The single largest underground power line project in Gulf Power's history is nearly complete.

Pensacola Beach residents and businesses on the western end of Santa Rosa Island will begin receiving their power from underground electrical lines in stages over the next few weeks.

"All that remains is to swap the electrical load over from overhead lines to the new underground system," said Lynn Erickson, Gulf Power spokeswoman. "This state-of-the art project is both aesthetically pleasing and built to be strong. And we certainly appreciate our customers' patience during the construction."

The process of energizing the 2.2 miles of underground lines from Casino Beach to the Fort Pickens Gate will be done one section of line at a time, resulting in a three to four-hour power outage for each section.

After the underground lines have been completely powered up, the existing overhead power lines will be removed.

The project was initiated by the Santa Rosa Island Authority which is paying $4.3 million for the installation, which includes the conversion on both ends of the beach.

Electricity to the central core area of Pensacola Beach was converted to underground 12 years ago.

The new underground system has been built using state-of-the-art equipment, with an eye to aesthetics. Stainless steel, submersible “switchgear” is the heart of the system on Pensacola Beach, and is normally placed above ground in a large metal box.

For this project, the switchgear is buried out of sight in concrete bunkers. Other vital equipment has been placed well above sea level, and the overall construction will enhance the system’s ability to resist storm damage.

"While we can't guarantee that there will never be another power outage on the beach," Erickson said, "we've built this new underground system to be as tough as possible so that outages can be minimized."

The final part of the Pensacola Beach underground project is converting the wires which run overhead across Via deLuna on the east end of the beach.

That includes 45 crossings between Avenida 10 and Avenida 23, but does not include the power lines alongside Via deLuna. That part of the conversion project is expected to be complete by spring 2007.