Power Lines above ground will likely become a thing of the past this century on earth. Why?

 It's sort of the same problem that we are having in California with P,G &E power company. The company is slowly going bankrupt because of power lines being blown down and starting fires here. So, the long term solution likely will be power generated closer to the user to avoid line drop.

The Paradise fire a couple of years ago where the whole town burned down is an example and most people moved to either Chico or Redding or Red Bluff or towns in the surrounding area to financially survive this change because many didn't have or couldn't get fire insurance and so could not afford to rebuild their homes.

In other words power lines going down will significantly increase during this century worldwide.

Why?

Because as the poles melt out the oceans become more and more of a heat battery as the white of ice is replaced by the blue and green waters worldwide which absorbs more heat from the sun. This in turn creates hotter waters which in turn creates hotter winds which means much progressively faster winds which means higher average wind velocities worldwide year around which means more power lines of 1000 volts and more and going to either be blown down or knocked down by falling trees worldwide.

So, as a result it will become financially more viable to either go solar panels or wind generators closer to where power is eventually going to be used rather than trying to ship power over long distances. However, places with water generation like the Grand Coulee Dam which generates an amazing amount of reasonably priced electricity will continue to generate power long distances for a long time still.

However, over time running power underground (even though more expensive) or generating power closer to where it is used likely is what is going to happen simply because it is more cost effective when you have higher velocity winds over time.