Well, where to begin..Some years ago (about 8), our property had a pole with the meter that had been renewed in December 89 after HH.
In 2003-2004 WAPA started renewing the High Tension (14 KV) distribution branch lines running from the feeders to the branch. That meant putting in new poles-
Originally, our meter box was mounted on the old High Tension Branch Pole, and we were told that new IEEE and other new regs prohibit the meter (or any other low voltage service) from being on a high tension pole. They installed the new high tension pole- and told us promptly in writing that we had to either change our pole or install a concrete meter housing or "monument". They let us slide- and we continued using our old pole- with nothing but the low voltage and meter on it.
But yes- if your meter, meter housing or service does not comply with code- they can disconnect you... BUT- two years ago, this "meter" pole started to fail, especially after storms and such- and we were forced to renew the service- this originally ran 500' down our driveway- since I am an engineer with a very strong electrical background, I suggested moving the service to another location closer to the house- and WAPA did it- Yes! they actually furnished another pole and made life easier- I still had to have trenches, underground conduit and the obligatory monument- but the line foreman in my area was a real gent and saved me thousands....
(See you guys think that I continuously bash WAPA- that's far from the truth, I just have issues with the way they run their plants and their overall management strategy or lack thereof)
So- Bottom Line- attempt to work with them. Tell them that you can't afford any big ticket electrical items- but remember that there is a pretty substantial and up to date electrical code here- and it prohibits the mixing of mutliple voltages on the same pole...especially where high tension is involved...
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/29/2012 08:54PM by DaChief.