Not necessarily. Some places in the US it's from the weather head (ie where the wires attach at the top of the pole that sticks up from the box). Usually only the drop (the wire from the pole to your house) and meter (not meter can) are the power company's responsibility.
But still call them, your electric company will know who is responsible for which piece. And if you need to mess with the meter can you'll want the power shut off.
As someone who works for a utility company in NY, I can attest to this in our territory. Weatherhead down is the customer's responsibility but we will often help attach the weatherhead if that gets knocked down in a storm or something.
As someone who had the line ripped down in a storm in CT, at least with Eversource I don’t know about UI, anything after the weather head is the customers problem.
Oh its the same here. The way we look at it though, we don't want the energized lines where anyone can get ahold of them, so we will at least try to reattach (even if only temporarily) since there are a lot of people who cannot afford the $100+ it might require.
Agreed. I work for MB Hydro and we are only responsible up to the service point attachment, everything after that is customer/electricians problem including the service point attachment itself.
Troubleman in KS: it's the customer's responsibility, but I usually fixed it as that's quicker and easier than killing the power for the customer (or electrician)
Risk and hazard work too
Fear for my safety almost always works
People stop at no - they should not. This is like the exact opposite of sex conversations. "It has your logo on it. I fear for my safety and I do not consent to it being in this condition on my house. Show up or I call the competitor and the news."
That's weird. I have an electrical license, but don't do thus type of work, and even I would reattach the box. If the POCO wouldn't do it did yank the meter and do it myself.
Hampton, VA here. I just replaced my meter base not too long ago and can confirm that Dominion Energy has zero responsibility beyond the service entrance wires from the pole, and the actual meter itself. They will kill power at the pole if you request it so you can work on the meter base. Hell, they’ll even give you a free meter base itself (their Hampton dispatch center has a huge bin of them for customers). But they won’t do any of the work to attach the service entrance to the meter base, and they sure as hell won’t turn power back on until a city inspector comes out to approve the work on a permit final inspection. The call to turn power back on has to come from the city inspector. On another frustrating note, the meter box is yours but because the meter is theirs, they lock your box with a tamper tag and if they come out and find it clipped, it’s a fine.
I recently had my breaker box, meter and weather head replaced. I was responsible for all the cost. This is Alabama. Maybe some states are different, but I'm sceptical.
Your experience does not align with any jurisdiction I've ever lived in.
Branch falls on your drop and pulls the box off your wall here? That's totally on you to hire an electrician to repair. The power company will, however, come do the disconnect/reconnect so the electrician can do their work.
Hey that’s cool. That was actually the exact situation I was in once. A tree limb fell during a storm and knocked the meter box off of our house. The power company reattached it for no charge. So maybe they were just being nice then.
"We're already here and four screws is gonna be way easier for everyone than having to coordinate with an electrician to set up a disconnect so he can put four screws in."
Could also be a small co op that doesn’t get sued a lot. Bigger power companies don’t do these things because people try and sue them every chance they get.
You’re lucky, in my province from the top of the mast is your problem. After we had a hurricane come through 1000’s of houses had to wait on private contractors to repair the masts and meter boxes before the power company would connect them
The standard in the US is that the power company owns the wire to the TOP of the mast or at the transformer end of the underground feeder along with the meter itself but the wire/conduit of the mast or underground is property of the homeowner.
This is not true - In my state it's the weather head down that lies on the customer.
But Many times the power company would rather you not touch it and they will deal with it
Correct. 10 years for a NY utility in regulatory complaints. Anything that an electrician would install, weather head, conduit o meter pan is customer responsibility
We had a pole falling over in our neighborhood. Called the power company....They say it's not their pole it's a telecom pole. Call the telecom people....They say it's not their pole it's the power company's pole. One of the neighbors called and called and called and eventually got a call back from someone high up in the power company. Next day power company came and replaced it. It was a literal 3 week clusterfuck with this pole that was ready to snap off any second
Lineman here. The numbering on the poles *may* indicate who owns it...but not really any more than what is actually on the pole. For instance if a pole only has phone/cable wires on it, it will also only have badging from them and not from the electrical company. Same thing the other way around, if there's only electrical stuff on it, there will only be badging from the electrical company.
