What Home Owners Need to Know
Identifying Electrical Equipment on Your Property
If you have Burlington Hydro equipment on your property, it is important to identify what it is and understand your responsibilities as a homeowner to keep you and your family safe and maintain the integrity of the community’s electricity infrastructure.
The images provided will help you identify our equipment. Other equipment on your property may belong to cable or other companies. If you have questions about the equipment on your property, send an email, including the location, number affixed to the equipment if there is one, and a photo, if possible, to
Damaged Equipment
NOTE: If you have noticed that a piece of Burlington Hydro equipment is damaged, please report it to us by calling 1-877-310-4937. Electrical equipment can contain dangerous levels of voltage and current. Please be sure to stay a safe distance away - at least 10 metres (33 feet) or the length of a school bus - and always assume the equipment is live.
Identifying Burlington Hydro Equipment
Padmounted Transformer (Residential): Transformers take high voltage power and lower the voltage to a level that can be used in your home. One transformer can service up to 12 different homes and you will find them wherever underground service exists. Learn how to landscape around these padmounted transformers.
Padmounted Transformer (Commercial): Transformers for commercial and industrial services take three-phase high voltage distribution and lower the voltage to a level appropriate for commercial use. These transformers can provide 10-20 times as much power as a residential padmount transformer and are an important part of keeping Burlington’s businesses and economy growing.
Padmounted Switching Cubicle: These devices look a lot like transformers but they function more like a breaker panel. Cubicles contain switches that connect multiple feeders or allow branch circuits to connect to feeders. They usually contain fuses or smart switches that help control the flow of power on the distribution system and are critical pieces of infrastructure for moving power around the city.
Distribution Vaults: Vaults usually contain submersible transformers below ground but sometimes contain other equipment as well. These vaults cannot hold transformers that are as large as padmounted units. When it is time to upgrade this equipment to support the modern needs of our customers – such as to provide the capacity for electric vehicle charging – some vaults might need to be replaced with padmounted units. These chambers can flood during heavy storms, affecting the equipment inside, so replacing distribution vaults with padmounted transformers is an important part of how Burlington Hydro is adapting to climate change and maintaining a reliable and resilient grid.
Cable Pedestals: These green boxes hold splices and other connection points where one cable can be connected to many cables. Usually these are used to supply houses in the area with their service cables. They are usually made from a special fibre reinforced concrete, but they are only meant for foot traffic so please avoid driving over top of these boxes with vehicles or any heavy equipment.
Poles and Guy Wire Anchors: Poles hold up overhead electrical wires and equipment to keep them safe for the public. Guy wires help keep everything standing during a storm. Burlington Hydro is introducing yellow pole numbering tags on the poles. If you have an issue with a pole, you can use this number to help us find and fix it quickly.
Identifying Other Utilities’ Equipment
The world is growing ever more technologically complex and there is a lot of equipment installed on boulevards and private property that is not owned by Burlington Hydro.
Telecommunication companies like Rogers, Bell, Cogeco and others all install equipment in Burlington. Gas companies also have padmounted equipment. A few examples are shown above. If you have an issue with some of this equipment, you will need to reach out to the appropriate utility to get help. Sometimes the utility’s name or a phone number will be on the equipment.