Don't Fence Me In

It’s always kind of sad for Joe LoPalo when he finds one of United’s meter boxes fenced off or enclosed from the freedom of the outside world.

After all, they’re born free.

The United field engineering representative said enclosed meters usually start as an innocent home improvement project where an addition is incorporated onto someone’s home or outbuilding. Most often found in the county where code may not be enforced as stringently as in town, these home improvements that integrate United infrastructure behind walls or even into wall structures can spell future trouble and expense and can create a safety hazard as well for members.

While recently chasing a reported low-hanging line that went into a member’s home, LoPalo said he discovered that newly constructed clapboard walls and a locked metal door stood between him and the meter box. It’s rare that this scenario happens, he said. He’s encountered maybe four in the past 10 years. However, it happens enough overall to be a concern for the cooperative.

“Home improvements are great,” LoPalo said. “However, United infrastructure needs to be out in the open where we can service these items. It’s not something that we can leave there. United always tries to offer our members solutions to fix the problem when we discover it, and we’ll do what we can on our end. But sometimes, the member will need to incur some costs to correct it.”

Along with meters behind walls or caged up behind bars that protect air conditioner units from thieves, LoPalo said he’s even found a power pole that was incorporated into the structure of a wooden porch, making it impossible for United crews to change out without damaging the roof and structure of the porch on the member’s home.

“That was probably the most extreme case that I’ve seen,” LoPalo said. “We just want our members to remember to make sure they keep United infrastructure out in the open where we can access them easily.”

Moving meter boxes and other infrastructure can cost several thousands of dollars, said Michael Lattner,  United’s planning engineering manager. While finding ways to achieve home-improvement goals without moving infrastructure is preferable, it’s typically cheaper to do prior to construction on any home-improvement project, he said.  

Lattner recommended that homeowners should contact the co-op first so that they can include the costs members may incur for moving it prior to the beginning of construction.

“It can get pretty expensive to move the meter box,” he said. “Typically, the breaker box is right behind the meter, and members may have to get an electrician to move the breaker panel and the meter base. This might require the electrician to rewire certain circuits. It may also mean that United will have to rewire the service. In an overhead service scenario, we might have to add wire to reach the new location of the service mast that goes through the eave of the building. Costs can be considerably higher if the service is run underground.”  

Maintaining access is crucial to the electrical infrastructure not only to allow United crews access to service these items, it’s also important from a safety perspective, he said.

“If there’s a fire at the house, the fire department has no access to be able to disconnect the power,” he said. “They need that access to keep firefighters safe, and that may impact how the fire department can respond to the fire if they have no way to shut off the power in an emergency scenario.”