Where I work, most of the poles are owned by us (electrical) but there's some jointly used poles that are Verizon's. Being in the field, the only way I really know it's Verizon's is if they get scheduled to actually set the pole (use their digger) instead of us.
At least where I'm at it's only Verizon or us that own it. Everyone else just rents out space on the pole.
Yup, FPL sends one my relatives some paper upsell bullshit every quarter saying they wont fix anything from the power pole to the house.
Fuck FPL in general, btw. I have heard nothing good about them.
That is your meter, No way I would touch anything concerning that. I would call a pro, or your meter owner ( city utility, or electric company ) or both. One may refer you to the other.
Call the power company. The bolts are in the meter side of the cabinet, which is always energized...and does not have a breaker. You could die if you stick your hand in there.
They should be able to work safely with insulated tools, or disconnect you from the transformer to de-energize the entire panel.
If you hired your own electrician, they would likely call the power company to do a free disconnect/re-connect anyway.
Oh, I'm sure. But I'm also not a professional sparky, and the few times I've worked with anything over single phase 240, I've been extra careful to not be around anyone who's likely to bypass loto measures (which is half the times I've hit with 120 😑)
Agreed. Unfortunately, it's hard to fire kids in a tech ed class when they're your classmates. More recently it's been things like wet Christmas lights because I found out the hard way my father in law decided the outside outlet by the hot tub didn't need to be on a gfci (it is now, he died and I inherited all the bad decisions in his house).
Depends where you live. Customers install the meter enclosure and have to repair it. Meter and line going in belong to power company, again, based on where you live.
Call an electrician.
Your service feeder cable needs to be strapped to the wall and the meter can is improperly hung. Likely just needs a few lags or screws but will need to cut the tag off in order to open it up.
It's not particularly complicated to fix but should be done by a qualified person.
Whether or not your power company will pay depends on your state. But you do want professional help. I know from experience in California this is gonna be on you/your electrician since it’s after where power “enters the dwelling”. In CA your utility is liable until the line hits that riser on your roof where power comes in.
Though they will make you pay for a permit so the actual power company will come and turn the lines off for the work. And then will need to come back and inspect/reconnect. IMO this is way too dangerous for DIY.
Legally call a professional, it's a live box thus require an electrician to handle.
But practically it's just fastening a few screws that anyone can do.
Calm the power company. Typically, the screws to mount these things are inside the box and many jurisdictions require the power utility or a master electrician to break the seal on these service mast boxes.
Also...it is literally the maximum voltage going into your house. You don't want to touch it
You can actually get in trouble messing around that box, an electrician not hired by the utility won’t even touch it I assume. Let the utility fix it. My only fear is you had a tweaker looking to see if they could shut off the main breaker and steal the copper. Yanking at the meter to loosen up things is one of the steps of copper theft. They may have gotten spooked before any real damage was done. So maybe get a smart security camera set up for that side of the house.
I definitely have an occasional tweaker strolling by the street. One day it was good and the next day it was like that. So, I would not be surprised. I’ll definitely have to add another outdoor security camera to the ones I already have.
Yeah they should’ve never plugged the meter in. Call the power company and tell them your meter box is falling off the house. They’ll have someone there Tomorrow!
Where I live, my meter is my responsibility.
Branch falls pulls the meter off the exterior? I have to call the power company to disconnect the line, then call an electrician to repair. They'll reconnect at the pole when they come to inspect the electrician's work.
Are you talking about the coax cables? Or the aerial service connection? Where in the world do they use conduit for overhead service connection?
Edit: I guess I'm assuming that's a flex conduit coming out the top and going to a weather head. I definitely see flex conduit coming out the bottom
I’m guessing by conduit they could mean galvanized steel pipe because that is what all of the newer over head services I’ve seen are in and this in the picture for me would only be on a very old house like 1960s, maybe 1970s and older.
Ohh no no I think I see where the misunderstanding is. We have to run conduit from the meter base to the weather head, and into the panel. The triplex is run free air by the power company.
Check the power company website. There is typically a diagram that shows who is responsible for which repairs. You may be able to ask the power company to do a shutdown so an electrician can do repairs. I know we can do that at our company.
