Those Paint Marks on Grady Smith Road? Georgia Power Is Going Underground

What’s Happening

Georgia Power is going underground on Grady Smith

I know this road. Plantation Ridge, Deep Wood Farms, Plantation Oaks, Garden Springs, Woodland Hills. We wrote the guide on living along Grady Smith Road. When the paint showed up, people started asking. So I drove it this week and shot the photos in this post myself.

The word around town is simple. Georgia Power is going underground on Grady Smith.

That fits what Georgia Power is doing across the state. Its Grid Investment Program started in 2020, and the company says it has installed about 500 miles of underground cable and replaced or upgraded 39,000 poles since then. In 2025 alone it finished 104 distribution projects. Its target was 88.

The Georgia Public Service Commission approved it. In July 2025 the PSC froze Georgia Power’s base rates through at least the end of 2028, and Georgia Power’s 2026 grid report to the PSC covers grid spending for that whole 2026–2028 stretch.

Here’s the honest part. I checked.

Want to check for yourself? Look at the map, watch your mailbox for a Georgia Power postcard, or call Georgia Power’s grid line at 1-888-404-1056.

The Markings

What all those colors on the roadside mean

Those colors aren’t random. Georgia uses the APWA color code, and Georgia 811 publishes it.

Here’s what I saw out there this week. Red paint along the shoulder and through the yards: electric. Orange paint and flags: communications, like cable or fiber. Yellow stakes and flags: in the code, yellow is gas, so a gas line may be marked too. Blue on the road edge: water. I couldn’t read any company letter codes in my photos, so I won’t tell you whose marks are whose.

Three tips

• White comes first. Before anybody digs, the crew outlines the planned dig with white paint or flags and labels it with their name or locate ticket number. Then locators mark every line within 20 feet of that outline.
• Read the letters. Locators paint their company’s code at the start and end of each mark. That tells you whose line it is.
• Leave the flags alone. They protect the crew, your water line and your internet. Pulling them just means someone has to come back out.

One more thing: 811 only marks public utilities. A private line to your shop or barn is on you. If you have one, mark it yourself or have it located before crews show up.

What To Expect

If Georgia Power goes underground on your stretch

Georgia Power publishes its playbook, so you don’t have to guess at the process.

• You’ll get notice. The company says to expect “a postcard or some other form of notification” before work starts in your area.
• You’ll see crews. Surveyors locate underground utilities and place flags and temporary protective covers. Expect more contract crews than usual.
• Somebody may knock about an easement. An authorized land agent might ask about an easement on your property. Georgia Power says easements for distribution projects are voluntary. If you say no, it looks for another route.
• It’ll get messy for a bit. Digging, drilling, dirt piles and staged equipment. Georgia Power says it lets you know when the work is done.
• You’ll see a box or two. Buried lines need above-ground equipment like transformers and terminating cabinets. Georgia Power asks you to keep about 10 feet clear around it.
• Maybe a short planned outage. If one is needed, Georgia Power says it notifies the customers affected.
• Some poles may stay. Georgia Power removes its own unused equipment, but poles that also carry streetlights, cable or phone lines may stay.
• The line to your house is your call. Georgia Power’s project is the main line. You can pay to bury the service line to your own house, case by case. Call 1-888-404-1056 or email G2GPgrid@southernco.com.

Your Home

Why it matters for your home

This is the part I care about.

Fewer outages. In areas where it finished grid projects, Georgia Power reports up to 50% improvement in outage frequency and length. Roughly half as many outages, and half as much time in the dark. The company is clear that outages don’t go to zero.

Less tree trimming. Overhead lines mean trimming crews in your trees. Georgia Power says trimming is minimal on undergrounding projects, though some shrubs may have to go where the equipment sits.

Better curb appeal. Fewer wires across the front yard. Fewer poles leaning after a storm. Buyers notice. Look at the wires over that lawn below. That’s what going underground is meant to get rid of, though poles that carry cable or phone lines may stay.

What about value? I’m not going to invent a number for you. One Australian study (McNair & Abelson, 2010) looked at three Canberra suburbs and found homes on streets with buried power and phone networks sold for about 2.9% more. Different country. Different market. Older data. It’s a reason to pay attention, not a promise.

What I can tell you after nearly 1,000 closings: buyers pay for less hassle. A road where the lights stay on in a storm is an easier sell. (Thinking about timing? Read is now a good time to sell in Loganville.)

If you’re curious what your Grady Smith home is worth right now, before or after the crews, that’s the one thing I’d do today.