Call PSEG Long Island when the problem is on the utility’s side of your property: the street lines, the transformer, the wire running to your house, or the meter itself. Call an electrician when the problem is on your side: the weatherhead, the cable down the wall, the meter pan, the panel or anything inside the house. When wires are down or something is burning, call 911 first and stay clear.

The split decides who is allowed to touch what, how fast it gets fixed, and who pays. This guide walks through it the way we explain it on the doorstep.

Who owns which part of the electrical service?

Think of the service as a chain that starts at the pole and ends at your breakers.

• PSEG Long Island owns: the lines on the street, the transformer, the service drop (the wires stretching from the pole to your house) and the meter.
• You own: the weatherhead where the wires meet your house, the entrance cable that runs down to the meter, the meter pan or socket the meter plugs into, the main panel and everything inside.

The meter is the dividing line. Anything before it belongs to the utility; anything after it belongs to you. A homeowner cannot pull a meter, and PSEG will not repair a broken meter pan.

Which problems belong to PSEG Long Island?

Call the utility first when:

• Your whole street or neighborhood is dark
• A line is sagging, sparking or lying in the road
• The transformer on your pole is humming loudly, smoking or leaking
• The service drop has been pulled off the house by a branch
• The meter itself is cracked, burnt or loose in its socket

For a widespread outage, report it through the PSEG Long Island website, app or the phone number on your bill so crews can see the scope.

A storm pulled the wires off my house. What happens?

This is the situation that confuses people most, because it involves both owners. The usual sequence looks like this:

1. Keep everyone away from the wires. Treat every line as live, even if the house looks dark. Call 911 if anything is down or burning.
2. Report it to PSEG Long Island. They deal with their wires and the meter.
3. If the weatherhead, entrance cable or meter pan was damaged, an electrician repairs it. Local rules decide whether a permit and an inspection come next.
4. After inspection, the utility reconnects the power.

We have seen homeowners wait days because they called one party and assumed it covered the other. Calling both early shortens the wait. Our emergency electrician page lists what we respond to and how.

Exceptions that catch Nassau residents out

• Freeport and Rockville Centre run their own municipal electric utilities. Residents there call the village, not PSEG Long Island.
• The Rockaway Peninsula gets its power from PSEG Long Island, but electrical permits come from New York City, not Nassau.
• Permits and inspections differ by town and village. Hempstead, North Hempstead and Oyster Bay each set their own rules, and many villages add steps.

If you are not sure which rule covers your address, ask us before work starts. We tell you who permits it and who inspects it.