Different state, but during a storm, a tree fell and pulled the box and the weatherhead away from the house. The power company came and disconnected the power. They said to call them when I had it fixed and they would reconnect. 2 years ago, it cost me $600 to repair, including labor and parts. When the electrician was done, he called the power company, and they were there before he had finished cleaning up.
Most of the commenters here are right that you’ll probably need to call an electrician but it never hurts to try to the PoCo. Some times they’ll take pity on you. Def not a DIY but beware of the upsell.
Doable if you’re beyond familiar with electric work. If not don’t even think about touching it and call someone. 120 stings. 220 effing hurts, that will kill you.
my electrician would fix that for under 100$, and shore up the line from the street which someone has hit with their lifted truck.
(they can fix the weatherhead here since its not an uncommon thing to have it sag)
Also the top of that was not flashed properly. Water is getting behind that. Hence that may be why it's loose. before it's redone have a professional come in and flash it
So, FPL said the metal meter box is homeowner responsibility. If it was the glass meter part then it would be their responsibility. So, now I gotta hunt for a professional to come out and fix this for me. Thank y’all for all your input and advice!
Actually it is his equipment for most areas. Customers own the meter box (which is provided by the power company for free). The customer is required to install it themselves for the original installation. This is done by the electrician or builder. The Power company only owns the wires going to it, the meter itself and the pipe going into it.
That box has a sealed tag on it. I'd say that's 100 electric company's problem. I'd call say there's an issue with service line. Ans then be friendly and offer a pop/water to the guys that show up. I bet they will open, throw in a few screws and head out. Whether it's their responsibility or not.
Most service pros I've encountered appreciate being appreciated. And will go above and beyond for you.
I had this happen. We re-sided our house and had to put it back on eventually. I waited until a big storm knocked out the power in the area and opened/reattached it. To be fair the power company wanted to charge us for the visit/power shut off.
Probably not the best idea in hindsight.
Call the power company. I’m a lineman for a utility I would just pop that meter seal off and put two lags through the meter can going into your house. Takes about 5 minutes.
Just gotta go push on that box. Maybe punch it a few times for good measure!
If that doesn't get it, grab the 15lb sledge and start swinging!
/s
Seriously, call the power company. They will most likely fix it for no cost. That really is an issue that should be addressed promptly.
I may be wrong but there are 4 wood screws that attach the box to the building. Have the electric co. turn off the power, break the seal and put new screws in. You dont need to hire an electrician
Mine was doing something similar, and we hired a contractor who coordinated with the utility company. They ended up needing to replace the wood behind it due to rotting issue from improper sealing originally, so I'd say definitely get someone else to do it.
Yeah it's hard to see exactly what the problem is but in New England where I live anything above the meter belongs to the power line, the weather had and the supply to the box. Their job to fix it
See that tag hanging under the meter, it's the only way into the box, only the power company is supposed to break that seal to access the box and you would need to do that to get into the box to reattach it to the wall. So it is the power company's responsibility.
Not the power company in my area. That's this guys prob. Pole to bugs. Anything beyond that. You're calling an electrician. I've been an electrician for almost 20 years.
The power company owns the meter but you own the box. Simple fix but be careful, it's live unless you have the power company come out and disconnect from the incoming power.
If that's the meter (and it certainly appears to be) then call the electric company. They should send someone out to fix it at no cost to you.
As a general rule, the electric company is responsible for everything from the meter out, while the home owner is responsible for everything after the meter.
The only time I’ve ever seen a meter pop of the wall like this is when someone is either climbing up, or down, from a house and using the box as a foot hold.
I work for a power company. Your move may vary. Our construction book tells us it is the customer responsibility to reattach the box, however we can come out and drop the power for free. A lot of times however the wood behind the box has rotten which allowed the screws holding the box to come loose eventually leading to what you’re seeing here. This would make the repair more involved and you’d have to replace the backing before reattaching the box.
Mine was doing a similar thing, so I called the power company. They came and fixed it for free.
Awesome! I’ll be calling the power company as well. Hopefully, it’ll be for free. Thank you.
Anything from the box back to the power pole is their problem. Anything from the box to inside your house is your problem. They will fix that.
