Hi all!
We live in our house for 25 years, and only this winter, when we partially lost electrical power we learned that electricity to our house is supplied by a 300 feet long secondary electrical wire buried underground, 175 feet of which goes through the 25-foot-wide Utility Easement granted to Massachusetts Electric company (now National Grid) and New England Telephone and Telegraph (now Verizon), which goes through our neighbors’ property. And we also learned that we, not National Grid, owe this wire and have to pay for the repair. The Utility Easement is clearly depicted on the town map and its original deed says that the Grantee “…has the perpetual right to easement to construct, reconstruct, repair and maintain, operate and patrol, for the transmission of high and low voltage electric current and for telephone use …”
Over the years, our neighbor done extensive landscaping on the Utility Easement, planted evergreens, paved part of it, erected decorative supporting walls and coble stone patio. All this looks beautiful, but now we have a huge problem – we have to fix our electricity and to do that we have to dig 2 feet wide trench through this Utility Easement. Our electrician says that we are responsible for repairing damage to the Utility Easement and that adds about $15-20 thousands (or even more) to the total cost of repairing our electrical wire.
Is there any limit to what we must pay for repairing the damage done to the landscaping of the Utility Easement in order to restore full electricity for our house?
Thank you in advance!
Robert,
Andover MA
We live in our house for 25 years, and only this winter, when we partially lost electrical power we learned that electricity to our house is supplied by a 300 feet long secondary electrical wire buried underground, 175 feet of which goes through the 25-foot-wide Utility Easement granted to Massachusetts Electric company (now National Grid) and New England Telephone and Telegraph (now Verizon), which goes through our neighbors’ property. And we also learned that we, not National Grid, owe this wire and have to pay for the repair. The Utility Easement is clearly depicted on the town map and its original deed says that the Grantee “…has the perpetual right to easement to construct, reconstruct, repair and maintain, operate and patrol, for the transmission of high and low voltage electric current and for telephone use …”
Over the years, our neighbor done extensive landscaping on the Utility Easement, planted evergreens, paved part of it, erected decorative supporting walls and coble stone patio. All this looks beautiful, but now we have a huge problem – we have to fix our electricity and to do that we have to dig 2 feet wide trench through this Utility Easement. Our electrician says that we are responsible for repairing damage to the Utility Easement and that adds about $15-20 thousands (or even more) to the total cost of repairing our electrical wire.
Is there any limit to what we must pay for repairing the damage done to the landscaping of the Utility Easement in order to restore full electricity for our house?
Thank you in advance!
Robert,
Andover MA
Use and Enforcement: Who Pays for Restoring a Neighbor's Landscaping After Excavating a Utility Easement
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