If a major storm brings down a tree limb and tears the power lines off your house, your utility provider will likely tell you they cannot reconnect your power until your service mast is repaired. This scenario is incredibly common after severe weather, but slower issues can cause the exact same problem over time. Hidden threats like water or rust inside your meter base, cracked insulation on your service cables, a mast bending or pulling away from the structural framing, or a corroded grounding wire can all cause your home to lose half or all of its power.
For homes with overhead power lines, electricity travels from the utility pole to the weatherhead (the capped, waterproof hood at the top of the metal pipe), runs down through the structural service mast to your exterior meter box, and finally flows into your main circuit breaker panel. A dedicated grounding system safely ties this entire setup to the earth. If you live in a condo or an apartment building, these meters are clustered together in a shared utility bank, meaning any structural repair or coordination must go directly through your homeowner's association or property manager.
Depending on your specific neighborhood, your electricity is supplied by Georgia Power, Cobb EMC, GreyStone Power, or Marietta Power. While your utility provider is solely responsible for maintaining the high-voltage lines running through the air and the physical electric meter itself, you own everything attached to your house. This means the weatherhead, the metal service mast, the electrical cables, the structural meter base box, and the system grounding rods are entirely your responsibility to maintain. If any of this equipment is bent, broken, or pulled loose, local utilities will strictly refuse to restore your power until a licensed electrician completes the repairs. If your home has suffered storm damage, please reach out to me immediately so I can safely rebuild your equipment, coordinate the utility inspection, and get your lights turned back on.
What This Covers
- A new service mast where the old one is bent, broken or pulled off
- Weatherheads that are damaged or missing
- Meter bases that are rusted, burned or loose
- Service entrance cable that's weathered or cracked
- Re-securing the service attachment to the house
- Ground rods, ground wires and bonding connections
- Storm repairs the utility needs before it reconnects
Signs It’s Time to Call
- A tree or limb has pulled the mast or the line off the house
- The mast leans, or the weatherhead is cracked or missing
- The meter base is rusted, loose or scorched
- The cable running down the wall is cracked, frayed or bare
- Lights through the whole house flicker, or half the house goes dead
- The utility says a repair is needed before it will reconnect
The Process
Keep Clear of the Line
If a line is down or the mast is off the wall, stay well away from it and anything it touches, and call 911 and your utility company. The utility company disconnects its line before any repairs can be made.
Look Over the Whole Service
I look at the mast, the weatherhead, the attachment point, the service cable, the meter base and the grounding, and at the wall or roof they fasten to, which often needs repair as well.
Built to the Utility's Specs
The new installation must meet the utility's own specifications as well as the electrical code. Georgia Power, for example, calls for a mast of at least 2-inch rigid metal conduit.
Inspection, Reconnection
A service sometimes needs an inspection. Georgia Power's service rules require the local inspector's approval before it connects a service, and Cobb EMC says some repairs need a county inspection first. Then the utility reconnects its line.
Common Questions
A storm pulled the power line off my house. Who do I call first?
If a downed line is sparking, touching any structures, or lying on the ground, stay far away and immediately call 911, followed by your local electric utility. Always treat the wire, service mast, and meter box as fully energized and highly dangerous.
Once the utility company arrives, they will isolate the line to make the area safe and assess the damage to your property. If the components attached to your home—like the weatherhead, metal mast, or meter base—are bent or broken, the utility crew cannot legally reconnect your power; fixing that equipment is entirely the homeowner's responsibility. I handle storm-related damage as an urgent priority. If you need emergency infrastructure repairs to get your power restored, skip the website form and call me directly at (404) 357-4144.
Why can't the utility crew just fix the mast?
Because it isn't the utility's equipment. A crew can re-hang a line that has only come loose, but the mast, the weatherhead and the meter base belong to the house, so rebuilding a mast or remounting a meter base is an electrician's work. Cobb EMC puts it plainly: the meter is its property and the meter base it sits in is not.
Disconnecting and reconnecting the service itself stays with the utility.
Does a storm repair mean upgrading my whole service?
A repair replaces what was damaged with parts that meet today's requirements, and that doesn't have to mean a new service. Under the current code, replacing only a meter base, a mast or the service cable doesn't bring in the outdoor emergency shutoff that a new service panel needs. The inspector for your address has the final say on what a repair has to include.
If the house still has a low-amp service, it can make sense to upgrade while everything's already apart, but that's your choice.