This article was published in October 2021 and may be outdated.
Our crews are lately noticing many hydro poles around the province have become more than a way to bring reliable electricity to your home, business, and farm.
They’ve become makeshift signposts. You name it — signs promoting everything from garage sales to yard work and home repair services to even music lessons are attached to wood poles around the province.
In some areas it’s gotten so bad work plans are being readied for crews to remove these signs as they’re a safety hazard for line workers when they’re trying to climb poles in response to an outage or doing routine maintenance.
Even the smallest sign can be unsafe — especially in the dark or bad weather.
The people who climb hydro poles for a living work in a high-voltage world. Any unapproved attachment to a pole must not make their critical work even more dangerous. A line worker needs adequate space for safe and proper use of their hands, feet, pole belt and tools. Staples or nails also make it dangerous.
Our crews can remove any attachment at any time if it compromises their safety and safety of the public.
We may allow attachments on poles and light standards by groups and organizations, subject to approval, provided the attachment promotes a community event, is non-commercial, and does not include sponsorship recognition or advertising. Call us at 204-480-5900 (toll-free 1-888-624-9376) for information.