Easements are essential

The terms “easement” and “right of way” may sound like neighborhood covenant lingo and traffic sign text, respectively, but they exist to help utilities provide quality service.

If you’re a homeowner, you may own the property your home sits on; however, utility companies have the right to use parts of it (known as “right of way”) in order to perform equipment or line maintenance or to restore services.

Utility easements are areas that were designated for overhead and underground utility access when your home was first platted. This is the case for many properties that are connected to a city power grid, sewer or water system.

Why are easements necessary? They are implemented because it is more efficient and less expensive to run utility lines straight through neighborhoods than it is to run them around parcels of land. Having right-of-way access does not mean utilities can do whatever they want in your yard. It does mean they can use the area in a way that is advantageous to you, your neighbors and your community.

Utility lines that allow for electric, gas, telephone, cable and fiber-optic services cover a lot of area. Underground, there’s more than one football field’s length of buried utilities for every man, woman and child in the U.S. In total, there are 100 billion feet of underground utilities in the U.S., according to data compiled by the Common Ground Alliance.

Also massive in scope and range, overhead lines span millions of miles across the country. Workers who service utility lines overhead or underground should arrive in a marked vehicle
and have proper identification.