Do I own the light pole in my yard?

[Shovelhead]

he never said he pays for it.

in fact further up he said he DOESNT pay for it....

ain't got nothing to do with what I said.
Never said he pays for it, just explaining how the "pay the monthly fee for a nightlighter" is wired, and the possibility of it still being HOT in that conduit.

 

[rsanter]

I work for a power company, but in California.

The answer is it depends.
We have a department that installs poles and lights. You can have the pole and light installed, pay for it and own it. Power is connected after your meter. You pay for maintenance, electricity, etc all yourself.
In this case you own it and it would belong to the property

We can also install a pole with light and you pay a service fee only. We cover everything from install to maintenance and the electricity. You pay a monthly fee.

Keep in mind that the poles and lights will look the same.

You need to figure out where the wire goes. Does it go to your meter or to the main power lines?

Where on your property is it? If it is in from the boundary of your property a bit, odds are the poco doesn't care about it anymore if it has been out of service for a while.

If this is the case and it was me...
I would check to see if the wire is live (odds are not). I would check to see where the wire goes.
Also odds are if you put your own lit up, with your own wire and connect to your own electricity. Then odds are it is not more than a warning letter or slap on the wrist to put your own light up. You are not stealing electricity from them and are not using their light.
You can claim stupidity and that you assumed it was your pole as it is on your property with no easement on record.
With the company I work for they are not very concerned unless you are touching our wires and such

Also you can check what the power requirement for the light up there is. If utility owned then odds are its a higher voltage that you can get from your meter

 

[83VillageRepair]

I bought my house a little over a year ago, and on the side of the driveway is a typical wood pole and LED "street" light. This is the kind of light you pay your power company a set monthly fee for rather than measuring usage. I consider this fee to be excessively high.

I want to install a light here, my own light, connected to my own power meter. I'm starting to wonder, who actually owns this pole? Obviously the power company installed it, but when service was shut off they never came back for it. It hasn't been powered in at least 5 years, maybe longer.

This pole is installed on my land, not in any sort of right of way. I did not ask to have it installed and I have no agreement regarding this pole with the power company. The previous owner didn't either. Given the fact that they seem to have abandoned it, and I never asked for it, does the pole still actually belong to the power company? I also see no ownership tags on it that you would typically see on power line poles.

If I could just snip the wires at the bottom of the pole it would be incredibly easy to wire it into a switch. (all power lines are underground here) Failing that, would there be anything illegal about me attaching my own new light fixture to the top of this pole?

Worst case scenario - am I allowed to demand they remove the pole or take a chainsaw to it myself? No matter what it is currently a useless eye sore right in front of my house.

If it is a standard coop dusk to dawn yard light. It is connected on the utility side of the meter (unmetered). When it was originally installed there was a fee for the light and an additional fee for the pole installation. Additionally, there was a monthly fee for the light, usually something on the order of $8-12.

In every case that I have seen the coop maintains ownership of the light and pole. You can ask them to retire it because it is in your way. They might very well give the pole to you or charge you a minimal fee (in the neighborhood of $1 a foot is common)

You may have to become a squeaky wheel to get any action. Do not install anything on the pole until the coop has removed their wire. It could very well be live.

 

[Bigblockyeti]

Don't cut the pole, install an outlet (check voltage first for the right receptacle) Plug everything you can into it, welder, A/C, 25hp air compressor, oven, clothes dryer. Someone might eventually show up wondering where their juice is going, but given the level of incompetence, maybe not. When they ask WTF, just tell them it was like that since the (now dead) original owner had it installed.

 

[NUTTSGT]

OP got his advice and hasn't been back since. Whether he heeds the advice is up to him.

I'll be closing this thread. If he comes back and wants it reopened, he can send me a PM. I'll be more than happy to reopen it for him.