Your service line: the span between the pole and the house

What a service line is

Energy Safe Victoria’s definition: “A PSL is a form of PAL with a single span of aerial line connected between the distribution company assets (e.g. pole transformer) and a building or structure (other than a private pole) located on private land.” Its own example is a suburban or rural street, with one span running from a distributor’s power pole to the house.

A PAL, a private aerial line, is low voltage poles and wires that Energy Safe says “form part of the electrical installation of the property”. Older paperwork may use other names: “Private Overhead Electric Lines (POELs), and even referred to as Aerial Consumers Mains (ACM)”.

The point of supply, and why this guide won’t guess yours

Energy Safe defines it as “the changeover point from the electricity distribution network to the electrical installation, where the property owner becomes responsible for the maintenance and repair of the electrical installation including the private electric lines on their property.”

For a private aerial line, it says, the point of supply is generally either where the network connects to the first pole on the property, or where the aerial or overhead line connects to distribution assets on the property.

The Electricity Safety Act 1998 gives the fuller rule for an overhead low voltage line. It is the first point of connection on the land: the first pole on the land if poles carry the line in, or the connection to the premises if the line runs straight to the building. Where neither can be worked out, it is where the line crosses the boundary, and a line connected to company assets has its own rule: the point where it meets them.

Section 83 then lets the distributor decide the point, with a review by Energy Safe Victoria. If the distribution company considers the point given by that definition is not appropriate, it must decide the point of supply itself. If the person responsible for the line considers that point is not appropriate, they may ask the distributor to decide it. The distributor must tell the responsible person of its decision within 14 days, and they may object to Energy Safe Victoria within 21 days of being told. If the distributor has not decided a request within 30 days, they may refer it to Energy Safe Victoria, which must decide.

So the answer depends on how the line reaches your house, and on your distributor. Energy Safe’s advice: “If you are not sure about the arrangement on your property, or whether you have a PAL, you may contact your electricity distribution company.” It adds that the distributors publish brochures illustrating the various points of supply.

Owning a line and maintaining it are separate questions

Two official statements can look as if they disagree. Energy Safe’s page on demolition says: “Your electricity company owns the overhead supply cable and meter.” The Act defines a private electric line as a low voltage line running from the point of supply, and says it counts as private “whether or not that line is vested in an electricity supplier”, and makes the occupier of land with a private electric line on it responsible for maintaining it.

The Act’s wording means a line can be private for these purposes even where a supplier owns it. Which way it falls for the span outside your house is a question for your distributor.

The parts on the house front

CitiPower, the distributor the Victorian Government lists for the city and inner suburbs, says customer installation defects are the customer’s responsibility and need fixing promptly. Its typical examples, in its order:

• the service hook at the point of attachment is missing or loose
• the fused mains box at the point of attachment is faulty or loose
• the meter box or enclosure is defective: a missing door, broken hinges, or no longer weatherproof
• plants on the property need clearing from an overhead service line, or block the way to the point of attachment or the meter.

If it finds one, you receive a defect notice and arrange the repair, then tell CitiPower it is done using its declaration form.

Work on the service line

Energy Safe classes the wiring nearest the street as prescribed work. In a home, it says, that “covers all work done on wiring and equipment where the electricity cannot be switched off. This generally means work on wires up to the switchboard and may include the wiring from the street to the house/building and the electricity meter.” An inspector then checks it, and your electrical contractor arranges that inspection. Energy Safe’s list of prescribed work names, among other things, “any supports for overhead service lines (including any poles)”.

Two more lines from Energy Safe settle the rest: “It is illegal to alter, remove or tamper with an electrical supply cable and meter.” “Damaged or dislodged supply cables can lead to a serious risk of injury, electric shock or death.”

On its private aerial lines page, Energy Safe says arrangements for access to, or work on or near, a distributor’s equipment go through that distributor, and happen only with its written permission (a permit) and on its conditions. And before any demolition, it says, the supply has to be permanently removed, overhead and underground.

If a defect notice has arrived, or you’re not sure what is on your house front, a registered electrical contractor can look at the service line, the point of attachment and the meter box and explain what is yours to fix.