Underground Service Installations and Cable Locations

Diggers Hotline

Jackson Electric Cooperative is a member of DIGGERS HOTLINE, a one-call locating service for identifying the location of buried utility facilities. Diggers Hotline operators are professionally trained to obtain specific information concerning locate requests.

As a statewide one-call notification system, Diggers Hotline provides excavators and the general public with the ability to inform multiple owners of underground facilities of intended non-emergency excavation via a single telephone call. Diggers Hotline also takes calls where excavation is not intended, but where aerial equipment will be used in the vicinity of overhead lines. Those utilities with lines that require more than ten feet of clearance (ten feet is the minimum safe working clearance from any overhead line) will provide information about safe working clearances within three business days.

An advance call to Diggers Hotline will allow the utilities time to locate and flag underground facilities. You are required by Wisconsin law to allow three working days before digging or excavating. This is mandatory as a safety precaution, as well as to avoid disruption of utility services and costly damage to facilities.

In Wisconsin, call 1-800-242-8511. If you are calling from out-of-state, the number is 1-800-922-6576.

Diggers Hotline is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. You can also find their new Email-A-Locate on their Web Page: www.DiggersHotline.com

Reviewing your site, excavation plans and making notations will help you be prepared in advance of making your call. Be aware that you will be asked for very specific information about the nature and location of your digging/excavation work, including the county and place of work site.

Diggers Hotline can process a locate request only if a road intersecting the work site, or if the township, range and section for the work site is provided. This information insures that Diggers Hotline is accurately identifying the work site on its computer map, which further insures that the proper facility owners are receiving the locate request information. Furthermore, if a street address is not available, operators will ask for the following information:

1. what is the name of the street;
2. what side (N,S,E,W of that street);
3. name of intersecting road; and
4. how far and in what direction is the site from the intersection.

After identifying the location of the job site, Diggers Hotline operators will identify what portion of the job site is to be marked out.

Diggers Hotline will issue you a ticket number. It is important that you keep this number as legal proof of your contacting the Diggers Hotline location service. It is very important not to begin work prior to the legal start date and time. Beginning work before the start date can result in forfeiture of the excavator's rights and protection provided for under state statute 182.0175.

Normally, underground facilities that are member-owned will not be located through the Diggers Hotline system. These facilities can be located by electric cooperative personnel for a nominal fee.

Underground Cable Installations

Underground electric service offers advantages of being aesthetically appealing, with less susceptibility to the elements. So, whenever practical, new service wires will be buried. However, underground service installations are not practical in some situations, due to soil conditions or route obstructions. Each situation will be reviewed individually and the determination of type of service installation to be made (overhead or underground) will rest with Jackson Electric Cooperative staff. See New Construction Line Extensions for more information.