"Reed Hurtt" wrote in message
ink.net...
Looking for a "ballpark" cost to have a residential service line
re-routed.

Situation is a 45 year old house with overhead line from pole at rear
corner of lot. The line angles across the yard at almost 45 deg angle to
corner of house. A tree has grown in the middle of the yard that we do not
want trim to the extent that would be called for because of the line.
Would rather move the line, possibly using the garage roof as intermediate
point. (Garage is free-standing in corner of back yard opposite to the
power pole.) Lot is 60 x 100, line is about 60' long now.

Any ideas what a typical local power co. in large metro area would charge
to do such a thing ??

Would rather not call the co., as they would probably be out cutting the
tree before I could hang up phone ;-(

If you are gonna be throwing money at it anyway, I'd seriously look at
buried service. A pipe down the side of the pole, buried cable, and a pipe
up to the meter base. Never have any tree-trimming or local-drop related
problems ever again, and no problems carrying ladders around. If phone and
cable are fed from same pole, they can go in same trench, as long as the
minimum distance from the power feed is maintained. House looks a lot
cleaner, too, IMHO. Just route the trench around the drip line of the tree
you are worried about. Might not even be that expensive, if you have the
energy to dig the trench yourself, or can cheaply obtain the use of a ditch
witch somewhere.

My father insisted on this setup in 1966 on the family house he built in
central Indiana. Power company took some convincing, but went along with
him. Since then, on high-end houses, buried service has become the norm,
although in new subdivisions it is fed from pad-mounted cubes, not
pole-mounted pigs. Can't remember the last time I saw a new-work aerial
service go in, other than trailer or temporary poles. It costs more up
front, but lasts a lot longer with fewer service calls, so the per/year
lifecycle costs can actually be lower. Any competent electrical contractor
that does new construction can give you a pretty accurate estimate after a
5-minute walkthrough, and probably tell you have customer-friendly the local
utilities are about making said changes.

aem sends....