Electrician Recommendation
 

Our first trip out to Rattlesnake Island yesterday with grandiose plans of getting the place opened for the season ....... WRONG! Quickly learned that a large birch tree had come down behind the house and fell across the power line .... pulling the entire electrical service (meter, mast, etc) off the back of the house (not to mention a sizable chunk of siding as well). Can anyone suggest a good/competent electrician in the Gilford area who is willing to do island work. From speaking with NH Electric Co-op personnel yesterday, evidently the power company is only responsible for maintaining the connection to the house (i.e. in my case, to the top of the mast) and everything else between the top of the mast and the service panel is the owner's responsibility and is why I need an electrician. Any input would be appreciated!

It was always my understanding that they were responsible to the meter.

Perhaps things have changed? The guy that I spoke with was very careful to clarify that NH Electric Co-op's responsibility ends at the highest point of connection to the home ... in my case, at the topmost connection to the mast.

Siksukr is correct to a point, the power company is responsible to the meter. In my case the highest point of service IS the meter (underground service).

But, there is more to this repair than just stapling the weather head back up.

Your electrician will show up to do the work, the NHEC tech will also need to be there to disconnect service to your home from the pole (it likely has already been disconnected) and will need to inspect the service to the meter for damage to the line. They will not reconnect your service until the electrician has checked the panel for damage and everything is back in place. If they were to just show up, put up the weather head and turn the power back on, they open themselves up for a lawsuit when your panel arcs due to the main feed having been pulled out when the limb fell.

Remember that the field techs are not the ones answering the phone, they are very helpful and nice folks that are just doing their job, as ordered by the folks answering the phones!

We deal with PSNH and NHEC all the time in my line of work (not on islands though). The issue you have is very common.

Repair the siding now, before you schedule any of the electrical work. Your electrician and the NHEC tech are not carpenters and they cannot perform their tasks until everything is ready.

That is true. The utilities responsibility ends from where the utility connects to the weatherhead and insulator.
The owner is responsible for the weatherhead and insulator, service entrance cable, meter box, and main service panel.

Underground ground service is different because the utility is responsible to the meter.

I stand corrected. It does make sense to the highest point. Now that I think about it, I had my lines moved to have a clear view and my electrician made the connections at the weatherhead back to the meter with the utility people onsite.

Correction
 

Some folks have private powerlines from the main road. In that case everything including the poles are the property owners responsibility.

My uncle's house is about a half mile up a private road from the main road. He is responsible for power and utilities from the main road.

Underground conduits are another matter in the case of a homeowners association. The power companies are responsible up to the meter but in the case of utilities, Metrocast claims the association is responsible for the underground cable to the main trunk. The association has no record of who is responsible so it is a gray area. No one has issues with the phone company so I am not sure what to expect there.