Standard utility poles:

• There are five classes of wooden poles, class 1 through class 5, ranging in height from 30 to 55 feet.
• Bigger poles are more expensive to replace than smaller ones, and corner poles are more expensive to replace than line poles.
• Oftentimes you are charged for a line crew from the phone company to wait while a line crew from a different utility replaces a pole so the phone crew can switch the cables to the new pole.
• Frequently crews reuse the hardware from the old pole. Despite this, bills normally reflect costs for all new materials used for full replacement.

Another category of poles includes municipal and interstate light and signal poles.

Common billing issues with utility and signal poles:

• Depreciation is usually not calculated
• Overhead, labor rates are often overcharged
• Upgrades often occur as well as relocation of the structures to a more favorable position for roadway development
• Signal control boxes can be very expensive to replace due to the signal processing hardware contained in the protective housing. Keep in mind they are not always damaged enough to warrant a full replacement.

Whether an individual pole can be depreciated depends upon whether the state law views the pole as an individual item or as part of a distribution system. Transformers can always be depreciated.