I had one that had 178 volts to ground but it was the neutral at the primary side of the transformer that went bad. and must of been bad for some time as it took long enough to burn off two ground rods and the concetric neutral that was shielding the hv cable feeding the transformer. the underground water pipes had to be replaced too as they were about gone. if everything would of totaly open to ground then it would of caused a fire or probly got someone killed as the grounding system that was left could of gone as high as the primary hot 7200 volts. this is one reasone that I dont like the poco's bonding the neutral of the primarys to the neutral of the secondarys on transformers
