Nickeischeid - 7/10/2020 07:18

Never heard of set backs for the poles 'here' but for anything else yes. (Think substations, ground level transformers, ect.) Lots of out buildings built right up against poles around here and I'm sure that the power company is legally immune if something happens to them. I do know that if they damage fences when repairing poles or making entry into a property they are responsible for the repair and any damage done if animals get out of the pasture if they fail to fix it. In terms of stray voltage, on a service drop pole at the end of the line I wouldn't be as concerned unless its feeding off of a high voltage 3 phase line and it's only a pole set or three away. Each pole is grounded and if there's a short in a regular residential feeder the voltage is usually contained closely. On the higher energy stuff I've seen where it started grass fires a couple hundred feet away because the barbed wire fence was energized by the ground wire on a pole containing a booster bank of transformers.

Long story short, it's possible that there could be stray voltage, but its uncommon and less concerning the lower the voltage in the supply. FWIW, I wouldn't be concerned. A lightning strike is more likely and troublesome.