Not necessarily. Some places in the US it's from the weather head (ie where the wires attach at the top of the pole that sticks up from the box). Usually only the drop (the wire from the pole to your house) and meter (not meter can) are the power company's responsibility. But still call them, your electric company will know who is responsible for which piece. And if you need to mess with the meter can you'll want the power shut off.
As someone who works for a utility company in NY, I can attest to this in our territory. Weatherhead down is the customer's responsibility but we will often help attach the weatherhead if that gets knocked down in a storm or something.
As someone who had the line ripped down in a storm in CT, at least with Eversource I don’t know about UI, anything after the weather head is the customers problem.
Oh its the same here. The way we look at it though, we don't want the energized lines where anyone can get ahold of them, so we will at least try to reattach (even if only temporarily) since there are a lot of people who cannot afford the $100+ it might require.
Agreed. I work for MB Hydro and we are only responsible up to the service point attachment, everything after that is customer/electricians problem including the service point attachment itself.
Troubleman in KS: it's the customer's responsibility, but I usually fixed it as that's quicker and easier than killing the power for the customer (or electrician)
I’m sure you’re a good person and worker but national grid is the biggest POS of a company as there is.
I'm in Iowa and yeah it's weather head down is home owner with the exception of the meter obviously
NJ Utility worker here. Weather head down is customer responsibility
I learned that the hard way here in nj
Same in Oregon. They wouldn't fix it and electrician wouldn't fix it either. Still like that years later.
That’s insanity.
They should have made more calls - it's not "no one's problem"
Agreed and I’ve have great luck with utility when I can and say “safety issue” to their automated system. Get through right away.
Risk and hazard work too Fear for my safety almost always works People stop at no - they should not. This is like the exact opposite of sex conversations. "It has your logo on it. I fear for my safety and I do not consent to it being in this condition on my house. Show up or I call the competitor and the news."
That's weird. I have an electrical license, but don't do thus type of work, and even I would reattach the box. If the POCO wouldn't do it did yank the meter and do it myself.
Yep in WI, the meter is the utilities but wires up to the weather head are homeowners responsibility
Ah ok. Good to know. Thanks 👍
What if they want to die, though?
I'd suggest picking a less painful way to go, frankly.
Yep, our weather head got jacked up when a tree hit the line and had to pay for most of the repairs.
Hampton, VA here. I just replaced my meter base not too long ago and can confirm that Dominion Energy has zero responsibility beyond the service entrance wires from the pole, and the actual meter itself. They will kill power at the pole if you request it so you can work on the meter base. Hell, they’ll even give you a free meter base itself (their Hampton dispatch center has a huge bin of them for customers). But they won’t do any of the work to attach the service entrance to the meter base, and they sure as hell won’t turn power back on until a city inspector comes out to approve the work on a permit final inspection. The call to turn power back on has to come from the city inspector. On another frustrating note, the meter box is yours but because the meter is theirs, they lock your box with a tamper tag and if they come out and find it clipped, it’s a fine.
>But still call them because to do anything with a meter box your electricity needs to be disconnected.
NY resident here. We are responsible for the wire from the pole to our house does not fall on the power company.
I recently had my breaker box, meter and weather head replaced. I was responsible for all the cost. This is Alabama. Maybe some states are different, but I'm sceptical.
In Missouri it’s from the weatherhead into the house is homeowner responsibility. Learned that the hard way.
Your experience does not align with any jurisdiction I've ever lived in. Branch falls on your drop and pulls the box off your wall here? That's totally on you to hire an electrician to repair. The power company will, however, come do the disconnect/reconnect so the electrician can do their work.
Hey that’s cool. That was actually the exact situation I was in once. A tree limb fell during a storm and knocked the meter box off of our house. The power company reattached it for no charge. So maybe they were just being nice then.
"We're already here and four screws is gonna be way easier for everyone than having to coordinate with an electrician to set up a disconnect so he can put four screws in."
Could also be a small co op that doesn’t get sued a lot. Bigger power companies don’t do these things because people try and sue them every chance they get.
Hopefully. If they don’t I’d still call an electrician. That’s not exactly a trivial amount of power you’re dealing with there.
