[Fiction question] How are electrical service and telephone land lines provided in unincorporated areas in the U.S.?
Asked by
Jeruba (
55829
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April 7th, 2010
If an older house were situated somewhat remotely, outside the town boundaries, would electrical and telephone service come from above-ground utility poles, or would they use underground lines? I’m assuming those services would still be available. The house is half a mile down a private dirt road off the main road that passes through the nearest village.
Is there any requirement that electrical service be provided? What if the house had never been upgraded from kerosene-lantern days? Any law against that?
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8 Answers
Almost always above ground. Underground is expensive and difficult to install and maintain and done for cosmetic reasons, mostly.
In my area, if a house has no electrical service, the home is deemed unlivable and condemned.
Which, I personally think is bullshit. I should be allowed to read by candlelight if I want to.
For new service, the homeowner or the applicant for service will usually get billed for any unusual and/or extraordinary expense to bring service to the property. Utility companies will usually foot the bill for certain new installations upto a certain pre-established distance from the nearest feeder line.
As far as requirements for electrical or other utility services for a property outside of an incorporated municipality, I guess being located as such precludes the property from being under the jurisdictiion of municipal laws, rules and regulations….which means, to each his own.
Generally those services are provided above-ground in sparsely-settled rural areas—if at all.
The costs to bury lines are pretty prohibitive for individual homeowners living that far away from the main lines (unless we’re talking reclusive millionaires, for example). In a development, the lines are buried for cosmetic reasons and the costs defrayed among all homeowners.
And the services need not always be provided. My brother has a cabin on unincorporated land in New Mexico where he has neither telephone nor piped-in water nor electric power available. Yet the cabin is habitable.
Whether or not they have it also depends on time and location. Thanks to the federal Rural Electrification Administration most rural areas in the U.S. now have electricity, but this program started in the thirties and made fairly slow progress.
I am 4 miles in from the highway in a rural foothill/mountain community and have been waiting FOREVER for the cable to cross the highway. lol
Yes, my power is above ground as are the phone lines, but the fiber optics for highspeed internet and cable are still miles away. Thats okay, I do just fine with things as they are.
The same way they are provided in incorporated areas. You will see more pole lines in rural areas. Sometimes the city pays some of the expense of burying everything. Also, utilities are sometimes forced to provide service to rural areas by state government and subscribers are sometimes forced to participate in the cost to provide that service.
Jeruba, in your specific example, the subscriber may have to pay what is called a high cost premium to get service to the house. It is also possible to have service terminate on a post right at a property line when the subscriber believes he can run the service on to his structure cheaper than the quote from the utility. Any ordinance or law would be local/county so a call to the court house or city hall would get you your answer on the law.
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