On Thu, 16 Jul 2020 06:26:50 -0700 (PDT), TimR
wrote:

On Wednesday, July 15, 2020 at 2:35:12 PM UTC-4, bud-- wrote:

An 8kV wire broke midspan. The source end fell against a box for cable
I
think these wires are "covered", not "insulated".

Easy to insulate against 220V, maybe a little trickier when it's 8,000. They're putting in a new 115,000 V line near me, the project manager told me they work at line potential, as there's no insulation that can cope.

.... at least not fiscally prudent anyway.
Since they do bury high voltage lines some places it can obviously be
done. The added bulk and weight is not necessary on overhead lines tho
and most medium to high voltage conductors are not insulated.
Without insulation, they can use smaller wire. (conductors in free
air).
This is the label off a spool of medium voltage cable that they used
for a buried 13.2kv run underground and then across the bay here.
http://gfretwell.com/electrical/DIRE...le%20label.jpg