Gerald Broadbent
New member
Portland, Oregon
Skip to the end for the question if you don’t want to read the long set up.
My neighbor’s house sits about 12” form the property line and has an older overhead electric service wire that runs under there eave to the back of the house to the electric meter. We had the same type of service and had it replaced. Our utility, Portland General Electric (PGE), contacted my neighbor and asked them to upgrade their meter – I don’t know what choices she was offered or whether there was any financial compensation. I was completely unaware of any of this until the work began.
In May of 2022, two electricians show up in my side yard to begin work putting a new meter on the side of the neighbor’s house. I confront them and ask them what they are doing. They explain why they are there. I have been in the construction industry all my life, and I understand that if they have a permit to do legal work or are doing maintenance on my neighbor’s house, they have the right to be there. I ask them to put the meter on the opposite side of the house or at least pause their work while we sort this out – they refuse.
I explain to them that where they intend to put the service mast is too far from the front of the house (it’s 9.5’ and code allows 6’ over the roof) and they do not have the required 4’ x 4’ space the utility requires in front of the meter (I have large landscaping rocks and a concrete stair going to my basement apartment). They say the utility company said to put the meter here, so therefore it’s legal and proceed with the work.
I call the utility. I ask them to pause the work and they say they have no control over electricians – they are working for the owner. The also say wire going to the back of the house gives them easement rights to the side of my yard to maintain or replace equipment. The width of that easement is undefined, and they can take whatever space is necessary. Further, there is no requirement that equipment be replaced in kind – a wire is no different than a meter.
I next contact the City building department and several days later a senior electrical inspector comes to my house. He takes one look at the meter and says this will never pass as is. He confirms what I said to the electricians. At minimum, to meet state codes, the mast will have to be moved to within 6’ the front house eave, and the meter will need 30” w. X 36” d. flat work area. He states what I already know about the easement – the City’s only role is to approve the work or not.
After further protests from me, including threatening a lawsuit against PGE and me offering to pay the electricians to move the meter, the utility declares the meter will be moved to the other side of the house. My neighbor does not agree but concedes to the move which will cost her nothing.
Ten months go by with nothing done, and two weeks ago I email PGE to see what’s up. They write that the homeowner changed their mind and decided to not move the service. We are back to square one.
I contact PGE again and ask if a service can be put in without abiding by PGE’s own rules for the 4’ x 4’ flat area, and they say if “real world conditions” can’t be met, they are flexible with the area. They do say that all state electric codes will have to be met and the City will have to pass the all work that under their jurisdiction before they can install the service – in this case the service wires are already temporarily attached by the electricians by wrapping the from below the eave and up over the gutter to the new service head but PGE has yet to replace the service drop wires from the street and final the project. The two hot wires are insulated, so it’s safe to have contact with the metal gutter.
My question is this: What mechanism does my neighbor or PGE have to create the required flat area in front of the meter. There is a short bamboo fence and large landscape rock which are in the 30” x 36” area. Clearly PGE’s 4’ x 4’ area is just a recommendation, so my stairs won’t be an issue. Can someone just show up and tear out the fence and remove the stones?
Unfortunately, it turns out my neighbor is a real estate investor who recently bought the house and is running it as an Airbnb, so I have not seen her in ten months and would have to figure out how to contact her to begin a dialogue. She is already in conflict with other neighbors over fence issues and guest noise complaints, and I really don’t want to deal with her directly. She is the one taking the easement because she decides where the service will go and the electricians are working for her. According to PGE, they can’t compel her to move the meter because their contract states that they must always do all work at the least expense, so as not to burden rate payers generally. To move the meter to the south would require extra work/expense for their crews to move both their boom truck and a ladder after removing the old drop service wire.
In the end, what bothers me the most is not that my neighbor is putting the ugly meter (a subjective assessment) by my front door instead of hers. It’s that no one has ever contacted me about the work. All communication has been initiated by me and it’s clear that PGE does not consider me a part of the situation.
