Getting an electrical transformer removed from property

General Landlording & Rental Properties
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Getting an electrical transformer removed from property

Jeff Brenot
Denver, CO 路 Member since 2017 路 13 posts 路 2 votes

Hello BP, 

I am currently in contract to purchase my first property, and I'm super excited/nervous at the same time. It is a 4-plex in Austin, TX and I plan to occupy one of the units. 

The back yard is great- each unit has a deck and it over looks a large wooded lot and creek. However, there is an electrical pole with a transformer (see pic) in the back yard and it's eye sore. 

I was wondering if anyone has ever gotten the electrical company to move it or put the lines underground. This is most likely a very daunting and expensive battle since they technically have an easement. However, maybe someone has said it was a health hazard or something. 

I'm only living in the property temporarily, but definitely think I could charge slightly higher rent if it was not there. 

Additionally, besides being an eye sore, there has to be some type of magnetism, electrical current, etc. coming from that thing. 

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Matthew Paul
Severna Park, MD 路 Member since 2013 路 7k+ posts 路 7k+ votes
9y

You have a better chance of having dinner with the President of the United States 

7Reply
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  • Matthew Paul
    Severna Park, MD 路 Member since 2013 路 7k+ posts 路 7k+ votes
    9y

    You have a better chance of having dinner with the President of the United States 

    7Reply
  • James Mc Ree
    Rental Property Investor 路 Malvern, PA 路 Member since 2016 路 1k+ posts 路 936 votes
    9y

    Your utility company might move it if you pay them too, but not on their own dime.  As you wrote, they very likely have an easement and right to be there.  Check your deed to verify the easement - don't assume it is there.  Call the utility to see if they are willing to move it.  A "No" doesn't cost anything.  Maybe they have maintenance planned in the area and can remove it.

    There is no reliable medical evidence that electrical equipment creates health concerns in the surrounding area.  It will make a brilliant firework in your backyard when struck by lightening!!! 8->

    1Reply
  • Chris Sweeney
    Real Estate Investor 路 Austin, TX 路 Member since 2011 路 271 posts 路 106 votes
    9y
    I'm with Matthew Paul for sure. I have a little experience with the utilities and it took an act of God to get a support wire moved so what you are looking for is the definition of a long shot.
    1Reply
  • Matt Clark
    Roanoke, VA 路 Member since 2014 路 404 posts 路 203 votes
    9y
    Jeff Brenot don't sweat it. It will have no effect on your rents, and would take an act of god to get it moved. It steps down the voltage to serve your property, and probably a couple of others.
    2Reply
  • Colleen F.Pro Member
    Investor 路 Narragansett, RI 路 Member since 2013 路 8k+ posts 路 4k+ votes
    9y
    It's not happening. If you get them to relocate it would likely be at your cost if it is in a right of way/ easement. does it supply your Electric? we have one of these come to find out it only supplies our house. We came back home to the electric being out for days that was when we discovered the transformer was blown by a squirrel but no one complained because only we were out of power. an underground connection I think is more expensive.
    1Reply
  • Thomas S.
    Member since 2016 路 13k+ posts 路 12k+ votes
    9y

    You would have better luck getting the Catholic church to change.

    1Reply
  • Jeff Brenot
    OP
    Denver, CO 路 Member since 2017 路 13 posts 路 2 votes
    9y

    Thanks everyone, my thoughts were confirmed. It's definitely not make or break, but trying to think of anything I can do to help bring more value to the property. I appreciate the feedback. 

    0Reply
  • Kris Wong
    Rental Property Investor 路 Austin, TX 路 Member since 2016 路 361 posts 路 394 votes
    9y

    @Jeff Brenot it may not be the prettiest thing to look at, but as others have stated, I doubt it would have any impact on your rents, and consequently your property value.

    0Reply
  • Matt R.
    Blue Springs, MO 路 Member since 2015 路 481 posts 路 313 votes
    9y

    About the best you can hope for is that the utility might bury the line from the transformer to your house/building.  My parents live in a town with a city-owned utility, and a few years back, the city got a grant from the feds and was offering that service for free to any homeowner who signed up.  (In Austin you probably don't care, but in Missouri, having that line buried might be the difference between having power or not during an ice storm.)