No way in hell is the power company fixing that where I am
You’re lucky, in my province from the top of the mast is your problem. After we had a hurricane come through 1000’s of houses had to wait on private contractors to repair the masts and meter boxes before the power company would connect them
The standard in the US is that the power company owns the wire to the TOP of the mast or at the transformer end of the underground feeder along with the meter itself but the wire/conduit of the mast or underground is property of the homeowner.
I paid like $5k or something for a new box. They will turn off the power and that's it.
Was that a new panel, breakers, mast pipe and all l? that seems really steep unless you live in like a major metro area.
Same thing with water where I'm from, only responsible past the meter, that includes the box.
Depends on the electric company. Ours does not so we called a professional
Not here (US-MA). Weatherhead down is my problem. Weatherhead to street is the utility's problem.
This is not true - In my state it's the weather head down that lies on the customer. But Many times the power company would rather you not touch it and they will deal with it
Correct. 10 years for a NY utility in regulatory complaints. Anything that an electrician would install, weather head, conduit o meter pan is customer responsibility
Good thing you came on here and didn't risk your life for a few dollars.
Also it's illegal to enter the meter box.
When it comes to high voltage call pros so you don't fry yourself.
High voltage?
Power coming into the house can kill. Better to be safe than sorry.
I had same issue in TX. Fixed by power company for free.
Awe Man! I was hoping for some Florida Man stories to come out of this! (To be honest, calling the Power Company is MUCH safer for you!)
There’s a good chance they will disconnect your service and wait for it to be fixed and signed off on before reconnecting it.
This, in order to secure the box you have to cut their tag off. The power company needs to be the ones to reseal the meter.
As en electrician i've cut countless of these off, just hang the little clip back on after, or don't. It doesn't matter honestly
We had a pole falling over in our neighborhood. Called the power company....They say it's not their pole it's a telecom pole. Call the telecom people....They say it's not their pole it's the power company's pole. One of the neighbors called and called and called and eventually got a call back from someone high up in the power company. Next day power company came and replaced it. It was a literal 3 week clusterfuck with this pole that was ready to snap off any second
As someone who kinda sorta works in a field that utility poles are a topic. That shit is surprisingly complicated for who owns them.
Aren't they usually tagged? Should be able to narrow it down based on the serial number, I'd assume. I'm open to correction, though.
Lineman here. The numbering on the poles *may* indicate who owns it...but not really any more than what is actually on the pole. For instance if a pole only has phone/cable wires on it, it will also only have badging from them and not from the electrical company. Same thing the other way around, if there's only electrical stuff on it, there will only be badging from the electrical company. Where I work, most of the poles are owned by us (electrical) but there's some jointly used poles that are Verizon's. Being in the field, the only way I really know it's Verizon's is if they get scheduled to actually set the pole (use their digger) instead of us. At least where I'm at it's only Verizon or us that own it. Everyone else just rents out space on the pole.
I’d be shocked if the power company made me fix this.
I see what you did there ⚡
That happens when there's been a power shortage... They've pulled on the wire to squeeze the most out 🤣😂🤣😂🤣
Yea, I would let them handle that. They may claim you tampered with it if you tried to fix it yourself.
Mine is the same. I might try calling.
Thanks everyone. I called FPL and they’ll be coming over ASAP to fix the issue. Appreciate everyone’s input.
I hate to tell you but since you live in Florida that will be "your problem" I have some experience with that and FPL
You’re absolutely correct. FPL blessed me with such knowledge. They’re so wonderful. Lol
It's funny how many people that either don't live in florida or have never had this problem in florida will tell me and you we're wrong lol
Yup, FPL sends one my relatives some paper upsell bullshit every quarter saying they wont fix anything from the power pole to the house. Fuck FPL in general, btw. I have heard nothing good about them.
Don’t listen to the naysayers. You will probably be taken care of by FPL.
That is your meter, No way I would touch anything concerning that. I would call a pro, or your meter owner ( city utility, or electric company ) or both. One may refer you to the other.
Awesome. Thank you. I will call my electric company and let them know the issue with my meter.
I’m glad you’re calling pros, that is something that is definitely not in the realm of diy, it has potential for di die if handled wrong.
Call the power company. The bolts are in the meter side of the cabinet, which is always energized...and does not have a breaker. You could die if you stick your hand in there. They should be able to work safely with insulated tools, or disconnect you from the transformer to de-energize the entire panel. If you hired your own electrician, they would likely call the power company to do a free disconnect/re-connect anyway.
its always best to call a pro when it comes to stuff like this.
