NHSparky,
Don't use Stainless Steel, it has elements that cause electrical resistance and unless you have a TIG welder, joining anything to it (you need a welded joint) can be problematic.
The question I ask, does the PoCo have a guy that isn't the Head Lineman, like a Senior Technician, that investigates things like this?
A response like you were given, is not good enough, because this is a Line-side fault, either with the Neutral or poor Grounding at the transformer.
It is up to the PoCo to get this sorted.
Let us know how you get on with this, because I used to do this sort of thing all the time.
