Who Has To Pay?

November 5, 2007 12:14 PM

Who is responsible for power line repair?

Recently bought a house in the northern Kentucky area. Noticed last week that a tree on my property has rubbed the power line coming from the street into my house raw. I know i need to contact the power company but I am a little nervous about how much and who is responsible for the cost of the repair work done to the lines?

posted by slowtree to home & garden (7 comments total)

Just call them and inquire about reporting tree limbs rubbing against power lines. Don't ask them to trim the tree. Just say there is a tree rubbing against powerlines and would they take a look to make sure it's safe. They'll probably come out and inspect it...then hack an enormous chunk out of your tree.

The utility has a right-of-way. If they wanted, they could remove the whole tree. No charge to you.
posted by Thorzdad at 12:35 PM on November 5, 2007

I have several utilities running through my backyard. The power company comes by almost annually and trims the oak limbs from beneath the power lines which run on top. The phone lines that run beneath are all wrapped up in the limbs however. When we called the phone company about it, they said they would only trim them when the line breaks. I asked if we should trim them they said yes, but if you damage the line then you pay.

Another note, (this is in California though) we had our electrical drop upgraded this year, and the power company was very easy to work with and didn't charge us anything to change out their line. It is my understanding that they were responsible up until the wire physically enters the house.

I'd say you are in the clear.
posted by Big_B at 12:59 PM on November 5, 2007

In my experience (Missouri's recent ice storm) the utility's responsibility likely stops at the pole. YMMV.
posted by badger_flammable at 1:12 PM on November 5, 2007

Had the same situation just this summer; in GA, at least, if it is a safety issue (as you describe) they will generally take care of it no questions asked. It actually took me several calls, but I got Georgia Power to cut down a tree that was leaning precariously over my line but not touching it; the tree was not on my property but the line is on an access easment I have for my driveway. The way several linemen have described it to me is that the utility will either service up to the pole going to your house or the meter, depending on the way the regulations governing them are laid out. They generally are more responsive if you call when things are slow because that will head off problems when the next storm comes. You might also want to contact the real estate agent or home inspector (you did have it inspected, didn't you?) because if this is something that is the homeowner's responsibility in your area, it should have been picked up and remedied before you bought the house. In any event, it should not run more than a few hundred dollars; that is what it cost me on another occasion to have a tree removed after a lightning strike before I knew to try the power company first. I love living in the woods, but it does have its drawbacks; I will save answers about trees on houses and what chainsaws are best for clearing your drive at 6 AM on the way to work for the appropriate questions.
posted by TedW at 1:55 PM on November 5, 2007

Like the gas company, the power company has a very strong interest in keeping their lines running and preventing dangerous circumstances. Seconding reporting this, so that they can come out and fix it the way they want to fix it. Do mention that from the ground it appears to have bare metal showing; that'll move the inspection up in their queue quite a bit.
posted by davejay at 2:16 PM on November 5, 2007

I used to work for a power company in Minnesota, and we serviced everything up to the meter socket on the house. If we replaced a service at customer request, we charged $200, plus a per foot fee over 50 feet from the pole (so hopefully you aren't out in the country too far). No charge for tree trimming though.
posted by rocket_johnny at 2:35 PM on November 5, 2007

Oh yeah--if you tell them you have intermittent power--they may just send out a troubleman to inspect it and then schedule a replacement for free (just don't TELL them you want it replaced). It is one of those things -- if it is their idea, it is usually free. If you call up and say, "i think i need my secondary replaced" they're going to bill you.
posted by rocket_johnny at 2:38 PM on November 5, 2007