In reply to: I am curious about your last point posted by bmoreirish
In NJ the only areas that have buried lines are those that were built after the 60's - which isn't that many. My house boarders up against the next town, that section has buried lines and mine doesn't. My power goes out 2x a year (on average), theirs doesn't. Just in my small town it would probably cost $100M to convert. I'd love it if they converted, but it's not going to happen.
The best solution is a portable generator. All in with the generator and getting a transfer switch installed you're looking at $500 or so.
I'm hoping to get nat gas run up my street by next summer, then will be swapping out a lot of power gear for solar when I redo my roof.
Until then, I'm at the mercy of Eversource.
I will say we had a tree randomly go over in June that took out my entire corner of town, so when they fixed it up, they rationalized a lot of the wiring, which is likely why we held firm during this one for the most part, but it still would be nice to see some wind/solar initiatives around here really take off. Maybe combine it with some cell towers to limit the footprint or something.
Guy down the street from me has solar and geothermal. I considered solar, but I don't want to be locked into a 20 yr lease. If you can still qualify for the subsidies then purchasing is the way to go.