Dangling HV Wire - John Dunn, Consultant, Ambertec, P.E., P.C.

Following repairs of a power outage, I noticed this unsafe situation at the top of a utility pole on Woodbine Avenue, a local street in this neighborhood, I sent an e-mail about it to the local electric utility company, PSEGLI. At this writing, it is June 20, 2014.

That high voltage wire has been left free to blow about in a heavy storm, possibly contacting the wood of the utility pole despite the ceramic insulators up there whose purpose it is to prevent that from happening.

Here is an image of that same pole as seen on Google Maps. It is without that dangling wire. 

I got back this reply via their website:

"Your question has been submitted. Thank you for contacting us. You should receive an e-mail response from us within 2 business days. The reference number for your question is '140620-000491'. We appreciate your business."

I also got this automated reply via my e-mail address:

 

From: PSEGLI Customer Service [mailto:[email protected]] 

Sent: Friday, June 20, 2014 11:28 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Unsafe Wiring [Incident: 140620-000491]

Dear Customer,

Your question has been received. You should expect a response from us within 48 hours.

Thank you.
PSEG Long Island Customer Service 

Comments

[John Dunn]

I was on the phone today with the utility company, PSEGLI. They told me that the pole in question belongs to Verizon (the VZ nomenclature) so they at PSEGLI can't tell where this pole is located.

That means they have a high voltage wire assembly sitting atop a pole that they cannot find in their records.

It sounds like something from Alice In Wonderland.

More to come.

[John Dunn]

I finally got someone on the phone today, July 7th, at PSEGLI about the dangling wire. It turns out, I am told, that the high tension line there carries 7500 volts.

It was an amazing conversation. Even though I now had the street address of the home to which this pole is adjacent, even though I had the pole's Verizon identification number, the fellow with whom I spoke had tremendous difficultly finding the subject pole in PSEGLI records. It's as if PSEGLI has leased the pole from its owner, Verizon, but doesn't know where the pole is.

He found it eventually and thus I was promised that the issue will be 'looked into'.

More to come.

[Alex]

well, are you surprised? here, where nobody is responsible for anything what he/she did, and everything is just happening...