    > Additionally, besides being an eye sore, there has to be some type of magnetism,

    A little, but not that much.  The power company wants the magnetic field to stay more or less inside the transformer; any that "leaks out" is electricity that they don't get paid for.

    > electrical current, etc. coming from that thing.

    There are millions of coulombs of current coming from it.. that's kind of its job.  :D  If you really don't like it, get yourself a long fiberglass stick.  Near the top of the pole, there's a vertical white insulator, about 8 to 12 inches long, with a little white stick the same length off to the right.  Stand on the balcony and use your long fiberglass stick to knock the little white stick out of the bracket it's clipped into.  This will eliminate all hazardous electrical current coming from that transformer.  (It might also kill you, so be careful.)

    0Reply
  • Jeff Keller
    Palo Alto, CA 路 Member since 2017 路 226 posts 路 95 votes
    9y

    A few years ago Palo Alto tried to get their underground power program moving forward. The residents of the neighborhood they re-started the program in had to find and pay an electrical contractor to run a new power line underground from a vault at the street to their house. A typical cost was $2,000 to $5,000.

    When we built a new house we asked about getting an underground power connection. The city said we would have to pay a licensed and insured contractor to run the power line under the public street. We decided to install conduits so that if the city decided to put underground power in our neighborhood we wouldn't have to dig up our front yard. For now we have empty underground conduits and overhead wires.

    Some home buyers do not want to be near transformers. There is probably a slight impact on the value of your home.  The cost to you of getting a single transformer put underground would be very high but most likely you wouldn't be able to get it done.

    0Reply
  • Steve Babiak
    Real Estate Investor 路 Audubon, PA 路 Member since 2009 路 13k+ posts 路 8k+ votes
    9y

    The one thing not already mentioned explicitly is that the transformer is a voltage step down transformer, so even if the pole goes away and the lines get buried, a transformer will still be needed to step down the voltage. And when the lines run underground, those step down transformers sit right on top of the ground, and they are rather large (partly because they can be touched by people so extra safety has to be built in).

    So you just trade one eyesore for another ...

    1Reply
  • Kirk H.
    Investor 路 Kansas City, MO 路 Member since 2016 路 56 posts 路 9 votes
    9y

    You can barely get the power company out to fix a sagging wire or any other issue ( wire on tree branch- 3 months to fix) if it's not  directly  power service related. I imagine cosmetic work would be not only costly but non existent . 

    0Reply
  • Bryan L.Pro Member
    Rental Property Investor 路 Brewer, ME 路 Member since 2016 路 45 posts 路 20 votes
    9y

    Had a pole removed and process wasn't too bad once I reached the right person.  Most difficult was coordinating with all the utility companies that had lines on the pole.  Cost was around 1k.

    0Reply
    • Glenda Flores
      Member since 2025 路 2 posts 路 0 votes
      1y
      Quote from @Bryan L.:

      Had a pole removed and process wasn't too bad once I reached the right person.  Most difficult was coordinating with all the utility companies that had lines on the pole.  Cost was around 1k.


      0Reply
    • Glenda Flores
      Member since 2025 路 2 posts 路 0 votes
      1y
      Quote from @Bryan L.:

      Had a pole removed and process wasn't too bad once I reached the right person.  Most difficult was coordinating with all the utility companies that had lines on the pole.  Cost was around 1k.

      Hello Bryan, what state was this on? And who  you contacted?
      0Reply
  • Raquel Baranow
    Investor 路 Tucson, AZ 路 Member since 2013 路 116 posts 路 22 votes
    5y

    Three of these on one pole in the alley 30-feet from my guesthouse make a loud hum that drives me crazy. Impossible to hang out in the yard. When Tucson 

    electric company installed them I asked if they hum. They lied!馃樉

    0Reply
  • Henry T.
    Member since 2022 路 1k+ posts 路 1k+ votes
    1y

    You could definitely hire someone to route your wires underground(to your property), but I'm sure the transformer would stay.  I have  property with similar situation so I planted some big trees near it. Of course they trim the heck out of them, but its better than it was.

    0Reply
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