Right of Access

Routine Right of Way Maintenance

Please work safely; provide access to electrical equipment

Now is a prime time to beautify our homes and lawns. If outdoor landscaping is in your plans, please remember that Gascosage Electric must have access to electrical equipment located on your property. This equipment includes meters, utility poles, underground power lines, and padmount transformers.
More important that inconvenience, working close to electrical equipment and structures can also be dangerous. Remember the 10 foot Safety Rule, the one which requires that you notify Gascosage if you work within 10 feet in any direction from any power line, overhead or underground. Make sure you know where underground lines are located before you put a single shovel into the ground.

Problems and inconvenience often result when:
* a patio or carport is poured over underground cable or directly under electric lines,

* a padmount transformer is enclosed with flowers, shrubs, or decorative fence;

* landscaping around an electric pole makes it impossible to climb the pole without damaging plants,

* a new fence with a locked gate – or no gate – blocks access to an electric meter,

* a new garage or porch encloses the electric meter, or

* a bush planted near the meter grows so large that the meter can no longer be read.

Objects, structures and landscaping may have to be removed to service or repair transformers and power lines.
Before you begin your project, keep in mind that equipment must be accessible now and in the future. This also applies to trees planted near the right of way for overhead power lines. Be aware of the mature height and width of any tree you plant near a power line.

Before you begin to build a new permanent structure (fence, deck, driveway) or landscape near your power line or electric meter, call Gascosage to learn how to proceed with electric safety in mind. Gascosage can help you learn how to work safely and how to avoid problems later.

For your personal safety while you work, please remember the 10 foot Safety Rule. Contact us when you work within 10 feet of any power lines, regardless of the type of project you have underway.