Belco admitted money is one of the main reasons underground cables are ruled out for the majority of the Island, after high winds again knocked out overhead electricity lines and took out power for most of the island's homes on Thursday.

Bermuda Electric Light Company spokeswoman Robin Sidders said putting all the cables underground would cost $240 million. Last year Belco made $20 million profit and the previous year it made $15 million. She said: "As a private sector organisation we can't afford to make that commitment."

She said any such initiative would have to be supported by the Government and other private sector organisations - and she said going underground wasn't necessarily the best option.

Asked whether her Government would be prepared to commit cash to putting Belco cables underground Premier Jennifer Smith said it was a long-term plan but it wasn't practical for all of Bermuda.

She said: "It's the best solution and one that everyone thinks should happen but I don't think a timetable has been put on it."

And she said commitments arising out of the aftermath of the September 11 terror attacks in the US had put further strains on Government coffers.

"We have had to increase security at the airport. We don't know how far that is going to go."

Mrs. Sidders said Belco had already spent a significant amount of resources on the underground portions of cabling on the Island.

She said: "We do underground cabling for new developments, strategic buildings and when customers request it and pay for it themselves."

Belco also funded underground cabling in St. George's to help improve the look of the town as it went for World Heritage Site status.

But Mrs. Sidders added: "We are not actively doing this at this point all over the Island because the amount of money it costs is prohibitive.

"When you have a fault on an underground cable you spend a lot more time locating the fault. With overhead cable you can just walk along and find it. It's easily and quickly restored.

"We are a semi-tropical island and we are vulnerable to hurricane type of activity."

The Royal Gazette asked if this meant that Belco was leaving itself open for huge problems when storms hit.

Mrs. Sidders said: "Faults occur for a variety of reasons, not just wind."

And she said non-wind related faults were also capable of taking out power for a significant number of homes while trench lines were also vulnerable to storms.

She said: "If the weather had got worse and there had been a flood which had got into the voltage supply it could have been far worse."

Areas of the Island with underground cables include Hamilton, a large section of Harbour Road and the eastern end of North Shore Road.

Recent outages:

January, 2001: Outages are reported across the island. Belco said customers using heaters caused an overload on the system

August, 2000: 14,000 customers are left without power after a short circuit at Belco

May, 2000: A fault in electricity conductors at Belco's Hamilton headquarters wipes out power across the island

Jan 2000: A "Tornado like" storm causes power outages for 2,000 people.

September, 1999: Hurricane Gert knocks out power to 12,000 homes

April, 1999: 7,000 homes are powerless after an electrical storm hits the island

September, 1998: Around 5,000 homes are plunged into darkness when Hurricane Danielle brushes by.

June, 1998: Bad weather downs poles and causes power outages.