Homeowners are responsible for maintaining most of the equipment on their property, outside of the electric meter and electric service lines. They are not covered by most basic homeowners insurance plans, which do not cover electrical lines damaged from normal wear and tear. To ensure safety, it is essential to get exterior electrical coverage.
Homeowners are responsible for electrical equipment attached to the house, such as the weatherhead, riser, and meter box. If any equipment is damaged, contact a licensed electrician to schedule repairs. Power line owners, usually utility companies, are responsible for maintaining safe clearances between their lines and trees. The responsibility for home repairs to the exterior electrical lines typically falls on a homeowner’s shoulders. When a problem occurs, they must call the utility company.
The breaker box outside the house is responsible for regulating the flow of electricity to your home, ensuring that your residential appliances and devices receive the necessary power. The utility company is responsible for the cable up to and where it attaches to your home. You own the cable that is connected to the utilities cable.
In summary, homeowners are responsible for maintaining most of the equipment on their property, including the electric meter and service lines. It is important to understand which components are their responsibility and which are yours when a problem occurs. Obtaining exterior electrical coverage can help protect your home and prevent costly repairs.
📹 Why homeowners are responsible for many parts of their electrical system
Many homeowners are not aware that they actually own part of their electrical system used by Xcel to deliver power. Repairs can …
Who is responsible for the electrical lines from the pole to the house?
In the majority of cases, utility companies are responsible for the installation of wires from the home to the pole, while homeowners are typically responsible for the electrical components within the home. A reliable electrician will be able to provide references, qualifications, and other forms of substantiation to support their claims.
Who is responsible for the service entrance cable?
The responsibility for a home’s electrical system encompasses the service entry cable, the metal box that houses the meter, the meter itself, which is used to measure electricity use, and the service fuse box, which includes the box, circuit breakers, and all wiring within the home. PPL Electric Utilities is the proprietor of the meter.
Who is responsible for low-hanging power lines?
The sag of a power line depends on the tension between the utility poles it runs between. The less tension, the more sag there will be, and vice versa. Utility companies are responsible for ensuring low hanging power lines, which have engineering tables to determine the appropriate sag and tension for a given span. Factors causing low hanging power lines include improper installation, inspection, maintenance, and repair by the utility company, which can lead to the failure of insulators and pole top hardware, causing the lines to hang too low or fall completely. This puts public safety at risk.
Who is responsible for the electric fuse box?
The entity responsible for supplying electricity to a given property is the proprietor of the meter, which is the component that facilitates the measurement of electricity consumption, and the fuse box, which is also known as trip switches. In the event of any difficulties with the fuse box, it is recommended that you seek the advice of a qualified electrician.
Who is responsible for overhead power lines?
Your electric company is responsible for maintaining and repairing wooden utility poles, overhead and underground power lines, and electric service lines that run between utility poles and your home. In North Texas, it can be difficult to differentiate between what you are responsible for replacing or maintaining and what components your electric company is responsible for. However, understanding the difference can help you save money on your electricity bill.
Who is responsible for external telephone cable?
Openreach is responsible for maintaining cables, poles, cabinets, and manholes in the street. They are seeking reports of dangerous or hazardous damage outside property boundaries. To report any issues, call 0800 023 2023. Common issues include damaged underground cables, loose cables, damaged green cabinets, damaged telephone poles, loose manhole covers, and unsafe Openreach worksites. Openreach is committed to ensuring the safety of its network and its customers.
Who owns the overhead power lines?
The National Grid owns, builds, and maintains the electricity transmission network in England and Wales, with distribution network operators (DNOs) managing the poles, pylons, and cables in local areas. In some areas, such as the Midlands, these are also run by the National Grid. Other operators, such as UK Power Networks, manage the distribution network across London, the south-east, and the east of England. In Scotland, energy policy is largely reserved to the UK government, with Scottish ministers approving applications for onshore electricity generating stations and overhead power lines.
Southern Scotland’s transmission network is owned and maintained by SP Energy Networks, while northern Scotland’s is by Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks. Northern Ireland’s energy policy is devolved.