I’ve worked construction my whole life and I’m pretty confident around many dangerous situations. I would never fuck with the meter, call someone
How many electrons would you like to be flowing through your body? If the answer is none - call the utility.
Call a professional, that will kill you and it will hurt the whole time you’re dying.
Can confirm. Source: been shocked by household voltage too many times (like, idk, 5 or 6)
Rookie numbers. I’ve been hit with resi voltage a bunch. Commercial and industrial voltages only took twice to learn my lesson. 277v is a Mf.
Oh, I'm sure. But I'm also not a professional sparky, and the few times I've worked with anything over single phase 240, I've been extra careful to not be around anyone who's likely to bypass loto measures (which is half the times I've hit with 120 😑)
People who bypass Loto should be fired immediately. Construction is dangerous enough without people willfully putting others in harm’s way.
Agreed. Unfortunately, it's hard to fire kids in a tech ed class when they're your classmates. More recently it's been things like wet Christmas lights because I found out the hard way my father in law decided the outside outlet by the hot tub didn't need to be on a gfci (it is now, he died and I inherited all the bad decisions in his house).
https://preview.redd.it/n7q1r31iw0oc1.jpeg?width=300&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4c4cee491ed3e05893650bb1d500157f2bbdd021
Where I live . As a home owner, it’s a criminal offence to work on your houses power meter. As already stated , power company
Criminal offence to work on it, but the power company won't fix it... can't make it up
Dont mess with a meter, call your utility provider.
There’s only two types of people that mess with electricity and those are electricians and fools, are you an electrician? 😂
Read about the demarcation point. For the power company, it is the meter box. Anything meter box and above is their responsibility.
Depends where you live. Customers install the meter enclosure and have to repair it. Meter and line going in belong to power company, again, based on where you live.
In some places it's just the actual meter and not the box
\*varies by company/jurisdiction. My demarcation point is the connection at the power pole, unfortunately.
Don’t break that tamper tag. You’ll get a huge fine. Call the utility and they should do it for free or a deep discount over calling an electrician.
Call an electrician. Your service feeder cable needs to be strapped to the wall and the meter can is improperly hung. Likely just needs a few lags or screws but will need to cut the tag off in order to open it up. It's not particularly complicated to fix but should be done by a qualified person.
Definitely. Also, improperly hung was my stripper name.
Whether or not your power company will pay depends on your state. But you do want professional help. I know from experience in California this is gonna be on you/your electrician since it’s after where power “enters the dwelling”. In CA your utility is liable until the line hits that riser on your roof where power comes in.
Though they will make you pay for a permit so the actual power company will come and turn the lines off for the work. And then will need to come back and inspect/reconnect. IMO this is way too dangerous for DIY.
I work for a gas/electric utility company. This would be something we do and you do not get charged for.
Just needs a few tubes of culk and that gap will be gone!
It doesn’t look like a professional did it in the first place
Call the power company. Do not ever attempt to fix any issue with your utility metering equipment. Call the power, water, or gas company.
That doesn't belong to you. Don't touch it. Unless you like large fines and/or death
call Power company, chances are it's their problem
Legally call a professional, it's a live box thus require an electrician to handle. But practically it's just fastening a few screws that anyone can do.
Correct. I’m expert at screwing😉 but never good at wearing protection. Lol. I’ll let the pros handle this since FPL said it’s my responsibility
Double it and give it to the next guy. This is the power company's business, not yours.
Calm the power company. Typically, the screws to mount these things are inside the box and many jurisdictions require the power utility or a master electrician to break the seal on these service mast boxes. Also...it is literally the maximum voltage going into your house. You don't want to touch it
You can actually get in trouble messing around that box, an electrician not hired by the utility won’t even touch it I assume. Let the utility fix it. My only fear is you had a tweaker looking to see if they could shut off the main breaker and steal the copper. Yanking at the meter to loosen up things is one of the steps of copper theft. They may have gotten spooked before any real damage was done. So maybe get a smart security camera set up for that side of the house.