Skip to the end for the question if you don’t want to read the long set up.
My neighbor’s house sits about 12” form the property line and has an older overhead electric service wire that runs under there eave to the back of the house to the electric meter. We had the same type of service and had it replaced. Our utility, Portland General Electric (PGE), contacted my neighbor and asked them to upgrade their meter – I don’t know what choices she was offered or whether there was any financial compensation. I was completely unaware of any of this until the work began.
In May of 2022, two electricians show up in my side yard to begin work putting a new meter on the side of the neighbor’s house. I confront them and ask them what they are doing. They explain why they are there. I have been in the construction industry all my life, and I understand that if they have a permit to do legal work or are doing maintenance on my neighbor’s house, they have the right to be there. I ask them to put the meter on the opposite side of the house or at least pause their work while we sort this out – they refuse.
I explain to them that where they intend to put the service mast is too far from the front of the house (it’s 9.5’ and code allows 6’ over the roof) and they do not have the required 4’ x 4’ space the utility requires in front of the meter (I have large landscaping rocks and a concrete stair going to my basement apartment). They say the utility company said to put the meter here, so therefore it’s legal and proceed with the work.
I call the utility. I ask them to pause the work and they say they have no control over electricians – they are working for the owner. The also say wire going to the back of the house gives them easement rights to the side of my yard to maintain or replace equipment. The width of that easement is undefined, and they can take whatever space is necessary. Further, there is no requirement that equipment be replaced in kind – a wire is no different than a meter.
I next contact the City building department and several days later a senior electrical inspector comes to my house. He takes one look at the meter and says this will never pass as is. He confirms what I said to the electricians. At minimum, to meet state codes, the mast will have to be moved to within 6’ the front house eave, and the meter will need 30” w. X 36” d. flat work area. He states what I already know about the easement – the City’s only role is to approve the work or not.
After further protests from me, including threatening a lawsuit against PGE and me offering to pay the electricians to move the meter, the utility declares the meter will be moved to the other side of the house. My neighbor does not agree but concedes to the move which will cost her nothing.
Ten months go by with nothing done, and two weeks ago I email PGE to see what’s up. They write that the homeowner changed their mind and decided to not move the service. We are back to square one.
I contact PGE again and ask if a service can be put in without abiding by PGE’s own rules for the 4’ x 4’ flat area, and they say if “real world conditions” can’t be met, they are flexible with the area. They do say that all state electric codes will have to be met and the City will have to pass the all work that under their jurisdiction before they can install the service – in this case the service wires are already temporarily attached by the electricians by wrapping the from below the eave and up over the gutter to the new service head but PGE has yet to replace the service drop wires from the street and final the project. The two hot wires are insulated, so it’s safe to have contact with the metal gutter.
My question is this: What mechanism does my neighbor or PGE have to create the required flat area in front of the meter. There is a short bamboo fence and large landscape rock which are in the 30” x 36” area. Clearly PGE’s 4’ x 4’ area is just a recommendation, so my stairs won’t be an issue. Can someone just show up and tear out the fence and remove the stones?
Unfortunately, it turns out my neighbor is a real estate investor who recently bought the house and is running it as an Airbnb, so I have not seen her in ten months and would have to figure out how to contact her to begin a dialogue. She is already in conflict with other neighbors over fence issues and guest noise complaints, and I really don’t want to deal with her directly. She is the one taking the easement because she decides where the service will go and the electricians are working for her. According to PGE, they can’t compel her to move the meter because their contract states that they must always do all work at the least expense, so as not to burden rate payers generally. To move the meter to the south would require extra work/expense for their crews to move both their boom truck and a ladder after removing the old drop service wire.
In the end, what bothers me the most is not that my neighbor is putting the ugly meter (a subjective assessment) by my front door instead of hers. It’s that no one has ever contacted me about the work. All communication has been initiated by me and it’s clear that PGE does not consider me a part of the situation.
