Adobe PDF version

Walking past a light pole shouldn’t be an electrifying experience – but it can be if there is an elevated voltage situation.

Elevated voltage is the result of equipment that ordinarily should not be energized that is carrying an electric charge. A person who comes in contact with equipment or facilities that have elevated voltage can experience a shock.

Fortunately, this is not a common problem within the National Grid territory, but it does happen.

“Of the more than 805,000 inspections done in New York since June 1, 2005, we only had 87 reports of elevated voltage above 4.5 volts,” said Terry Weller, supervisor, Maintenance and Inspections and Assessments for the New York northern region.

Voltages of less than 20 volts are generally more of a nuisance than something to cause pain. However, when inspecting equipment National Grid uses eight volts as a trigger to indicate a problem that needs to be fixed.

To ensure the public’s safety, National Grid conducts visual and physical inspections of all its facilities. New York’s Public Service Commission requires these inspections. However, Massachusetts’ Department of Telecommunication and Energy has not yet enacted a similar order. Even so, National Grid proactively conducts inspections in a simultaneous effort to work with regulators to define a program in Massachusetts that is similar to that in New York.

In 2004 and 2005, all of the metallic street light standards in New England and New York were tested. Less than .01 percent of facilities in New England exhibited the elevated voltage, with similar findings in New York.

“Routine inspections are not the only thing we do,” said Ross Cox, coordinator, New England Elevated Voltage and Inspection. “We take precautions with every job we work on. Our technicians know to check the job site and their equipment to make sure both are free of elevated voltage before leaving a particular location. We don’t want to leave behind a hazard when we leave a job.”

Inspecting facilities after each job is completed, along with the routine inspections done each year, can be time consuming.

“But, if we find one instance of elevated voltage that prevents an injury, then it’s worth the investment,” said Weller.