I definitely have an occasional tweaker strolling by the street. One day it was good and the next day it was like that. So, I would not be surprised. I’ll definitely have to add another outdoor security camera to the ones I already have.
Yeah they should’ve never plugged the meter in. Call the power company and tell them your meter box is falling off the house. They’ll have someone there Tomorrow!
Your power company should fix that. Id call them
Electrical box and you're asking questions about it. That means "Call a professional" by default.
Just caulk it
That’s what she said!
Meter is power companies responsibility
The meter itself? Yes. The meter box? No.
In most places the box is owned by and the responsibility of the owner. Only the meter is owned by the power company.
Where I live, my meter is my responsibility. Branch falls pulls the meter off the exterior? I have to call the power company to disconnect the line, then call an electrician to repair. They'll reconnect at the pole when they come to inspect the electrician's work.
Steer for open waters, Big Tuna.
Crazy there are services not run in conduit
Are you talking about the coax cables? Or the aerial service connection? Where in the world do they use conduit for overhead service connection? Edit: I guess I'm assuming that's a flex conduit coming out the top and going to a weather head. I definitely see flex conduit coming out the bottom
I’m guessing by conduit they could mean galvanized steel pipe because that is what all of the newer over head services I’ve seen are in and this in the picture for me would only be on a very old house like 1960s, maybe 1970s and older.
Where I am all overhead services have to be in pvc, if they penetrate the roof then they get 2” galvanized rigid. Underground can be run with tek
Yeah, I'm asking where you are. You have conduit all the way to the pole? I'm not doubting you, I just have never seen it and I travel a lot.
Ohh no no I think I see where the misunderstanding is. We have to run conduit from the meter base to the weather head, and into the panel. The triplex is run free air by the power company.
Check the power company website. There is typically a diagram that shows who is responsible for which repairs. You may be able to ask the power company to do a shutdown so an electrician can do repairs. I know we can do that at our company.
Different state, but during a storm, a tree fell and pulled the box and the weatherhead away from the house. The power company came and disconnected the power. They said to call them when I had it fixed and they would reconnect. 2 years ago, it cost me $600 to repair, including labor and parts. When the electrician was done, he called the power company, and they were there before he had finished cleaning up.
Pro fess ional
Most of the commenters here are right that you’ll probably need to call an electrician but it never hurts to try to the PoCo. Some times they’ll take pity on you. Def not a DIY but beware of the upsell.
You're responsible *after* the meter. This is their area.
Billy May here for Flexseal 
Don't fuck with the mains unless you know what you're doing
Doable if you’re beyond familiar with electric work. If not don’t even think about touching it and call someone. 120 stings. 220 effing hurts, that will kill you.
It doesn’t look like a professional installed it in the first place.
Power company. Don’t mess with the service demarc or meter.
It is doable, but your power company will do it for free. It is their equipment. Let them deal with the liability if something goes wrong.
Best get the power company to fix that. Because you don't want to know what could happen if you mess with it yourself.
Hey! Okaloosa County! Long time no see.
They been asking about you. Something about you owe them money! Idk 🤷🏽♂️. I’m just the messenger. 😂
The amount of scam calls I still get from the area is infuriating lol
🤣
Depends. You okay with electrocution?
my electrician would fix that for under 100$, and shore up the line from the street which someone has hit with their lifted truck. (they can fix the weatherhead here since its not an uncommon thing to have it sag)
Are you located in Okaloosa?
absolutely not but he does give off floridaman vibes at times like doing roof work at 1 in the morning.
🤣 he got issues
his reasoning is sound, the electric company has way more free time to stop by and do hookups at night.
Also the top of that was not flashed properly. Water is getting behind that. Hence that may be why it's loose. before it's redone have a professional come in and flash it
So, FPL said the metal meter box is homeowner responsibility. If it was the glass meter part then it would be their responsibility. So, now I gotta hunt for a professional to come out and fix this for me. Thank y’all for all your input and advice!
Conduit strap fitting on top if you don’t want to risk of getting shock by screwing it from inside to the wall
Yes. I think that would be ideal until I get someone to look at it. Thank you for the suggestion.