How do you report low-hanging wires?
To report a downed power line, call 911 and follow the instructions provided by FirstEnergy. Always avoid approaching or moving a line, especially if you have a communication disability. Avoid standing under or near damaged trees or utility equipment, driving over or under damaged lines, obeying road closure signs and barricades, and never approach a utility worker unless they have confirmed it is safe.
If possible, move your vehicle away from the line or equipment, stay inside until electric utility workers inform you it is safe to exit, call 911 immediately, warn others to stay at least 30 feet away, and if you must exit due to a fire or other imminent danger, do not touch the vehicle and the ground simultaneously. Jump clear, land with your feet together, and shuffle at least 30 feet away while keeping your feet close together and on the ground at all times.
Who is responsible for removing the light poles?
The company responsible for removing an old utility pole is typically the last utility left to have not moved their lines over to the new pole. This usually involves either your local power company or Verizon, as Verizon moves any other third-party lines. Every utility pole should have a tag with numbers to identify each pole, with most having letters before the numbers to identify the owner. Some areas have no letters and usually belong to the Locol Power Company.
To follow protocol and have patience, you can try to contact the poles owner directly and complain, but often, complaints may get lost in the shuffle. If the old pole presents a clear safety hazard, you can file a complaint with the Board of Public Utility (BPU), which usually does not want you to do this. You can find their number online or on the inside cover of your phone book.
Who do you call for a low-hanging wire?
To report sagging or low hanging power lines, contact the electric utility company responsible for the area and report the condition. If safety concerns arise, contact the company or call 9-1-1. Keep notes of phone contacts and keep copies of written communications, as they may be lost in electrocution litigation. If someone is electrocuted by low hanging power lines, they may have a wrongful death case for pain and suffering compensation and other economic damages against the utility.
If the victim was a utility worker, they may have a Worker’s Comp case against their employer. If you or someone you love is a victim of serious personal injury or death caused by electricity or a sagging line, contact Jeff Feldman, the nation’s most experienced electrocution attorney, who has litigated cases involving low hanging power lines and against utility companies in states throughout the country.
Who is responsible for the power pole?
In the event that a residence’s electrical infrastructure has been compromised, it is imperative to engage the services of a qualified electrician to rectify the damage to the meter sockets and power pole masts, which fall under the purview of the homeowner.
📹 Homeowners working near Powerlines
Hey Everyone! While every situation different, if ever you plan on doing work/renovations near powerlines (even “Low voltage”), …
Im pretty new to the website. I just wana say thank you so much for the content! Im currently an EMS provider and working on making the career switch to start school and an apprenticeship to get out there through a local utility service. Your articles have really helped me make the decision that I wana work for this and try my hardest in the classes to make the cut for getting accepted into the program. Me and my dad have been perusal your articles in the evening instead of netflix🤣. Your articles have been great entertainment and informative . Cant wait for more content. Thanks for sharing and taking the time out of your daily life to provide this content for us all!
As a kid, I remember taking an aluminum ladder and climbing up to the service entrance hood to have a closer look. I was curious about things I could see from the street but couldn’t easily access. Same for the rooftop vents on the top of the house. I remember having stupid confidence as I assumed the cables were insulated, and recall touching them. Nothing happened obviously, but as an adult I look back with horror on some really dumb decisions I made as a kid. Another stupid memory, starting to dismantle the gas meter on the side of the house as I was curious how it worked. Luckily my dad caught me and I didn’t get too deep.
I’m an electrician, Back in 1984 I was asked by a customer of mine to change a ballast on a metal parking lot pole. since I did not have a bucket truck, I used a sign installer friend to change it for me. He called and said he could not do it because the pole was only 18 inches from the primary power line. I called the utility company and asked them to “boot” the wires, they said they would do it for $400.00 Since my customer would not pay that much more, I told him it was off. He said he thought he could do it safely by setting his ladder truck on the other side of the pole. I told him to be careful. The next day my pager was going crazy, He told me when he went up the ladder, his weight caused the pole to sway into the power line, and it knocked the grocery store and the bank to lose power, He came down the ladder with copper burns on his back. The wire also fell across phone lines and burned them up. Thankfully no one was seriously injured but his insurance company. While the power was out, he cut 2 feet off of the steel pole. The power lines had sagged during a hot spell.
