That sounds really interesting. What were some if your son’s conclusions?
He concluded that the long-term cost of the two ways of wiring was about the same, and so the lower outage rate on buried wires was the key element in favor of that plan. He included a few stories about people dying of cold or not able to run medical equipment when their power was out, for emphasis. His assignment didn’t require him to defeat every objection - just to mention some objections and address them.
My other college-age son did a paper about coal-ash disposal, a major environmental issue in these parts. His conclusion was that it’s a very bad system of waste storage, and there’s not much than can be done to improve it. Something totally different is needed, involving lots of chemistry ... and that’s why he should be offered a full scholarship to Appalachian State University to study environmental chemistry.
Unfortunately, he was not, but it was still a good paper and an interesting study subject.