I need to have my power lines replaced outside the house. They are about 60
yrs. old,
and some of the insulation is flaking off. They are going through a tree.
This is the 3 wires
that go from the meter to the pole. The power company said it will cost
$325.00 to do
the job! This is their equipment! Is this common practice today?

Andy

If they own it, they will determine if it needs replacing, but it may be
possible that you own it. Utility companies have tried various ownership
schemes over the years, for example in ConEdison of NY territory I've
upgraded underground services to 200 amp where the utility owed the
underground wire up to the meter and they refuse to replace their #6
conductors. They also have a rule for overhead services that they will go
120 feet from the road, if that doesn't reach your house, you must install a
private pole and furnish and maintain the overhead conductors from your pole
to your house, which may be a similar situation to what you have


wrote in message
...
On Mon, 10 Oct 2005 00:15:42 GMT, "Andy & Carol"
wrote:

I need to have my power lines replaced outside the house. They are about
60
yrs. old,
and some of the insulation is flaking off. They are going through a tree.
This is the 3 wires
that go from the meter to the pole. The power company said it will cost
$325.00 to do
the job! This is their equipment! Is this common practice today?

Andy



I assume you asked them to change the wires. They put you down as a
service upgrade.
Put it in as a service call. Tell them you saw a squirrel blow up and
they were smoking and sparking. (Got a blown up TV you can say was
destroyed in the "surge"?)
Then it is a maintenance call. They will still say "too bad" on the TV
but it takes their mind off replacing the old wire.
Around here all of the old 3 wire was replaced with triplex years ago.

I tried this 5 years ago and they told me I owned the wires out to the pole
at the street (I also have a pole 100 ft from the street). They recommended
I bury the wire because they would do it for free. Go figure. They want me
to replace the overhead wire but they would bury the wire for free. Makes no
sense.

"Andy & Carol" wrote in message
...
I need to have my power lines replaced outside the house. They are about 60
yrs. old,
and some of the insulation is flaking off. They are going through a tree.
This is the 3 wires
that go from the meter to the pole. The power company said it will cost
$325.00 to do
the job! This is their equipment! Is this common practice today?

Andy

"Andy & Carol" wrote in message
...
I need to have my power lines replaced outside the house. They are about 60
yrs. old,
and some of the insulation is flaking off. They are going through a tree.
This is the 3 wires
that go from the meter to the pole. The power company said it will cost
$325.00 to do
the job! This is their equipment! Is this common practice today?

Andy

If it is their wires, then YOU don't have a need. Maybe a want, but why a
need? Their wire, their problem.

In most cases, the wire from the pole to the house are your wires, not
theirs. All things considered, it is not a bad price. If they are your
wires, you can have your own electrician replace them but I'm guessing it
will cost more than their price.

Utility company laws vary, it's entirely possible that regardless who "owns"
the wires, they may be responsible for maintaining them. Underground wires
don't get knocked down in storms






"Jmagerl" wrote in message
...
I tried this 5 years ago and they told me I owned the wires out to the pole
at the street (I also have a pole 100 ft from the street). They recommended
I bury the wire because they would do it for free. Go figure. They want me
to replace the overhead wire but they would bury the wire for free. Makes
no sense.

"Andy & Carol" wrote in message
...
I need to have my power lines replaced outside the house. They are about
60 yrs. old,
and some of the insulation is flaking off. They are going through a tree.
This is the 3 wires
that go from the meter to the pole. The power company said it will cost
$325.00 to do
the job! This is their equipment! Is this common practice today?

Andy

"Jmagerl" wrote in message
...
I tried this 5 years ago and they told me I owned the wires out to the
pole
at the street (I also have a pole 100 ft from the street). They
recommended
I bury the wire because they would do it for free. Go figure. They want me
to replace the overhead wire but they would bury the wire for free. Makes
no
sense.

Makes plenty of sense- buried service cuts WAY down on service calls for
them. Here in the midwest, almost all new construction has buried service
drops. A lot better for the homeowner, too- less hassle with trees, gutter
cleaning, etc. If the power company offered free burial to me, even if I had
to pay for the cable, I'd jump on it. (standard disclaimer- the finish
landscaping, and any driveway repairs, etc, are usually the homeowners
problem. They backfill and hydroseed, but they don't water or make it
pretty.)

aem sends...

"Edwin Pawlowski" wrote in message
...

"Andy & Carol" wrote in message
...
I need to have my power lines replaced outside the house. They are about 60
yrs. old,
and some of the insulation is flaking off. They are going through a tree.
This is the 3 wires
that go from the meter to the pole. The power company said it will cost
$325.00 to do
the job! This is their equipment! Is this common practice today?

Andy

If it is their wires, then YOU don't have a need. Maybe a want, but why a
need? Their wire, their problem.

In most cases, the wire from the pole to the house are your wires, not theirs.
All things considered, it is not a bad price. If they are your wires, you can
have your own electrician replace them but I'm guessing it will cost more than
their price.

This is Turtle.

Louisiana has been down that road before and down here everything from the
pecker head into the house is the home owners stuff. Everything from the Pecker
Head to poles belongs to the power companys. They got into this by the power
company saying the wire going to the house was the customers line. then there
was a fellow who tested the case by telling the power company that the next
morning he would be disconnecting the power from the power pole for he was going
to reroute the wires going to his house and was going to do the work up on the
power company pole hisself with out the power company permission. then there was
a court battle which ended with the power company taking claim to the wire
coming to your house to keep the customers off the power poles.

Now if you have to have a pole on your property to reach your house. you have to
pay for the wire after the first pole on your land and you own that wire. Now if
anybody else wants to use those wires or poles. The power company has to buy
them back or rent the use of them to go to another customer. if there is anothe
customer, the power company will buy back the poles and wire to keep from paying
useage to the owner of the wire and poles.

TURTLE

In article ,
"TURTLE" wrote:

Now if you have to have a pole on your property to reach your house. you have
to
pay for the wire after the first pole on your land and you own that wire. Now
if
anybody else wants to use those wires or poles. The power company has to buy
them back or rent the use of them to go to another customer. if there is
anothe
customer, the power company will buy back the poles and wire to keep from
paying
useage to the owner of the wire and poles.

I have 5 poles on my land, and the power co services all of them up to
my power meter at no cost to me.

--
Free men own guns, slaves don't
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