Thanks Mate, Just because I watched your articles I called my power company about an issue I saw while takin a walk here out and about in my hometown in Germany. Saw a tree already touching the neural and due to wind it had the potential to touch a hv live wire. Took a photo noted gps call coordinates and wrote them a mail. Just one day after my mail the tree was cut back. I thought ok they took my note seriously. And I was happy to help even as a non electrician.
Great safety article for the homeowner. 👍🏻👍🏻👊🏻👊🏻Yes, we offer the same protection here in CT. Our cover is clear & is rated for brush contact. However I tell customers the same thing. We use black hard guard between the service basket & the pole. It’s ten feet long. If the service is 1/0 triplex we use the orange hard guard like you had shown. By the way what caused all those poles to snap the other night? Well, it made shifting them easy as they were still floating. The only messy part was the 3 phase bank in the road. More than likely an environmental issue there? Good all nighter for a bunch of guys! Keep up the great work & keep those articles coming.
I’m a licensed electrician in my state. Residing the house, I found out my Elect Co does not insulate lines anymore. So I found a 4-5 ft piece of PVC siding corner and wrapped the lines and ty wrapped it closed. Guess I got sick of banging my sweaty head against the service wires. LOL But I’ve found carpenters that haven’t seen the “light” of get zapped by simple 120. Dangerous stuff even at residential voltage. Service wires are subjected to much more serious weather conditions and cracks can develope. I saw a guy stick his head in a telephone cabinet once to look down a pipe and contacted his sweaty hair to a 66 block. Yeah…he learned about 90 volt AC ring current the hard way.
Some pretty nasty storm damage there. Looked almost like a large vehicle impact. Wind has amazing force, not to be taken lightly. I’ve got some tree work to do around my service entrance lines this spring (overhanging branches on a big maple), thanks for the tip on the power company assistance. I will give them a call while planning my work. As always, thanks for taking the time to film and share. Be safe out there!
This is a good opportunity to thank you for showing us that cordless drill that was melted through by 120v. If this homeowner bumped his scaffolding against a break in the insulation, those lines ARE NOT FUSE PROTECTED and things would get ugly. Good call for the homeowner for contacting you and good work for taking care of it. You might have just saved a life.
I’d love to learn more about the how’s and why’s regarding the way your guys infrastructure is setup. I live in New Zealand and our single phase is 230v here and my old 230v service was overhead but I had 400 volt 3 phase installed and went underground for that and I worked alongside the linesman guys and my electrician to get it setup (all I did was dig the trench and ran the cable). I don’t know how you would run my 3 phase overhead as the 3 core cable is well over an inch thick.
Always love the content and practicality that you demonstrate Aaron! I’m very excited to start working in the Line career later this year with my Cooperative back home too! I’m always ether learning as an electrician or am improving what I’ve been taught perusal you. Thank you for all that you do! God bless 🙌 🙏👊
I crossed the PEN and one leg back in the ‘70s painting a house. I was “being careful” but one sweep and crossed on the web of my thumb, which is likely why it wasn’t a bad incident. I remember it in slow motion as thinking I should move my hand. Always remember how lucky I was. An important lesson at 16.
I was outside a couple weeks ago and thought I heard faint arcing coming from the pole right beside my house. Power company came out and turns out to be a bad cutout. He told me that they’ve had them arc to the pole and ignite the pole from the inside, wouldn’t notice it till it was way too late. Always always always call if you see/hear something!
Very timely. On my garage the masthead comes up through the roof by the eaves; the boot has deteriorated and is no longer watertight and I need to install a retrofit boot. But I’ve been leery to do any work that close to unfused conductors even though they’re “only” 120V, especially since the roof is metal. I’ll call the PoCo to see if they do this as an alternative to de-energizing.
