To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what criteria his Department applies in deciding whether electricity transmission lines should be buried underground. (192598)

[holding answer 7 March 2008]: Undergrounding lines is significantly more expensive than overgrounding them particularly at higher voltages. The Department therefore looks to see whether there are particular circumstances which justify undergrounding a proposed line or stretches of a proposed line. There are no set criteria laid down.