PSO Wants To Bury More Cable

PSO says it's ready to double its efforts to get power lines buried in Tulsa. Company officials made their case at a hearing before the Oklahoma Corporation Commission in Oklahoma City on Monday morning. The company says that while many neighborhoods with buried lines lost power during last month's ice storm, service to those areas was restored more quickly.

PSO now budgets $20 million a year to convert overhead lines. On Monday, it proposed doubling that budget. Even with that, company officials say it would take at least ten years to get the entire city converted.

"It's going to take a little while to ramp that up. Even if the commission said go for it right away, spend more money. It's going to take us months and months to get that ramped up," said PSO's Preston Kissman.

PSO wants to charge customers another 25 cents a month to pay for the buried lines, but that needs permission from the Oklahoma Corporation Commission.

Monday's hearing was just the first step. The commission asked its staff to gather more information and report back.