The power lines on the street belong to your electric utility; the equipment attached to your house, starting at the point where the service wire connects to the building, belongs to you. That boundary—called the demarcation point—decides who answers the call after a storm, who pays for the repair, and who carries the liability if something goes wrong. Understanding who owns the power lines around your property is less about the hardware than about knowing where the utility’s responsibility stops and yours begins.
What the Utility Owns
The high-voltage transmission lines on tall steel towers and the lower-voltage distribution lines strung between the wooden poles along your street belong entirely to the utility. So do the poles themselves, the transformers mounted on them or sitting in ground-level enclosures, and all the associated hardware that carries electricity from generating stations to substations and into your neighborhood.
Even when these lines cross over your property, the utility keeps ownership and exclusive control. You have no legal authority to repair, modify, or touch this equipment. Tampering with utility infrastructure is a criminal offense in every state, and penalties can be severe.
The wire running from the nearest utility pole to your building is called the service drop, and in most residential setups the utility owns it too. If a falling branch or ice storm tears it loose, you call the utility, not an electrician. The utility also owns the meter that sits in the socket on your wall and measures your usage.
Where Your Ownership Begins
The utility’s ownership of the service drop extends to the point of attachment on your building—the physical spot where the aerial wire connects to your home’s hardware. That attachment point is the demarcation line. Everything from that connection outward toward the street is the utility’s. Everything from that connection inward is yours.
The first piece on your side is typically the weatherhead, the hooded cap at the top of the pipe running down the side of your house that keeps rain out of the electrical conduit. Below it, the service mast (the vertical pipe itself) and the meter base bolted to your exterior wall are also yours. The utility owns the meter inside the base; you own the housing and socket.
Inside the house, everything from the main breaker panel to every outlet, switch, and length of wire is your responsibility. The National Electrical Code, published as NFPA 70, defines “premises wiring” as all interior and exterior wiring from the service point to the outlets. Most states and municipalities adopt the code as law, and failing to maintain these systems can void your homeowners insurance coverage after an electrical fire.
This split catches many homeowners off guard after storms. If wind rips your service mast away from the house, you need a licensed electrician to repair it before the utility will restore your power. A straightforward mast replacement runs roughly $500 to $1,000 for labor and materials. If the wiring behind it also needs replacement, costs climb. A permit and local building inspection are usually required before the utility reconnects service, which adds time and a modest fee.
The exact location of the demarcation point can vary slightly between providers, so confirming yours before a problem arises is worth doing.
Underground Service Lines
In newer developments and many suburban neighborhoods, electricity reaches homes through buried cables. The ownership rules are largely the same as overhead: the utility generally owns and maintains the underground primary cables and transformer, and everything from the meter onward belongs to the homeowner.
Underground lines create different practical concerns. You cannot see them, so you cannot visually inspect for damage. Before digging for any reason—installing a fence, planting a tree, adding a patio—call 811 at least a few business days before you start. That national hotline connects you with local one-call centers that will send someone to mark the location of buried utilities on your property at no charge. Hitting an underground power line with a shovel or post-hole digger can be fatal, and you can also face liability for the damage.
If you own a long underground run from the meter to a detached garage or shop, maintaining that cable is on you. Troubleshooting buried wiring is significantly more expensive than fixing overhead wires because of the trenching involved.
Private Lines on Rural or Large Properties
Rural properties sometimes require electricity to travel hundreds of feet beyond a standard service drop, down a private driveway or across open land. When a homeowner requests that kind of extension, the poles and wires often become private infrastructure. They are not part of the utility’s distribution network, and the homeowner bears all costs for installation, maintenance, and repair.
The financial burden is real. A single wooden utility pole costs a few hundred dollars as a raw material, but installation can push the total to $6,000 or more depending on terrain, height, and labor. Multiply that across several poles and add the wire, and a private line extension becomes a significant investment. You are also responsible for keeping vegetation trimmed away from these private lines. A neglected tree branch that sags onto a private line and starts a fire is your liability.
When a Tree Falls on the Lines
Trees cause more power outages than any other single factor, and liability depends on whose equipment the tree hits.
When a tree falls on utility-owned lines along the street, the utility handles both the line repair and the tree removal from its equipment. Utilities are required under the National Electrical Safety Code to maintain clearances around their own lines, and most run regular trimming programs. The utility usually will not haul away the leftover debris if the tree originated on your property, so expect to handle cleanup yourself or pay for it.
When a tree hits the service drop or your private service equipment, the picture gets murkier. The utility will repair its own wire, but any damage to your weatherhead, mast, or panel is your problem. If you knew a tree was dead or leaning dangerously toward the lines and did nothing, you could face liability for the resulting damage, including damage to a neighbor’s property.
Utility Easements on Your Property
A utility easement is a legal right recorded against your property that allows the utility to install, access, and maintain its equipment on land you own. You still hold title to the ground, but the utility has the right to use it for specific purposes. Easements run with the land, so they survive changes in ownership and transfer automatically with the deed.
Widths vary, typically ranging from 10 to 50 feet depending on the equipment and local regulations. Within that strip, the utility can enter your property for inspections, emergency repairs, and routine maintenance without your prior consent. It can also remove obstructions—sheds, fences, trees—that interfere with safe access. Utilities generally have the right to trim or remove trees within easement areas that threaten power lines, and they typically do not need your permission, though many will notify you as a courtesy.
Before building anything near an easement, check your property deed or plat map for the exact boundaries. The utility can require you to remove a permanent structure built inside the easement, and you will not be compensated for the loss.
How to Confirm the Ownership Line for Your Address
If you are not sure whether a particular wire or pole belongs to the utility or to you, call your electric provider. They can tell you where their ownership ends and yours begins for your specific service configuration. Your property deed or plat map will show any recorded easements. For underground lines you cannot see, 811 will get buried utilities marked on your property before you dig.
Knowing the answer before an emergency matters. The worst time to figure out who owns a damaged mast is during an outage with a contractor on the phone.
Insurance and Electrical Damage
Standard homeowners insurance policies generally cover sudden, accidental damage to your home’s electrical system when caused by a covered peril like wind, lightning, or falling objects. If a storm tears your service mast off the house, your policy will likely cover the repair minus your deductible. Lightning damage to your panel or interior wiring typically falls under the same coverage.
What insurance will not cover is damage from wear and tear, aging, corrosion, or neglected maintenance. If your weatherhead has been deteriorating for years and finally fails, that claim will likely be denied. Keeping your service entrance equipment in good condition is about more than avoiding outages; it preserves your ability to file a claim when something genuinely unexpected happens.
A Note on Downed Lines
Ownership stops mattering the moment a line is on the ground. A standard residential service drop delivers 120/240 volts, more than enough to kill, and the larger lines on the street carry far more. Never assume a downed line is safe because it is on the ground or not visibly sparking. Electricity can spread outward through the ground from the point of contact, creating dangerous voltage differences across short distances. Stay far away, do not try to move the wire, and call 911 and your utility. If a line falls on your vehicle, stay inside unless the vehicle is on fire; if you must exit, jump completely clear without touching the vehicle and the ground at the same time, then shuffle away with small steps and your feet close together.