Residential electricity

[GARYWC]

Does the public utility's responsibility end at:

• the electric meter

• the main breaker in the electric panel box

• the individual branch circuit breakers in the panel box.

[philo]

None of the above. It ends at the input junction at the end of their wiring. That includes the junction itself and the wiring back to the pole.

The only thing they are responsible for on the customer side of the junction is the meter itself.

[TomR]

That's how it is where I am located (in New Jersey). It may be different where the OP is located, and maybe if the OP stated where he/she is located and/or the electric utility company there, someone else here would know the answer for his/her location.

[GARYWC]

Isn't "...The only thing they are responsible for...is the meter itself" the same as "the public utility's responsibility ends at...the electric meter?".

[thekmanrocks]

GARYWC asked: "Isn't "...The only thing they are responsible for...is the meter itself" the same as "the public utility's responsibility ends at...the electric meter?".

No.

What he was saying is that customer responsibility extends to and ends where the wires from their house connect to the pole/wires above the street. Since the only practical place for the meter, physically, is on the residential exterior, that is where meter reads must be done - unless that community has migrated to wireless drive-by reads.

[gfretwell]

It is called the service point and typically that will be the crimps where an overhead drop connects at the drip loop or at the street in the case of a service lateral. You own the wire coming down the side of the house and the meter socket but they own the meter and they have common carrier power to seal the meter can.

[philo]

Well said:

An electrician would have put the conduit and wiring in-place and their wiring is not the responsibility of the power company.

Unless you see a loose wire dangling in the air...if you have a problem, an electrician should be called.

[Retired]

Not necessarily.

In CT, here is how our power co defines it for overhead service

[Paintedcow]

When I was a working electrician, we installed the "Service Entrance". That was the entrance HEAD, to the meter box (socket), and then to the breaker box. (And of course all the wiring in the building iteself). When we completed a job, we left around 3 feet of wire hanging from the entrance head. After the job was inspected, the power company came and ran the overhead wires from the pole to these wires at the entrance head, and crimped them together. Then they installed the meter in the meter socket and turned on the power.

So, the customers responsibility ended at the "service entrance head", (except the Power Co. installed and sealed the meter itself). It was always the same in all locations (in the USA).

I never ran into any underground service feeds, (they were not common in my area back in the 1970's-80's), so I cant comment on that, except that I would guess that the electrician installs the conduit from the meter box into the ground, and the power Co. installs the underground wire up into the meter box. (I could be wrong on that, since I never had to do it).

Also, all grounding rods and connections are installed by the electrician at the house location.

[Retired]

In MA, if underground, homeowner is also responsible for the underground wires from house to nearest transformer. Ouch !

[trader_4]

I was wondering about that too. I have underground service and I would assume that I'm responsible for it up to some point near the street.

[Micky]

I think it ends at the lamp or the toaster.

[gfretwell]

The new meters are wi-fi reads. They have a hub up on the pole every block or so and it polls each meter constantly throughout the day. I can get a report of my usage by the hour on the company web site.

[gfretwell]

Typically where it enters the right of way J box

[dadiOH]

When we built our house the electric company set three poles and ran wire some 200 yards to the last. They then ran an underground drop from the last pole/transformer to our house where they mounted the meter. I figure all that is their responsibility.

[TimR]

I had overhead service from a pole on the edge of my yard to the weatherhea d on my last house.

Having lost the overhead line twice in storms, I asked the electric utility if they could put it underground.

They said sure, they would install it, but I would pay the cost, which was pretty steep. So I offered to dig the trench for them and get everything r eady, all they had to do was connect the wire, they said that would cost do uble. Something about Contribution In Aid to Construction tax liability.

I gave up.

[thekmanrocks]

May [e-mail] wrote: "- show quoted text - It is called the service point and typically that will be the crimps where an overhead drop connects at the drip loop or at the street in the case of a service lateral. You own the wire coming down the side of the house and the meter socket but they own the meter and they have common carrier power to seal the meter can. "

Which begs the question: Who owns the flight from top of the house to the wires above the street?

[philo]

Infuriating but probably due to the legal system...not necessarily the POCO being stubborn.

[trader_4]

Not sure what the issue there is, as the above paragraph say, the overhead service wire from the house masthead to the street is owned by the utility. At least that's the usual case, there might be some exceptions, somewhere.

[HerHusband]

I have installed several underground service entrances, at my home in the country, and at my in-laws in the city. In both cases I had to take care of all the wiring on the property, the power company just made the final connection and installed the meter.

My home is on rural property out in the country. Our meter is mounted on a pole out at the road, then a cable runs down to an in-ground junction box. From there we have separate underground feeds running to the breaker panels in each of our separate buildings (pumphouse, detached garage, house). It was our responsibility to dig the trenches, purchase the cable and install it in the trench, connect the cable to the breaker panel on our end, and leave enough slack at the junction box for the power company to make the connection. Once the electrical inspector approved the installation, we backfilled the trench and the power company came out and made the connection.

The power company supplied the pole at the road, the in-ground junction boxes, and the transformer/cable that comes overhead across the road. We had to supply the meter base, conduit to run up and down the pole, the rain cap at the top, and all wiring on our property.

The installation at my in-laws house was similar except their meter base mounted to the side of their house. We still had to install the base, dig the trench, run the cable out to the in-ground transformer, and get it all inspected. Once we buried the trench, the power company connected the cable to the transformer and installed the meter.

It's important to note that the power company won't connect the power until the inspector approves the installation and the breaker panel is covered.

Anthony Watson