Undergrounding of power lines completed on South Boundary; decorative street lights to be installed

Dede Biles, Aiken Standard, S.C.
·2 min read

Mar. 31—The project to bury the power lines on South Boundary Avenue, where the branches of majestic live oaks form a canopy, has been completed.

City of Aiken Manager Stuart Bedenbaugh told the Aiken Standard recently that the work was finished in February.

"We are going to begin the process of putting in decorative street lights in a matter of few months," he said. "They will be similar to the ones downtown on Park Avenue."

Aiken City Council approved the undergrounding project in the summer of 2018.

With the power lines out of the way, the live oaks won't need to be pruned as much.

"They are still being trimmed for maintenance and care, but they won't be getting those substantial utility cuts," Bedenbaugh said.

The City of Aiken originally had a contract with South Carolina Electric & Gas, or SCE&G, to get the power line burial work done.

Then, early in 2019, Dominion Energy completed a merger with SCE&G's owner, SCANA Corp. But that didn't stop the effort to put the power lines underground.

The first phase of the project, which involved the section of the South Boundary corridor from the Banks Mill Road/Charleston Street area to Williamsburg Street, was finished in 2020.

During the second phase, the power lines were buried in the section from Williamsburg to Whiskey Road.

"The City of Aiken is making use of Dominion Energy's non-standard service fund, which provides for a 50-50 cost share between Dominion Energy and the city for eligible project expenses," Bedenbaugh said. "The City of Aiken has spent $418,620.50 on the undergrounding project. Dominion Energy South Carolina's share of the expenses billed to date also is $418,620.50. So, the combined total project costs billed to date are $837,241."

Aiken Streetscapes has contributed money to help cover the City of Aiken's expenses for burying the power lines and also has provided other funding for the pruning of the South Boundary's live oaks by Bartlett Tree Experts.

Phase one of the pruning project — in the section of South Boundary from the Banks Mill Road/Charleston Street area to Williamsburg Street — was completed in November 2020.

Phase two — from Williamsburg to Whiskey Road — hasn't begun because the undergrounding of the power lines had to be completed beforehand in that section.

The Aiken Land Conservancy also has provided money for pruning, according to Aiken Streetscapes Executive Director Dacre Stoker.

"The efforts of Aiken Streetscapes and the Aiken Land Conservancy are part of the public-private partnership with the City of Aiken to protect Aiken's grand trees," he said. "It has been a very positive relationship, and we see it continuing in the future."