Animal chewed through the line to my barn, is it dangerous?

That shiny aluminum wire you're seeing is the **concentric neutral**. It is wrapped around the insulated hot conductors inside the cable, and while it's not a bare live wire in the traditional sense, it still carries return current and shouldn't be messed with. The biggest issue you have right now is the "funnel effect." When that outer jacket gets chewed or cracked, it acts like a pipe for rainwater. Gravity will pull that water straight down the inside of the casing and dump it directly into your meter socket.

Once water starts hitting the lugs and the meter jaws, you get rapid corrosion. This creates high-resistance connections that generate heat, wich eventually leads to a melted meter or a fire. Electrical tape and sealant won't cut it here because the moisture wicks down the internal fibers of the cable. If the metal mast is already bent and pulling away from the structure, the mechanical integrity is gone. One heavy branch or a bad windstorm could tear the whole service right off the barn. You shold definitely get an electrician out there to replace the run. Since you already know you have animal problems, I'd suggest moving away from SEU cable and having them install a **rigid conduit** setup. Running individual THWN wires trough a solid pipe will stop the critters from chewing through the service again.

Most utility companies consider everthing from the weatherhead down to be the homeowner’s property, so they won't ussually fix it for you, but they will pull the meter so your electrician can work safely. It is better to coordinate this now on your own terms rather than waiting for a short circuit to blow a fuse on the pole and leave you with an emergency repair bill in the middle of the night.

That funnel effect thing sounds like a total nightmare. I had no idea water coud just ride the wire down like that into the actual meter box. Is a rigid pipe actualy squirrel-proof? Those things seem to chew through everything. Also, does the power company ussually charge a fee just to come out and pull the meter? I’m trying to budget for the electrician, but I'd hate to get hit with a huge service fee from the utility just for them to show up for five minutes.

Usually, the utility won't charge you for a disconnect/reconnect during normal business hours, but you’ll definatly want to check their website or give them a call to be sure. The real cost to watch out for is the permit and inspection fee. Most areas won't let the power company re-energize that line until the local inspector signs off on the new work.

As for the squirrels, they’ll leave rigid pipe alone. They chew SEU because it's soft and easy to grip, but they can't get any leverage on a round steel pipe. Just make sure your guy uses a solid hub connector at the meter so no moisture or bugs sneak in that way.