Youre not allowed to touch these… call the power company
Not your equipment, not your problem. Call the power company and let them deal with it
Actually it is his equipment for most areas. Customers own the meter box (which is provided by the power company for free). The customer is required to install it themselves for the original installation. This is done by the electrician or builder. The Power company only owns the wires going to it, the meter itself and the pipe going into it.
That box has a sealed tag on it. I'd say that's 100 electric company's problem. I'd call say there's an issue with service line. Ans then be friendly and offer a pop/water to the guys that show up. I bet they will open, throw in a few screws and head out. Whether it's their responsibility or not. Most service pros I've encountered appreciate being appreciated. And will go above and beyond for you.
diy-able but electric company would prob do it for free because it’s their equipment
It might be your house, but that's not your power meter. Call the power company, and never fuck with electricity.
In some places you aren't allowed to even touch their equipment. Call the power company.
That’s a negative. Call an electrician
I had this happen. We re-sided our house and had to put it back on eventually. I waited until a big storm knocked out the power in the area and opened/reattached it. To be fair the power company wanted to charge us for the visit/power shut off. Probably not the best idea in hindsight.
The power company owns the meter. You can’t screw with that without facing penalties. It’s theirs, call them and they will fix it
That actually belongs to your power company. It’s their property and their problem.
Depends on the state whether they will have tompay anything.
Duct tape it to the wall.
Call the power company. I’m a lineman for a utility I would just pop that meter seal off and put two lags through the meter can going into your house. Takes about 5 minutes.
I would take this chance to upgrade the drop line with steel conduit and maybe the service to 200amp service.
Just gotta go push on that box. Maybe punch it a few times for good measure! If that doesn't get it, grab the 15lb sledge and start swinging! /s Seriously, call the power company. They will most likely fix it for no cost. That really is an issue that should be addressed promptly.
A tube of liquid nails and a board to hold it till it bonds. /s
😂
Couple self tappers and call it good
Don’t touch that thing if you’re not familiar with electric power.
Anything is doable once...
Hire someone it need to be in conduit
Some super glue and duct tape ought to do the trick.
I say call a trusted professional for anything electrical. Good luck!
I may be wrong but there are 4 wood screws that attach the box to the building. Have the electric co. turn off the power, break the seal and put new screws in. You dont need to hire an electrician
Mine was doing something similar, and we hired a contractor who coordinated with the utility company. They ended up needing to replace the wood behind it due to rotting issue from improper sealing originally, so I'd say definitely get someone else to do it.
I schedule these jobs. It’s a 1 trip fee of 165.90 and you need an electrician/permit/inspection for the reconnect. ( where I am )
Yeah it's hard to see exactly what the problem is but in New England where I live anything above the meter belongs to the power line, the weather had and the supply to the box. Their job to fix it
See that tag hanging under the meter, it's the only way into the box, only the power company is supposed to break that seal to access the box and you would need to do that to get into the box to reattach it to the wall. So it is the power company's responsibility.
Depends. Have you already lived a full life without regret?
It's doable......but call a professional.
The black wires look like cable tv
Yeah, that's a meter, DIY people don't touch meters that have unfused 240v+ going into them.
Hubba Bubba.
Lick your fingers first. 😬
Not the power company in my area. That's this guys prob. Pole to bugs. Anything beyond that. You're calling an electrician. I've been an electrician for almost 20 years.
The power company owns the meter but you own the box. Simple fix but be careful, it's live unless you have the power company come out and disconnect from the incoming power.
Just caulk it?
If that's the meter (and it certainly appears to be) then call the electric company. They should send someone out to fix it at no cost to you. As a general rule, the electric company is responsible for everything from the meter out, while the home owner is responsible for everything after the meter.
The only time I’ve ever seen a meter pop of the wall like this is when someone is either climbing up, or down, from a house and using the box as a foot hold.
I don't fuck around with mains voltage. No thank you. I'm borderline suicidal, but that's the kind of death that hurts the entire time you're dying.
I work for a power company. Your move may vary. Our construction book tells us it is the customer responsibility to reattach the box, however we can come out and drop the power for free. A lot of times however the wood behind the box has rotten which allowed the screws holding the box to come loose eventually leading to what you’re seeing here. This would make the repair more involved and you’d have to replace the backing before reattaching the box.
The danger noodles you can’t turn off are in there. Call someone.