service clearance under eaves

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lhenk

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Harrisburg, IL
I have a house with an existing overhead service attached to the side of the house with the weatherhead under the eaves. It is a 100 amp service that has been in place for many years, perhaps as far back as the 1970's.

I got a letter in the mail from the utility company telling me that during a recent inspection they discovered a NESC clearance issue and that I would have to correct it or have my power turned off.

I can see from their 2014 overhead electric installation drawings that they require 12" clearance above the weatherhead to the eaves. If I had modified this service or newly installed it then I agree that I should meet these current requirements. However, since this service has been in place and untouched for many years I don't see how I can be expected to change it now. If the service did not meet their requirements at the time it was installed they never would have started service to begin with, therefore it must have met their requirements at the time.

I have found 3 other utility companies in the Midwest that have their clearance requirements online and none of those 3 require the minimum 12" clearance that my utility company requires. Since these other 3 companies don't require the same 12" clearance then I think this may be a local utility company requirement and not an NESC clearance requirement.

Can anyone tell me if this is a long standing NESC requirement?
Service connection.jpg
 
Each utility or power company has their own rules. IMO, I can't see how they can make you change it unless the install was done without inspection. We are not lawyers here so we cannot tell you what they can or can't do. I would certainly raise a stink with them and see what happens. We don't have any rules about clearance from the eaves that I am aware about.
 
Both Ameren and Com Ed, in recent years, have been making customers change the attachment point of existing service drops, if the service drop does not meet the current NESC clearance rules. I have not heard of the eaves clearance being enforced.

In many cases the original installation did not meet the NESC rules but the violation was overlooked and the service was turned on. It is my understanding that someone has told the utilities to enforce these rules, even on existing services. I would expect it was their insurance companies and or their legal advisers.
 
NESC

NESC

I looked through fairly quickly, but what is shown
in that picture doesn't seem to violate the clearance
rules that I went over (although I did not do a very
exhaustive search) in the 2012 NESC. That's not to
say it isn't a violation, I just can't cite a reference for it.
If you have a Public Service Commission or equivalent,
it may be an option to have them intervene on your
behalf. If they feel there isn't some eminent danger see
if you could get a strongly binding hold-harmless with the
utility if you feel it is safe. Later you would have little or
no recourse with the utility if a problem arose, but it
may keep you from having to do the modifications.
My job is with our utility, and we use ex post facto all the
time in court for elimination or delay of regulatory
mandates put on us. ( the common term for this is
"grandfathering" in of equipment.) And the legal
costs are often less than changes on our equipment,
but the costs I am referring to are quite high.

So weigh your options and good luck defending
something that should probably never arisen to
a problem at all.

JR
 
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