On Sunday, August 5, around 11:45am (ish) I heard a loud banging noise from outside. Immediately followed by a power outage. Upon inspection, the old pole that served up our electricity and internet had finally broken, seemingly of its own accord.

I contacted PECO and told them the pole had broken, but more than that, the wires that normally connected to my home were ripped from their mounts. A few loose bricks were also on the ground, with a hole present in the outside wall. I was instructed to avoid any of the now sagging wires for safety reasons, and that a crew was being dispatched. They knew of the outtage and that several customers were affected.

To their credit, a new pole was in place and the power was restored that evening. Took about 9 hours or so for the work to be completed.

New pole, old pole.

(Those are apparently the TV/Internet wires still connected to the old, broken pole.)

Anyway, come Monday, I called PECO again in the morning (around 8:30am) to let them know that while the power was restored, the wire connections were still dangling in my yard and no longer attached to the house. They again told me to stay away from the wires, and an emergency order would be issued. I stayed home from work, expecting the technicians to show up.

They didn’t.

I called back around 3:30pm to inquire. They told me the order was in place, and although technically listed as an emergency, these things are prioritized. So, if another emergency existed where there was a loss of power, that would be handled first, since I had power.

Tuesday I returned to work. When I got home Tuesday, a PECO engineer had left a note on my door.

“Please call Verizon for the low wires in your yard. Thank you.”

Now, here’s the thing. There is no way this engineer went into my backyard to check. Maybe he isn’t allowed to if the homeowner isn’t there. I don’t know for sure, and it is just speculation on my part. And while the Verizon wires for TV/Internet are lower than the PECO wires, under normal circumstances,they are not touchable by simply standing below them or reaching out of a window. The low hanging electrical wires are fairly obvious if one is looking for them.

The wire is clearly blocking my back door, and hanging in front of a window. Not to mention that if you go a little further to the right you can see the hole.

It doesn’t seem that hard to spot, right? I live in a duplex, and that hole is kinda right in the middle between my house and my shared wall neighbor. A neighbor, by the way, who has also contacted PECO about this. And notice all that cracked mortar between bricks? That is from this carnage as well, and stretches almost to the corners of the back wall.

Needless to say, I made a slightly angrier call back to PECO about this. They once again assured me an emergency order would be put in the system, and I told the service rep to make sure to notate this is not Verizon’s wires, and that there is damage. Of course, no time frame given as to when someone might arrive.

I’ve arranged to work from home for the time being, so I can be here when they decide to show up again. Hopeuflly I can point out to them their own wiring and the damage it did to my home, since the first person dispatched didn’t see any of it.

I do understand that PECO is a huge company servicing the greater Philadelphia area — that’s a huge population. But I would hope — even if they are skeptical of a damage claim from a customer — that touchable, dangling live wires might be of some serious concern in a residential area and should be dealt with swiftly. Hopefully before the end of the week.