Great article! 0:56 and similar is a great example of the performance of properly installed preforms and other components, as shown in one of your previous articles. The temporary wrap looks great to me; it properly isolates conductors from each other and the outside with no loose bits to snag things easily, and yellow/black color scheme reminds one still to be cautious. Your “staging” comment shows you’re thinking of safety for the next worker to come along and not just doing the minimum required before ticking the ‘job completed’ box.
I work in the CATV industry and we have the direct number to our local Power utilities dispatch, twice I have called to let them know about a customers broken neutral and both times they had a lineman out within about 20 minutes to repair/replace the triplex. In our area there is a round tag nailed to the pole it has a P-123456 number on it we call them P tags and use them to reference the pole for the power co.
Just remember kids. If you’ve had an electric shock from 230V before and it hurt but you were able to shrug it off and get back on with your day Then that was NOT! the full mains voltage you got. You really only got a tiny piece of it through the ground return. Don’t make the mistake of thinking you can handle it because you had one before and it “wasn’t that bad”. You don’t ‘shrug off’ a full phase-to-neutral or phase-to-phase shock. It will put you on the ground and it will hurt the whole time you’re dying.
Always better safe than sorry. I work in telecom so naturally I tend to pay attention to hydro or telco stuff just passively when I’m walking or what not. Saw something odd a while back, it was like a black string hanging off one of the high voltage phases and it was touching a speed limit sign below on the same pole. Clearly non conductive or it would have been arcing but I reported it. Not sure what that string was, it almost looked like wire insulation, but it was off a high voltage line which are not insulated.
Im a house painter…. alot of house i work on power is underground into the house, but some times i work around these…. ive normally just sprayed right up to the lines ive never masked them because im honestly afraid to be around them…. but i also run fiberglass ladders to give me some insulation from the ground…. is this ( what you did in your viddeo) something i should just make a habit of doing?to be more safe?
One time when I was young and only slightly dumb, I drove my CJ5 Jeep after church to a church member’s house for a corn roast, and being ME, I parked it nosed up a bank steep enough that the spare tire was dragging on the driveway (I was “conserving parking spots for regular cars”.. Smirk), and I happened to be directly under the Triplex drop to the house. Of course I drew attention and several of the Saints came over to talk to me, and when I stood up in my doorway, or maybe I had climbed onto the cage, but they gasped and warned me that I was almost touching the power line. I had already looked at the wires, and it was a new house with brand new heavy duty Triplex, no damage or weathering on it, (I was already working in industrial automation and maintenance at that point, so I was around live 3 phase every day at work, and had been trained in spotting damage etc), and so after making sure it was no real hazard, I feigned looking around for the power lines, and as I craned my neck, I grabbed onto the Triplex to steady myself… They screamed, I laughed! I knew I was insulated from the ground by 35″ BFG Mud Terrains, so the biggest risk basically was a 110v hot to neutral across a finger, and I was familiar with that feeling, and if I had gotten shocked I naturally would have fallen off, so while definitely not something I would do today, it was relatively low risk as far as grabbing power lines goes! Lol And it being unfused doesn’t really make it more dangerous for me, because I would be dead before a fuse blew, being a delicate flesh bag and all.
I never even knew this was a thing, I did painting, etc around the mast first I was a bit nercvouls about it but I looked it over and saw no damage so figured was safe, but still tried best to avoid it. I had the service upgraded and they ran all new triplex still best to avoid it but I did siding around the mast and was fine. These things need respect but also no reason to be terified of it. Had I known this was a thing I may have even done the same.
