July 9th - 2007

Check hydro pole ownership in rural areas

When your clients buy a rural property do you think they know they might be buying hydro poles, too?

When your clients buy a rural property do you think they know they might be buying hydro poles, too? A recent court case highlights the importance of uncovering all the facts in a real estate transaction – especially when dealing with rural property. The case involved a buyer who purchased a home on four acres in Pembroke, and discovered, after the fact, that he owned, and was responsible for, replacing two decaying hydro poles on the property.
 
Neither the real estate lawyer nor the REALTOR® involved in the case had ever heard of hydro pole ownership prior to this case. According to Hydro One, their policy regarding ownership of the hydro poles is standard procedure. Hydro One’s customer communication department confirmed that it is policy that, if the property is more than 30 metres from the main line, the homeowner is financially responsible for the transmission wire and poles to carry the power over any additional distance. They were unable, however, to provide any written policy regarding how they determine ownership of the equipment. A section on Hydro’s web site http://www.hydroonenetworks.com/en/about/our_services/conditions_service/ refers to the company’s Conditions of Service. It states:

Your Electrical Equipment
Customers may own the power lines supplying their premises. In this situation, you're responsible for the installation and maintenance of those power lines. You must comply with all applicable laws, including (but not limited to) the Ontario Electrical Safety Code, and ensure that your equipment is properly identified and connected for metering and operation purposes.You must take all necessary steps to correct any deficiencies in a timely fashion. If you don't complete the work in a timely manner, we have the right to disconnect your electrical service.
 
Our Electrical Equipment
We will repair or replace, at our expense, any of our equipment on your property that fails due to ordinary wear and tear. For any other damage, you are responsible for paying us the value of our equipment or the cost to repair or replace the equipment.

Case by case
In response to an e-mail inquiry for more precision regarding the policy, a representative from Hydro One’s customer communication department replied: “Please be advised that the main lines and poles (typically along the roadside) are owned and maintained by Hydro One Networks. Secondary lines and poles (from the roadside to the building/home) are the responsibility of the property owner. It is important to note that for tree trimming on secondary lines, Hydro One offers to provide a temporary disconnect/reconnect, once per year, free of charge for this type of maintenance. Additionally, Hydro One Networks will always respond to an emergency situation, even where the secondary lines are involved. Our crew will make it a safe situation (disconnect the lines where necessary) in order to allow the customer the opportunity to make arrangements for the necessary repairs.”
 
But, a clerk in Hydro One’s real estate department confirmed that the policy regarding poles is not cut and dry and that they deal with each case individually. “If the pole is feeding only one property, it’s usually customer owned,” said real estate clerk, Diane Gauvreau. “But if it crosses someone else’s property or serves more than one property, Hydro One has to take an easement in order to access the line and takes ownership of the pole(s).” Gauvreau added that since April 1999, all easements are registered so it’s only the unregistered easements prior to that date where ownership of the poles and/or lines could be unclear.
 
The best advice for REALTORS® when dealing with rural real estate transactions is to always request an unregistered easement search. When conducting a search, Hydro One suggests that whenever possible, enter the former municipality name as it will yield more accurate results. Since there is a history of municipalities across the province amalgamating or changing names, prior or original names are important. For example: A search for unregistered easements in the current Town of Clarington might have to be conducted under any or all of; Town of Newcastle, Town of Bowmanville, Township of Darlington, etc. Hydro One offers a self-serve online unregistered easement search for $26.50 per search at http://unregeasement.hydroone.com/lvr/welcome.html or call their real estate department at 1-800-387-1946.

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For more information contact

Ontario Real Estate Association

Jean-Adrien Delicano

Manager, Media Relations

JeanAdrienD@orea.com

416-445-9910 ext. 246

Ontario Real Estate Association
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