New York State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele, Jr. (I, D, WF, WE-Sag Harbor) has co-sponsored state legislation with Assemblyman Francisco Moya of Queens that would create a dedicated state fund to underground utility lines across New York State,

The bill would systematically place all of the state's electrical grids underground where requested by local communities in vulnerable areas to prevent electrical power outages, whether they are due to ice storms in the northern region of our state, or hurricanes on Long Island and New York City, or high winds throughout the state.

To accomplish this goal, the bill creates a special revenue fund to be known as the "undergrounding of electrical power or telecommunications lines fund.

Thiele stated, “We can see the economic impact that Superstorm Sandy had on our state. This storm left many people without power for 14 days or longer. Climate change is a reality that insures that such extreme weather events will be part of our future. This bill is a long-term initiative to mitigate these impacts by providing a tool to place our critical utility infrastructure underground.”

This bill would include utilizing FEMA disaster recovery and storm mitigation funds to systematically place all of the state's electrical grid underground. This is the most cost effective way to get power lines underground.

Thiele added, “In the past FEMA funds have been utilized to merely restore utility lines aboveground where they are susceptible to recurring extreme weather. In effect, we will be making the same mistakes over and over again when hurricanes, nor’easters and super storms occur. This legislation would change that policy by directing such funds to underground utility lines in the future.”

Thiele has also passed state legislation for the Town of East Hampton to permit special districts to be created to provide local funding to underground utility lines. Similar legislation is pending for the Town of Southampton.

Thiele concluded, “A state-local partnership is the best means of assisting local communities in vulnerable geographic areas to improve their utility infrastructure in the face of increased risk from climate and weather changes by placing utility lines underground.”