Ah the floating utility pole. We drove through a pole hit by a TT. Right over the highway, we didn’t know till we went under it. I wish I could have seen that job. 🤜 that was out in Franklin, CT. One of those it just happened. I’m sure the road was shutdown, suspended between opposing sides of the road poles, chaos. I think if I had become a lineman my nickname would be sparky. I just think of all the weird stuff you describe, downed primary lines by our old rental, drop ripped out ina microburst.. I drive home from the nursery and wires are all over the place, past the house. I pull in to the driveway Car behind be keeps going right into the live lines, disregarding a cop and barrier, who was keeping his distance, person didn’t die, stayed in vehicle while arching till the utilities could shut down the circuit. Wrapped in the wheel wells. Then the fight between the lineman and my challenged landlord.. tying the rudimentary drop back on the house with clothes line, old at that. Waited a week till utilities felt sorry for us and rigged it back up. Stuff i won’t touch.. now in our own property it’s done right. Love my disconnect switch (for a generator, etc)
Wow, you mean in Canada you actually will show up when someone calls and says I found a broken mast head? I’m in Ohio and I’m always told maintenance is backed up but we will add it to the list. Few months later, mast failure, neighborhood is without power. I think US power companies get federal dollars for storm related outrages so they don’t fix stuff.
About a decade ago, my computer shut down without any apparent reason. Initially, I though it was an outage. I asked my neighbor who was outside, and she had power. It turns out that I did still have power. I could turn on the lights, but they were flickering. I went and checked the breaker box, but that was a dead end. Everything seemed normal. I couldn’t quite make sense of it on my own, so I called the power company. The technician narrowed the problem down to the meter. The thing was half melted. It was enough that there wasn’t enough power available for my computer, but not enough to stop the lights from turning on. The meter is on a brick wall, so even if the thing had started a fire in the meter box, it likely would not have propagated.
I’m wondering what your thoughts are on a pole that is loose in the ground. Memphis Tennessee doesn’t seem to be concerned about it. I would say the top of the pole deviates 20 ft one way or the other depending on the wind. This wonky Pole is located right where we park our fuel tankers, I have called no less than five times to request that they fix it before the line falls on a tanker sets it ablaze. 6 months ago the last time I called 🤦♂️. I guess they don’t know how flammable an empty fuel tanker can be. I have a feeling they will find out before they fix the issue.
I’ve had to work around bare crimps before. It’s not very comforting knowing how 120 feels to touch let alone 240. I’ve also been at a building where the ran 3 phase lines as bus bars across the wall on the back of the building for all the units to tap on to with bare connections and only a couple feet at most above the doors that led to the balcony… That wind we had the other day did some damage, I saw that Kingston ON. had to close a highway because some broken poles.
I am an engineer that designs and oversees the building of transmission lines all across the world. Everything shown in this article is spot on. This person may have covered this in other articles, but I would like to make something clear. Those lines are on the low voltage side of the transformer still that hot phase can have a weak spot in the insulation that can’t be seen by the human eye. Generally, 200 milliamps of current are enough to cause cardiac arrest and kill you. If you are working around the house and using a ladder that will come anywhere near these lines, DO NOT use a metal Ladder. I know 2 people that got killed using these ladders and they made contact with that hot phase. EVEN if you have to rent the correct ladder it’s worth it in the end!
according to the guys around here doesn’t matter if it’s insulated if you touch that stuff the magic pixies come out and then they laugh you off as being an idiot. This was over taking a tree down that fell during an ice storm on the tv cable line on the street. As their workload increased we had another one fall later Tuesday and hit the main insulated HV lines so we called them they took their time finally came out Wednesday Whereupon I wish I wasn’t going to the dentist because I missed the fun… somehow they managed to pull the tree down well also not De-energizing the line and then shorting the only 2 foot section of uninsulated line out and then leaving in a hurry ( to change their pants I assume ) well leaving the Half of the small development with no electricity and all of it without water because it’s a shared well for the entire development and 2 elderly folks with no electric heat and one with an oxygen machine. Plan was that they were going to come Thursday Then decided that no we’re not gonna come and fix it we’re gonna push it until Saturday or Monday or Unknown. After I think my Facebook post on their page they decided to come out Thursday morning. One old lady was a bit stubborn and didn’t fare so well in the cold house and didn’t make it past that year. The other one did OK because they were used to the irregularity functional power and went to a hotel.
