Which is why I think these 'conduits' should have some challenge to it, making it harder to set up than creeps, but easier to maintain. Maybe have pulses required by a pump, or maybe have it so that only one valid consumer can be on a line at any given time, otherwise the conduit would 'jam' - this would require players to create 'valve' conduits to open and close connections, creating greater difficulty to set them up. This would make players have to think harder about their choice of transporter type, and make creeps be more efficient for in-base usage, and conduits more for mining outposts. This would mean that if a player really wanted to hardwire a base then they could, but it'd be extremely costly for them in terms of time and resources.