Underground power cables in SE Qld

POWER company Energex is rolling out a $100 million program to put powerlines underground and bundle existing powerlines in areas such as shopping strips, bayside communities and heritage areas across southeast Queensland.

Concerns have been raised in recent years that too much of the southeast Queensland electricity network is above ground, making it vulnerable to storms, especially in summer.

Energex chief executive Terry Effeney said underground lines would also replace electricity poles and powerlines that were consistently damaged by traffic accidents.

He said more than 31 per cent of its southeast Queensland electricity supply was now delivered via underground cables.

"There is now enough underground electricity cable in southeast Queensland that if lined up end on end it would stretch some 16,560km - the equivalent distance between Brisbane and London," he said in a statement.

The first projects on the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Brisbane, Ipswich and in Moreton Bay council areas will start this financial year.