Dominion representative Andre may said that the cost to bury a 500 kV powerline could be as much as 7x more expensive and threatened that Stafford residents would have to pay for it during the school board meeting on December 9, 2025. 

A 500 kV power line was buried in the town of Chino Hills, California.  The original estimated cost of that overground project was $178 million dollars.  The California Public Utilities Commission estimated the underground project cost to be $224 million dollars. That's not even double.

Notably the commission found that the 150 foot easement proposed for the lines was TOO NARROW (The Kraken is 125 feet) and that the height of the poles were burdensome, saying "Currently, the 3.5 mile segment of the 500 kilovolt transmission line running through Chino Hills consists of massive transmission towers reaching 195-198 feet tall (more than double the height of the prior 75 foot structures) and set in a narrow 150-foot right of way. Today’s decision rectifies that disproportionate burden and finds that it is in the public interest to construct an underground alternative based on a single circuit, two cables per phase design using cross linked polyethylene cable.

Said CPUC President Michael R. Peevey, “It’s the dawn of a new era in transmission line planning in this state. In urban and suburban areas, we have to look anew at how we site transmission lines, and carefully weigh their role in fulfilling the state’s energy goals against their impact on community values. I know undergrounding costs more, but I believe in this instance the costs are manageable and relatively minor considering the overall well-being of the populace in doing so.”

Note that the Virginia SCC is not under any mandate to ensure that power line projects are done as cheaply as possible.  They can find that increased cost is worth it to affected citizens.