ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Utility construction

Alright you utility guys, I have a question just for my own curiosity: Why on some utility lines is the neutral on the bottom of the stack, and others, high voltages I assume, the neutral is on the top? Just a curiosity, as I dont do any utility work but it cant hurt to know how things work.

That is not the Neutral. the Neutral is at the transformer on the low voltage side. 120/208 or 120/240.

i believe that wire is for lighting purposes and is to interconnect the towers together.

probably someone with more experience will concur or set me straight.

If you have 13800/7200 on a system you have a Neutral.

see i told you someone will set me straight. I am glad i learned something.

i didn't know that. i always thought that neutral is strictly for the low voltage only.

I suppose it gets down to whether you have Delta or wye distribution. Wye by definition has a neutral. Now is the difference also defining whether the grounded/grounding conductor is on top?

The 13kv wye in front of my house has the ground on the bottom, the 250kv line behind my house has the ground on top (that is presumably delta)

That might only be anecdotal tho. One is neighborhood distribution (with cable TV and 120/240 on the pole) and one serves the next town. Maybe it is just down low for safety or convenience to tap off the pole pigs.