First Energy Maintenance
Anyone else get the "Exterior Electrical Line Protection Plan" where for $3 a month, they will insure your weatherhead, rise, insulator, meter base, and service entrance conductor....
Has anyone taken it OR rejected it?
I note they don't mention the actual wire from street to home, anyone know who is responsible for that little beauty?
strangerdanger 
OnTheEdge 
steven 
TJS 
Sher No thanks.
As for the service "wire" from the pole to the house... IDK what their OFFICIAL word on that is, but I've dealt with this several times, and they have ALWAYS repaired it as necessary (tree falling down, Hurricane Sandy, ice storm, whatever)... and not just on my home, but on friends' and neighbors' homes as well.
Which I found interesting because, I am "watching" a friends rental for me, and they had a tree branch come down on the service line to the house, lowering it substantially. I had an electrician who told me I "needed to put in extra wood supports and blah blah blah, or First Energy won't touch it"... when I said "uh... don't YOU do that? Aren't you an electrician?" He said "YOU do it- I'm not a carpenter."
The moral of the story is, he was full of it. He either didn't want to DO it, or didn't know what he was talking about. I called First Energy, they were there THAT DAY and fixed it, no charges. And no "extra work" was required either.
This is just one recent example of why I believe they handle the service line from the pole to the house, within reason (they aren't going to trim your trees around the line for you, for example).
JeffersonRepub Pole to the first attachment on the house is theirs. Service wire from first attachment to the meter box is yours. Hope that helped.
Daizy You don't hear about the wire to the pole because that's what they want you to think isn't covered.
When you read what it really covers the chances something goes wrong there is once in a life time. Even if that happens, it's not a big expense for the tiny bit you'd have to pick up yourself.
Turned it down every time.
GC We get this "offer" several times a month and toss it in the trash. Total scam. The offer always comes addressed to my husband even though the First Energy account is in my name only and always has been.
Calico696 Thanks all. Appreciate the feedback. 40 years and only seen one neighbor need it post Sandy and they just needed to repair house connection pole. Jcpl did the rest, including clearing. While the power company owns the wire to first connection to the house, I think the homeowner owns the path clearance as in any obstructions in the way. Just guessing that they clear it most times since they are there anyway in storm recovery and probably makes it safer for them anyway. But if not a storm, they may act different.
Stranger is correct about the home owner "owns the path clearance" to the house. My parents had a rather old tree in the front yard whose limbs were growing into the service line - actually put tension on the line from years of growth and pushing the line away. JCPL came out and put in about 2 feet of patch wire because the limbs had rubbed the insulation off the wire, but that was all. We had to get someone to, ultimately, take down the tree due to both the limbs/wires and it was starting to rot from the inside.
jnnjr A lot of home insurance policies are now covering this(as well as your water main from curb to house). You might have to pay more for this coverage but it is vastly superior in coverage and price. I thru mine away because I have this coverage.
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