My city in Ontario Canada charges for install and removal plus 50% material cost deposit that would be refunded only if the line cover is not damage and only up for a week or less not to mention i called them last year for tree branches in contact with the high voltage power line behind my house because you can her the buzzing and they still have not trimmed them back
I’m not sure where in the world you’re at. I’ve worked up and down the east coast in the us and a bit in Texas and the Midwest and I just wanna say it’s cool to see someone doing stuff a different way. This little simple job made me a subscriber just so I can see how things are done in other places. Keep up the good content. Not alot of stuff related to linework like this out there that I’ve seen anyways 🤘
Really enjoying perusal your website…. Worked in the line trade for a couple decades .. did a lot of hand digs and planted a lot of poles …. Always got questioned by homeowners …don’t they. Have machines to dig those Holes . And I say yes. But ..a machine would have dug up and broken that gas line that I have dug around …because that’s where the pole HAS to be …period …. ..property lines ..weight of the power lines anchored with an anchor rod .( that was installed by hand .. 8-10 ft rod with a 2/2 ft plate ….only 6-8 inches sticking out above ground ) … it’s hard work ..and you have to be smart about it to get it right ..SAFTY first ! … …lol. Some times the earth is not to forgiving .. Try digging a transmission line pole hole. on a mountain of rock … dropped off by a helicopter …..three days with a jackhammer for one hole … THAT WAS. FUN. installing the pole with a helicopter is interesting….
I once noticed an insulator that had broken off a pole. The line was being held up by the tap into a transformer on the same pole. Everything was still suspended, so no services were affected. I took a note of the nearest address and called it in. They actually had someone knowledgable on the other end, but I could tell he was a bit skeptical of my diagnosis. A couple weeks later, I noticed it had been repaired. If you see something that doesn’t look right, call it in.
Awesome vid, never seen that type of protection here on Long Island, I’m a 2nd step doing service work for contractor currently and was just wondering what your connection types are on house side. Neutral looked crimped and I couldn’t tell how the hot legs were connected.looked bigger than linkits. We use fuzzy boxes or feather boxes out here. Ty in advance
Good article. I was wondering about calling my local power company because i recently got up on a ladder to check out the strain relief on my internet service cables on a pole that also carries incoming power to both my neighbor and myself. The clamps that connect to the lines are bare metal and one connection is separated by less than an inch from another. High winds might cause movement that could cause them to touch.
Hey bobsdecline, I’m looking at applying to my local utility union, and am very interested in the work itself, but I’m curious on what a typical work schedule is like. I’m expecting tons of hours per week, but will there also be time for family? Is it a scheduled shift with Unscheduled Optional OT? Or on call work? I expect the long days but would love to spend a little time with the family Cheers from British Columbia 🍻🍻
I wasn’t scared to call my local power company when the pole on my property had a lot of wood peckers pounding away at the top, making holes etc. The pole had been there since 1959 and looked good at the base but if you looked at the top it was questionable. So a guy from the local power co comes out and takes a hatchet and whacks the bottom part a couple times, glances up the pole and leaves. The power company reported to us that the pole was fine. It clearly was not. So a while later I called again and said they needed to look at the pole and make sure they check out the top. This time they did and a couple months later we had a new pole. When they replaced the pole they also replaced the bare wire to it with insulated wire, which as nice, given the tendency of the branches from nearby trees to call on them. The only thing is, when they left after they were done, there were connectors left on the ground and a bunch of garbage (boxes that connectors came in, tape, etc). Wasn’t really impressed with the whole thing.
I don’t care what people say, this is a awesome website and Bob is a great guy on top of it. But doesn’t change the fact that I want to fight Bob really bad. He is built like a linebacker while myself because of many years of disease my arms and legs are the size of Bobs forearms. I think that might be able to take him, will see one day. Just kidding, Bob would break my scrawny body in two and I have no desire in getting beat up by Bob so please forgive my words.