground since 2007.

That storm intensity was unpredicted / unexpected. I was OK, but a lot near me were not. This summer has been overall dry and fairly mild. We have been lacking in the rain and storm area.

Personally, I think they do a pretty good job.  I'm sure there are some things that just can't be done underground.  If Alliant went on an all-out campaign to get everything underground, your electric bill would take a massive jump - you know, the money thing - and then everyone would be squealing.  As they say, shit happens, and when it does, I think they do a good job getting it back on line.  Funny how we take something like electricity for granted - till it's not there, then realize how spoiled we really are.  That said, I am thinking about a NG backup generator.  Anyone have one?

Edited-forgot that Alliant is the power Co.

Our neighborhood has power, but no internet. Spectrum (time waner) has been out for 2 days and I am the only one with U-verse (which is working)

There are 3 neighbors in my house right now working from (my) home. :)

We've got WPS, and they've been burying lines constantly over the last 2 decades. As a result, a prolonged power outage has become a rare event. They also have a tree service company (Asplundi) hired on a permanent basis to clear tree limbs near any overhead lines still remaining.  And like you said "shit happens".

The storms 2 weeks ago here in the northwoods area of Vilas/Oneida/Price/Iron/Forest were probably the 2nd worst I've seen in the 30 years I've lived up north. I don't think I know anyone with more than an acre of land who did NOT lose at least 1 tree (I lost 1 red oak, and some big limbs off a few others). The worst storm we had was about 20 years ago when we were without power for 4 days. That prompted me to buy some generators... I've got a 2500w & 6000W Coleman Powermate. The 2500 runs the fridge & freezer at one end of the house, and the 6000W is at the back of the house where I have a HD extension cord run through the wall (permanently) into the utility room. It runs the well, & if need be, the furnace. Both are wired with standard 3 prong plugs, that get plugged in the extension cord for generator use if the need arises. Otherwise, they're plugged into a wall outlet instead of being hardwired.

In the 20 years I've had those generators, I've only used them to power up the house 2 times. The 4 day power loss when I bought them, and the storm 2 weeks ago, when we were without power for 25 hours. Some isolated locations here were out for 4 days this time too. Most power outages are only a few hours, and most are just equipment failures with a circuit being blown somewhere and not storm related.