Who pays to extend electric lines or add a pole to reach my house?
Last updated: 2026-09-09 · Educational content; not legal advice.
Short answer
It depends on one measurement. Article 14 of the ERC's Magna Carta for Residential Electricity Consumers says a consumer located "within thirty (30) meters from the distribution utilities' existing secondary low voltage lines, has the right to an extension of lines or installation of additional facilities, other than a service drop, at the expense of the utility" — because those poles and lines end up in the utility's rate base, or are funded from an electric cooperative's reinvestment fund. So inside 30 metres, being asked to buy the pole yourself is contrary to the rule. Beyond 30 metres, or where your demand load requires the utility to extend lines, you may be asked to fund it initially — but that money is recoverable, not a donation. Article 14 lets you recover it by demanding a note payable from the utility, or a refund at "twenty-five (25) percent of the gross distribution revenue derived for the calendar year" from that extension, or where available the purchase of preferred shares. Separately, under Article 6 the labour cost of connecting the utility's service drop to your connection point is free of charge. Ask the utility in writing to state the measured distance from its nearest existing secondary low-voltage line, and which of the three recovery options it will apply if you do pay. LabanPH will write that letter for you, free and without an account, at labanph.org/complaints/build.
Need a letter for this?
Primary sources
Frequently asked
We bought a house and the developer already paid for the lines. Does that matter?
It can be money back to you. Article 14 provides that where a developer initially paid the cost of extending lines to a property and built that expense into the price, and the property was then purchased and transferred into the registered customer's name, that customer "shall be entitled to the refund of the cost of the extension of lines" and may use the same recovery options. It does not apply where someone funded the extension gratuitously for your benefit. Worth asking the developer for the documented cost and the utility what it has on record.
How do I find out if I am inside the 30 metres?
Ask the utility, in writing, to state the measured distance from your connection point to its nearest existing secondary low-voltage line, and to put the figure and the date of measurement in its reply. That single number decides who pays, so it should not rest on a verbal estimate from a crew at the site. Article 13 requires the utility to report the action taken on your complaint within fifteen days where its Compliance Plan sets no other period, so ask for the answer within that time.
The utility says I must pay and will not discuss recovery. What then?
Put the three statutory options to it in writing — a note payable, a refund at 25% of the gross distribution revenue derived for the calendar year, or the purchase of preferred shares where available — and ask which it will apply. Article 14 also requires utilities to furnish the Commission a semi-annual report naming customers who made such cash advances, the amounts, and the mode of refund, so this is something the ERC already expects to see recorded. If it is not resolved, raise it with the utility's Consumer Welfare Desk and then the ERC under Article 27.
Take action
Got a similar problem?
File a complaint and we'll pre-fill BSP, SEC, DTI, and small-claims letters for you.
Your rights on mobile, internet, electricity, and water — slow or undelivered broadband and rebates (NTC), billing disputes and overcharges, the notice required before disconnection and the days you cannot be cut off, prepaid load validity, SIM deactivation under the SIM Registration Act, electricity bill-deposit refunds and meter errors (the ERC Magna Carta for Residential Electricity Consumers), and how to escalate past your provider to the NTC, ERC, or MWSS.