who is responsible for tree branch resting on utility cable? archived

The first call is to PSE&G. They may look at it and send it over to Verizon or Comcast.

You do not want to be messing with a wet tree branch hanging on a utility cable.
Later,
George

I've had this problem with PSE&G and they told me they will only correct the situation if the branch in on the uppermost wire, which serves the entire block. If it is a lower wire that only serves your house, they instruct you to hire a tree service.

It was a very annoying message. If anyone hears something different, please pass it on.

Thank you, George. I just had a very pleasant experience with PSE&G on the phone. She asked me which cable the branch rests on, because the uppermost one is theirs. I told her it is the uppermost one but I also said I think the uppermost one is a steel structural cable to stabilize the pole. She said she will send her crew out to check it out. If it's their cable, they will remediate. If it's not their cable, they will call me, and I can call the appropriate utility company.

I also called in a street light that's out.

She thanked me very much for calling, because this sort of thing can prevent a serious problem. She said too few people think to call these things in.

She also thanked me for calling in the street light.

I don't have to be home for the crew, so this has been, so far, a very pleasant experience.

Posted By: Tom ReingoldShe asked me which cable the branch rests on, because the uppermost one is theirs.

Tom, Good!!

The statement you posted is mostly true, but not 100%.

Excluding any steel supporting cables, the upper most set of wires are likely (two wires) and those are 10,000, 12,000 or 15,000 volt feeder lines. They feed to the step down transfromers that hang on the poles and are part of the PSE&G system.

The next level down are sets of three wires with a metal support wire which are the 120-220 volt lines from the step-down transformers to your house and your meter. These are part of the PSE&G system.

You own the wire from the meter masthead to the meter, to you breaker panel and your house branch circuits.

On the pole, the next level down, the third level on most poles (and the lower level) you have the cable and telephone wires, which are considered low voltage. The telephone or cable companies own these wires.

Just incase you wanted to know.

Later,
George

George, I'm glad you told me, but these are not normal poles or cables. This pole is between the properties' backs, not on the street, which is not normal for Maplewood. The PSE&G guy came while I was shovelling snow, so we looked together. He said it's not a power line, and I think he said there are no power lines over my back yard. He said the cable that I thought was a supporting cable is really a phone cable. There is twisting inside the cable's insulation, and it looked like a steel braided cable, but it's not.

He also taught me that supporting cables that go from pole to pole are called messenger wires and that supporting cables that go from pole to ground are called guy wires. He said messenger wires are fairly rare.

He said there's a slight chance that the cable in question is a comcast cable. Verizon and comcast do have service agreements for each other, and Verizon fixes comcast's problems more often than vice versa. So it makes sense to call Verizon next, which I did. They're coming Tuesday to look at it. Since, as far as I know, this isn't causing a service interruption, that seems fine. The woman at Verizon thanked me nicely. It was almost as pleasant as calling PSE&G but I had to fight a fair bit with the voice response unit with Verizon. It was much easier to get a human at PSE&G.

The Verizon guys came. They were really nice. They cut three small branches off my pine tree. The cables feed my neighbors, not me, so it turns out I did favors for Verizon and my neighbors.