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Public and Private Attachments

Public and private pole attachment guidelines

All municipalities, government agencies, and companies requesting to attach using a public or private license agreement must have a signed agreement by Rhode Island Energy (RIE) before applying to attach.

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All public and private attachments must follow the proper licensing procedure and are subject to payment of any make-ready costs to provide proper electrical clearances and pole-loading requirements.

Joint pole attachment requirements

A joint-ownership agreement exists between RIE and Verizon New England (NE). When RIE and Verizon NE are attached to the same pole, that pole is considered jointly owned between both companies. Approximately 94% of all distribution poles in Rhode Island are jointly owned between RIE and Verizon NE.

For all proposed attachments on RIE poles that are jointly owned by Verizon NE, a separate signed license agreement must be entered into with Verizon NE. All Verizon NE specifications and licensing requirements must be followed in addition to RIE’s requirements. Please contact Verizon NE for details.

  • Restricted to the usable portion of the pole, generally defined as a section greater than 18 feet above ground level
  • Allowed between the electric (top) cable and the telephone (bottom) attachment on the pole
  • Attachers will be charged an annual attachment fee .
    • Examples of applicable cables include copper/fiber communications cables and all related guying, traffic control cable, and fire alarm cable
  • All cable attachments must follow the RIE Specification 17 – Joint Use Overhead Construction Standard (pdf)

Unauthorized Attachments

To protect the health and safety of both the public and our employees, RIE does not allow the following types of attachments:

  • Fences
  • Gates
  • Mailboxes
  • Satellite dishes
  • Planters
  • Customer-owned electric facilities
  • Commercial, non-profit, religious, or private materials, posters, signs, or advertisements
  • Materials, posters, signs, or advertisements relating to political candidates, parties, events, or issues
  • Non-Municipal cameras or smart devices

If unauthorized public or private attachments are discovered on poles owned by RIE, the attachment owner must take the following actions:

  • For attachment types that are approved by RIE:
    • Submit an application: Complete and submit an attachment application within 30 days
    • Pay fees: Pay the current annual attachment fee for the entire period the attachment has been in place, with a minimum payment of twice the annual attachment rate
    • Cover make-ready costs: Pay all make-ready costs associated with our ensuring proper electrical clearances and meeting pole loading requirements
  • For attachment types are not approved by RIE:
    • If they are too close to RIE facilities: RIE will notify the owner that the non-approved attachments will be removed by our personnel within 30 days
      • The owner of the non-approved attachments will be responsible for all costs associated with removing them
    • If they are located a safe distance below RIE facilities: RIE will notify the owner that the facilities must be removed within 30 days