Power pole vs. garage: Homeowner says she's got four weeks to move garage or her power gets cut

Added: 2026-05-06

[00:00:00]If the power company told you to move your garage in 4 weeks or lose your electricity all together, what would you do? Well, that's exactly what happened to a Lyndon woman. So, she decided to get Gephardt and Matt began investigating.

[00:00:13]Yeah, this garage has been standing for nearly 50 years and yet the power company says it needs to go now or else.

[00:00:20]My old garage goes around it. That power pole is literally built into the edge of Tanya Porter's detached garage. Odd?

[00:00:27]Sure. New? No. It's been here for 49 years. Yeah, the house and garage were built way back in 1977.

[00:00:36]According to markings on the pole, that's 1 year after the pole went in.

[00:00:40]Tanya and her husband bought the home in 2011 and for years, no issues, no outages, no warnings. It's kind of forget about it. Like, we don't have any issues with power. My neighbors don't have any issues with power. Then came this letter from Rocky Mountain Power.

[00:00:55]It says the garage has to go in a month or else. They're going to turn off your power?

[00:01:00]>> to turn off my power. They're threatening me if I don't move it that they're going to disconnect my service.

[00:01:06]>> 50 years this has been fine and now they're strong-arming you. And now they're strong-arming me. Tanya says she called Rocky Mountain Power to ask about alternatives. They said literally the only thing I can do is to move my garage.

[00:01:17]That is my only option. And she says the letter itself raises a lot of questions like how far does it have to move? What clearance is required? And why is the company threatening to shut off her power before clearly explaining the fix?

[00:01:30]How do you feel?

[00:01:32]Overwhelmed. I just lost my husband in December.

[00:01:36]The letter came on the 3-month anniversary of his death.

[00:01:40]I'm not equipped to move a garage.

[00:01:44]Tanya reached out to the KSL investigators and we reached out to Rocky Mountain Power on her behalf asking what changed after all these years. Why was that letter written so aggressively? And is it really appropriate to tell a homeowner that they have to move their garage in just a matter of days? Rocky Mountain Power did not answer those questions directly, but a spokesperson told us the utility initially assumed incorrectly that the structure was a small shed rather than a full-sized garage. He says that after a site visit, the company found another way.

[00:02:16]I hope they rescind their letter. I hope they don't turn off my power. Once we began asking questions, Rocky Mountain Power discovered an option that does not involve Tanya having to move her garage after all, though the power company insists that resolution was in the works before hearing from KSL. The pole will be replaced another way. The garage stays put and Tanya gets to keep her lights on.

[00:02:39]Investigating this one, we found that by today's standards, you generally cannot build a garage where the eave wraps around a pole like this. If you do, courts have been known to side with the utility company and make the homeowner tear the structure down. That said, if a structure was legally built when it was built, it's typically allowed to remain standing even if it would be prohibited by today's rules.

[00:03:00]If you got something you want me to look into, let me know about it. The number 385-707-6153 or you can email me [email protected].