The Hidden Cost of Power Supply.

So I get a letter from our electricity supplier, informing that it is my responsibility to maintain a safe distance from their power lines to my vegetation.
This work, over the past ten years, has been carried out by contractors hired by the said electrical supplier and has incurred no cost to me. Now, all of a sudden, they deem it acceptable to pass on the responsibility and cost to me. Why? They have the equipment, the expertise and its their asset requiring protection.
This work must be carried out within one calendar month of the notice date. They SUGGEST you use a qualified tree trimming contractor. But,hey, please yourself.
They have got to be kidding! I wouldn't go anywhere near their bloody power lines. And as for finding and booking a contractor within the next four weeks...well good luck with that.
They justify the urgency by saying it is a bushfire prone area. So why the hell did they install overheads instead of underground?
I can see someone getting seriously hurt in the not too distant future.
Are there others out there with a similar situation?

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Originally Posted by rustynail

They justify the urgency by saying it is a bushfire prone area.

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Uh-huh.

What about the last 4 hot and dry months (preceded by a nil-rain winter)?

I have that as a regular event. They notify me that I am responsible for the power lines and poles on my property. I point out that the poles and lines carry high voltage and that my responsibility is from their "point of entry" which is the transformer to my house. As the transformer is on the pole next to my house all of the poles and lines are their responsibility. They agree and we wait till next time when we go thru the same procedure.

They are just trying to off load work and possibly responsibility on to unsuspecting customers.

Similarly, my understanding is that the infrastructure owner is responsible for maintenance of poles and wire up to the first connection point on the property. That will be the insulators attached to house. Don't let them con you. It may well be your tree that is interfering, but it is their responsibility to maintain their infrastructure. They need permission to enter your property as well.

Don't deliberately make it hard for them, but make sure they understand that it is their responsibility.

Cheers

Cost shifting is one of the more recent corporate strategies across industries.

I formerly did some light construction and remodeling contracting. I found that many suppliers have adopted the cost of maintaining stock onto the contracting community.

For example, plumbing supplies. Sharkbite fittings are very handy in this business, expensive too. When they were first introduced all of the big boxes had nice assortments and it was possible to find pretty much anything that was needed on a moments notice. A few years ago I noticed that stocking levels were falling off and more commonly used fittings were frequently out of stock. Thus I felt the need to organize a toolbox with a working supply of fittings to ensure that I had what I needed when I needed it. I transitioned to buying the fittings in lots on-line as available and pretty soon I was toting a smaller version of the assortment that the big box retailers had formerly carried. Other contractors with whom I worked would buy fittings from me. I realized that the cost of stocking the fittings had effectively been shifted onto my shoulders and budget.

Appliance, automobile and power tool repair parts are lines where this method is now dominant. Formerly it was possible to go to one of several local stockists, now almost everything must be ordered with consequent delays and work stoppages.

As a small operator the choice is threefold: First and most common locally is to stop providing services that require such types of items, second maintain a working stock at cost or third maintain multiple parallel contract projects such that if a work stoppage occurs on one project you can spend the shipping time working on another while you wait. I've found that the second option is the only viable way to keep a decent work load and avoid angering customers. I just had to eat the costs.

To address your point of utilities providers we had fiber data lines run to the house a few years ago. AT&T came into the neighborhood and dug in a fiber network. Huge mess, holes all over the place and a plague of plastic utility marking flags and paint marks on the streets, grass and sidewalks. They finally got to our house and, after three failed attempts, they successfully connected us. The vast majority of this work was done by subcontractors, the only AT&T personnel involved were the technicians who made the final terminal connections and installed the new modems. At the time we were hooked up the AT&T technician told us that the digging crew (subcontractor) would be along in a few days to bury the fiber line that was strung across our back yard. He emphasized the need to bury the fiber feeder because it is more susceptible to damage than the former copper cable.

A couple of weeks later a couple of schlubs showed up and buried the cable, not in the ground mind but simply by raking some dead leaves over it.

I called AT&T and complained, four times. The cable remains unburied to this day. Yesterday I was out cleaning the yard and there it is two years later. Local building code requires such to be buried but the authorities have chosen to not enforce the rules.

Thus, if I want it buried I'm going to have to do the work. Cost shifting onto me.

Anybody want to buy a nice collection of Sharkbites?

It must be letter writing time as I got one also. I live on a battle axe block and the driveway is part of my land not a right of way and the power lines run above it to a pole which we had to install. The electricity supplier will not maintain it but maintenance is not required as it is galvanised steel and won't rot and fall over like the last one did. If they have to maintain the service and equipment up to the first point is that the pole or the house?

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Originally Posted by Chris Parks

If they have to maintain the service and equipment up to the first point is that the pole or the house?

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They define their point of service as the nearest pole outside your boundary. The wire that feeds your house and whatever supports it is yours.

I understand that I am responsible for what is on my property. Thats why I put it 600mm underground. These bozzo's are talking about the mains running down the street! The local tree trimming contractor is an absolute rip off merchant and is charging the unsuspecting accordingly. If you dont like the quote too bad, there is nobody else in the area and out of towners will probably want the same. Interestingly, the number of robberies and house break ins that have occurred soon after their visit seems more than coincidental.
I have nothing against cost cutting, but shirking responsibility is a very different matter. And placing the public at risk is downright irresponsible.

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Originally Posted by Bohdan

They define their point of service as the nearest pole outside your boundary. The wire that feeds your house and whatever supports it is yours.

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So those who say that their responsibility begins after the insulators on the eaves are wrong?

Correct. In my case they wanted me to replace the feed wire from the pole and raise it 100 mm. They said that birds sitting on the wire had damaged the insulation and there wasn't enough clearance to ground. I had my own electrician inspect the wire and he said that it was OK, the damage was superficial and he tightened the wire enough to raise it. I forwarded his certificate to the power company and have not heard from them since.

I would suggest Chris that in your case, their resposibility would end where the lines terminate on your pole.

The actual responsibility varies depending on the form of the supply (high/low voltage) and where the poles/transformers are located. I have found a leaflet that spells it out.

Interesting topic.

Where we used to live in the Upper Hunter there were two power poles on our property and they supplied electricity to our consumer pole. There is the clue, "consumer." The energy company maintain the poles with the incoming 11KV lines and the associated transformer to bring the power down to 240V. After that it is our responsibility.

Where we currently live the insulated lines from the poles in the street are the energy company's responsibility until they reach the connection on the house. After that it is down to us.

Regards
Paul