Electric company moving the power pole in my yard, 1' from a 25' palm tree

July 04, 2019, 08:27 PM

jimmy123x

So Florida Power and Light is changing all of the power poles in my neighborhood with ones that are about 20' taller. Most are now concrete with a few new wood ones to replace the older wood ones. All up and down the street they have been sinking the new pole within 1' of the old pole. Mine is directly on the corner where 2 sidewalks intercept and there is room next to it to install the new one, 2 weeks ago they pulled out the 1 hedge bush that was there by the pole. And, North of the pole I have 3 royal palm trees in a V shaped pattern that are about 7' apart.

Well. I go out of town, I come home and they installed the new telephone pole 7' North of the old one for some unknown reason. Literally 1' away from the trunk of a 25' tall Royal Palm Tree I have. and the branches are even going past the pole, with the pole in between branches. WTF!!!!!!!!!! The trunk of the tree is parallel with the pole 1' away the entire height of the tree. Why on earth would you put a telephone pole 1' away from the trunk of a Royal Palm Tree that's 25' tall. Now if they tree doesn't die to begin with, it will start growing sideways away from the pole, into the span between the 2 other trees, and across my driveway eventually. Eventually I will now have to pay for this tree to be cut down as it will interfere with the wires on the pole now. For the life of me, I cannot figure out why on earth they did this.

July 04, 2019, 09:55 PM

ZSMICHAEL

Because they can. I suspect it is an easment and they have the right to do so. Those issues have arisen here when the crews cut back the centuries old live oak trees whose branches extend near the power lines. The power companies have some pretty high powered legal firms to defend their practices. You may wish to consult an attorney who specializes in these matters. I do not blame you for becoming upset.

July 04, 2019, 10:33 PM

tatortodd

If they're like most big companies they hire contractors who hire subcontractors who hire subcontractors. In other words, Southern Power & Light likely has no idea.

If the wires aren't strung yet, give 'em a call and see if they'll make their sub put a new one in a less obtrusive place.

July 05, 2019, 06:53 AM

Bassamatic

They don't care. They can pretty much do what they want and they usually do.

July 05, 2019, 07:20 AM

Southflorida-law

Are your Royal Palms in the FPL easement?

July 05, 2019, 07:21 AM

arfmel

Yes, it’s their world and they’re just letting us use it.

What I’ve noticed recently is that they no longer remove the old crappy poles when they’re putting in replacements. So in some cases, there are two poles within a foot of each other. Looks real nice, and I guess that after about 20 years of this practice we can all start to enjoy the shade and creosote aroma provided by a thicket of utility poles in our neighborhoods.

July 05, 2019, 07:33 AM

just1tym

quote:
Originally posted by tatortodd:
If they're like most big companies they hire contractors who hire subcontractors who hire subcontractors. In other words, Southern Power & Light likely has no idea.

If the wires aren't strung yet, give 'em a call and see if they'll make their sub put a new one in a less obtrusive place.

^^^^^^This^^^^^^^^

Jimmy, not to stick my nose in where it does not belong but, in my experience with working with them (in another dept) FPL usually has contractors that do most of that work. Even trucks that have magnetic FPL signs that they place on the doors. Usually the FPL crews will be a little more reasonable to customer objections and try and help if they can. I'm not saying that some aren't as reasonable but most all the guys I knew in the overhead crews were pretty nice guys, but again, they usually contract most of that work out. Do you have any photos? I wouldn't mind having a better sense of what you're talking about by seeing a photo or two.

Like mentioned I worked in Substations for many years and all the guys I knew were as helpful with dealing with customers as possible. I have a neighbor who planted these skinny type palms that grow extremely tall directly under the overhead primary, and many have already died off because of incidental contact from flashing over, especially when wet from rain. The bad part is that when they do flash over it causes a momentary and in some cases will lock out if the overcurrent relays show a hard ground. Usually the Substation breakers will time out and re-close the feeder often clearing a temp ground path if not too solid.

I called FPL myself because I got tired of my appliances taking a shot and/or resetting digital clocks and appliances. They told me it's the customers responsibility to cut them back. They will not send Asplunde (sp?) or definitely not an overhead crew to do that work. Especially in rear-of's that there is no real easement area to drive thru. . The neighbor just still lets them grow into the primary....an ongoing problem

July 05, 2019, 08:35 AM

just1tym

quote:
Originally posted by just1tym:
quote:
Originally posted by tatortodd:
If they're like most big companies they hire contractors who hire subcontractors who hire subcontractors. In other words, Southern Power & Light likely has no idea.

If the wires aren't strung yet, give 'em a call and see if they'll make their sub put a new one in a less obtrusive place.

^^^^^^This^^^^^^^^

Jimmy, not to stick my nose in where it does not belong but, in my experience with working with them (in another dept) FPL usually has contractors that do most of that work. Even trucks that have magnetic FPL signs that they place on the doors. Usually the FPL crews will be a little more reasonable to customer objections and try and help if they can. I'm not saying that some aren't as reasonable but most all the guys I knew in the overhead crews were pretty nice guys, but again, they usually contract most of that work out. Do you have any photos? I wouldn't mind having a better sense of what you're talking about by seeing a photo or two.

