Who fixes what after a storm?
In most homes around here, the utility owns the wires that run from the pole to the house and the meter itself. The mast, which is the pipe on the roof or wall that holds those wires up, the weatherhead on top of it, and the meter base the meter plugs into belong to the house. Those are the parts we repair. The utility can't reconnect the house until that side is fixed and passes inspection. One Springfield customer was ready for SUB as soon as the repair was done:
Great!! Amazing that they came out in this difficult time the community is having!! Ready to go now I just need SUB to do their part!! Electricity baby!! Hope hope
How the power comes back on
- We repair or replace the mast, weatherhead, and meter base, and any wiring between the meter and your breaker box that was damaged.
- We pull the electrical permit and call for the inspection.
- We let the utility know the house is ready to reconnect.
- The utility sets the reconnection date and turns the power back on.
… They made the repairs as soon as the site was accessible to them, and the workmanship was superb. …
Photos help us get started
If you can take them from the ground without getting close, photos of the mast, the weatherhead, and the meter let us see what's broken before we arrive and bring the right parts. During an ice storm, Jesse sized up a weatherhead a falling tree had pulled off from a customer's pictures, and Nick made the repair:
… Now, when we actually get our power back, I'll be ready! Thank you, both Jesse & Nick for your professionalism and quick repair!
Ethan C.'s job kept moving through an ice storm:
… His team came out and got the work done in, I felt, pretty quick fashion, considering there was an ice storm in the middle of it all. …
Adding capacity while it's apart
If the mast and meter base are being replaced anyway, it can be the right moment to add capacity for an EV charger, a heat pump, or a shop. That's a service upgrade, which takes more planning with the utility, so tell us at the start. If this outage has you thinking about the next one, a generator hookup keeps the essentials running.