an observation

Princeton economist Uwe Reinhardt had a brief article at the website Economix about the abject stupidity of American infrastructure. He pointed out how overhead electric lines are a thing of the past in most of Europe, and as a consequence, people there do not experience the frequent power outages that prevail in most American neighborhoods during bad weather.

I surmise that utility companies have concluded that there is no profit to be had in burying electric transmission lines. Consumers will complain when  power goes out, but because we have no alternatives but to wait for repairs, we make no demands for regulations that would compel the utilities to improve the situation.

This is called the glory of the free market.