Like mentioned I worked in Substations for many years and all the guys I knew were as helpful with dealing with customers as possible. I have a neighbor who planted these skinny type palms that grow extremely tall directly under the overhead primary, and many have already died off because of incidental contact from flashing over, especially when wet from rain. The bad part is that when they do flash over it causes a momentary and in some cases will lock out if the overcurrent relays or GI relays show a hard ground. Usually the Substation breakers will time out and re-close the feeder often clearing a temp ground path if not too solid.

I called FPL myself because I got tired of my appliances taking a shot and/or resetting digital clocks and appliances. They told me it's the customers responsibility to cut them back. They will not send Asplunde (sp?) or definitely not an overhead crew to do that work. Especially in rear-of's that there is no real easement area to drive thru. . The neighbor just still lets them grow into the primary....an ongoing problem

July 05, 2019, 08:35 AM

V-Tail

quote:
Originally posted by just1tym:

I called FPL myself because I got tired of my appliances taking a shot and/or resetting digital clocks and appliances. They told me it's the customers responsibility to cut them back. They will not send Asplunde (sp?) or definitely not an overhead crew to do that work. Especially in rear-of's that there is no real easement area to drive thru. . The neighbor just still lets them grow into the primary....an ongoing problem

The power company in our area used to be Florida Power (not to be confused with Florida Power and Light), now it's Duke Energy. The come around periodically and leave door tags, announcing that they will be back in a week or so to trim branches that are too close to the power lines.

Once, a few years ago, they carelessly let a large branch drop and damaged my fence. They kept promising to repair the damage, but they never acted on their promises until I got fed up with their bullshit and wrote a letter to the state utility commission. I did not mail the letter, but did send a copy to Duke Energy, along with copies of all their emails promising to fix the damage. I told them that all the originals would be mailed to the utility commission in ten days; the only way to prevent that would be to repair my fence, to my satisfaction, before the ten day deadline.

The fence was repaired properly and promptly, in less than a week. My take on this, they always intended to do it, but this was on somebody's "to-do" list and never worked its way to the top of the list until I made it plain that there would be consequences unless they repaired the damage that their contractor had caused.

July 05, 2019, 08:52 AM

selogic

Instead of posting about this on a gun forum , call the power company and ask them to transfer you to their Right Of Way department . Find a supervisor and make an appointment with him / her to come out and meet with you . They will be able to point out the easement and clear up any questions on who can do what and where . It's a whole lot easier that way instead of phone calls and emails .

July 05, 2019, 09:38 AM

jimmy123x

I posted this because I got home Wednesday morning (12:15 AM) from a 12 day trip, my 4 hour flight turned into a 14 hour flight (total time at airports and in different planes) and busy with 4th of July etc. I'll call FPL and see if they'll move it.

I'll try to take pictures tonight and post them. I live on a corner lot and the pole is in the 15' easement but right at the closest edge of the easement to my property. I have a sidewalk, then another 8-10' strip of grass on the easement between the sidewalk and street.

July 05, 2019, 10:07 AM

V-Tail

quote:
Originally posted by selogic:

Instead of posting about this on a gun forum.

This section of our gun forum is a place to vent and rant. That's what Jimmy was doing; he was using this section just as it was intended to be used.

July 05, 2019, 11:16 AM

just1tym

quote:
Originally posted by jimmy123x:
I posted this because I got home Wednesday morning (12:15 AM) from a 12 day trip, my 4 hour flight turned into a 14 hour flight (total time at airports and in different planes) and busy with 4th of July etc. I'll call FPL and see if they'll move it.

I'll try to take pictures tonight and post them. I live on a corner lot and the pole is in the 15' easement but right at the closest edge of the easement to my property. I have a sidewalk, then another 8-10' strip of grass on the easement between the sidewalk and street.

Jimmy, I wished that I was still employed at FPL, I'd at least check into it for you to see if I could add a little grease to the wheels if I could. Be persistent with them. I complain these days more than I ever did about service problems. In my experience they will try to help, it's their job..

July 05, 2019, 01:31 PM

sigmonkey

quote:
Originally posted by V-Tail:
quote:
Originally posted by selogic:

Instead of posting about this on a gun forum.
This section of our gun forum is a place to vent and rant. That's what Jimmy was doing; he was using this section just as it was intended to be used.

And this "gun forum" has a tremendous wealth of people with knowledge of how to help someone. As we have seen in short order.

-Capn'ObliviousMonkey

July 05, 2019, 03:11 PM

HRK

quote:
Originally posted by selogic:
Instead of posting about this on a gun forum , call the power company and ask them to transfer you to their Right Of Way department . Find a supervisor and make an appointment with him / her to come out and meet with you . They will be able to point out the easement and clear up any questions on who can do what and where . It's a whole lot easier that way instead of phone calls and emails .

If he didn't post it on a gun forum, how would he have come to receive the wisdom thou hast provided?

is there a Power Poles, Palms and Problems forum out there?

July 05, 2019, 03:53 PM

V-Tail

quote:
Originally posted by sigmonkey:
quote:
Originally posted by V-Tail:
quote:
Originally posted by selogic:

Instead of posting about this on a gun forum.
This section of our gun forum is a place to vent and rant. That's what Jimmy was doing; he was using this section just as it was intended to be used.
And this "gun forum" has a tremendous wealth of people with knowledge of how to help someone. As we have seen in short order.

-Capn'ObliviousMonkey