You know, one has a tendency to think everyone has to do it the way its' done in your town! These pics are proof of that!
The service drop is governed by the rules of the utility. Here in Reno, all our overhead drops come into the top of the meter enclosure, through 2" IMC (or RMC). The meter pretty much has to be directly below- none of the service "lateral" that you see on several of these houses. Use of SER is unheard of. If, in a service change, it is necessary to move the meter, the old circuits are extended with a gutter.
Even so, I've had to respond twice when the service "periscope" (of smaller RMC) was broken and the wires were making sparks. Once it was because the tree trimmer got careless, the other was when a truck backed into the meter box.
I can't help but speculate how often services like these are damaged.
