# What's the Staight Dope on Living Near a Hydro Tower? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 29, 2010, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-staight-dope-on-living-near-a-hydro-tower/562273 "2010-11-29T10:45:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-staight-dope-on-living-near-a-hydro-tower/562273/21 "2010-11-30T00:44:03Z")
I was within a half mile of a substation and it took a transformer a year to blow before the power was stable. It was damaged by lightening , but didn’t fail their tests even though the power would drop to less then 50 volts at random times. I got out my volt meter at these periods. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-staight-dope-on-living-near-a-hydro-tower/562273/22 "2010-11-30T01:58:45Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > Yes, because in much of Canada, particularly in Ontario and Quebec, electricity is mainly generated hyrdoelectrically. Most electricity in Ontario is generated by nuclear or fossil fuels. Hydroelectric power is only about a quarter of it. For much of its history “Ontario Hydro” was named that for PR reasons as much as anything else. (It’s not called that anymore, of course.) ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-staight-dope-on-living-near-a-hydro-tower/562273/23 "2010-11-30T03:43:07Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > Has anyone ever set out to do a real cohort study? I’m envisioning something where they take pairs or groups of people with common links such as “elementary school teachers living in the same zip code and earning the same income” or “identical twins” and half of the group lives near power lines and the other half does not. > [@smileybastard](#): > > Are there any citations for this as I am not aware of any. I understood that statistical analysis didn’t show anything. There have been many studies over the years that have tried to examine two identical groups with the only difference being proximity to power lines, but that’s not an easy group to isolate statistically. Power lines tend to be more concentrated in cities (you got more people, you need more power) but other factors like pollutants tend to be concentrated in cities as well. Separating these out statistically isn’t easy. Some of the statistical studies, like smileybastard said, don’t show anything. Others do. One often quoted study is by G J Draper published in 2005, and showed a significant increase in childhood cancers for those that live in a close proximity to power lines. Other studies though, like one done in Denver in 2000, found a much stronger correlation of childhood cancers and proximity to highways. So statistically we do know that people who live next to power lines are more likely to have a lower lifespan, but when you try to factor out other things like pollution and other environmental factors the statistics no longer become clear. I’ve seen numerous studies that go either way on it. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-staight-dope-on-living-near-a-hydro-tower/562273/24 "2010-11-30T03:56:48Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > So the electric companies are called hydro. And the water companies are called? Water companies, where they exist (in Montreal, water is provided municipally and residential consumers are not charged for it). So yeah, hydro poles, hydro wires, hydro meter, hydro bill. To the list provided, I’ll add Manitoba Hydro, BC Hydro (slogan: “For Generations,”) and Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-staight-dope-on-living-near-a-hydro-tower/562273/25 "2010-11-30T04:25:46Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > Water companies, where they exist (in Montreal, water is provided municipally and residential consumers are not charged for it). > > So yeah, hydro poles, hydro wires, hydro meter, hydro bill. To the list provided, I’ll add Manitoba Hydro, BC Hydro (slogan: “For Generations,”) and Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro. Montrealers are not charged for water? Really? ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-staight-dope-on-living-near-a-hydro-tower/562273/26 "2010-11-30T04:41:55Z")
[QUOTE=Leaffan] Montrealers are not charged for water? Really? [/QUOTE] But the sewage rates… oh dear! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![jasonh300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/46a35a/32.png) [@jasonh300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasonh300)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-staight-dope-on-living-near-a-hydro-tower/562273/27 "2010-11-30T05:27:24Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > Also digital TV is much more effected by power lines than analog TV was. Not sure about Digital TV, but I have high voltage transmission lines behind my house, less than 100 feet away. My DirecTV dish is pointed up to the southern sky with the middle line right in the path and it doesn’t effect my satellite reception at all. > [@Hampshire](#): > > Is listening to AM radio a big deal for you? Cause AM reception is horrible near power lines. No more listening to the ball game on the radio while sitting on the back deck. There’s no place on my property I can’t get perfect AM reception. The power lines are about 50 feet off the back fence of my property and I can get AM radio on the deck in the back yard. I could understand if I was directly under the lines I might not be able to get AM reception. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-staight-dope-on-living-near-a-hydro-tower/562273/28 "2010-11-30T08:19:10Z")
> [@jasonh300](#): > > I could understand if I was directly under the lines I might not be able to get AM reception. Even if you are not directly under the lines you can get bad reception. High voltage lines can be electrically “noisy” and can splatter all kinds of noise over your AM band (it actually affects a lot more than your AM band but AM signals are most noticeably affected due to the way amplitude modulation works). The noise radiates out in all directions, but things like the voltage on the lines and the humidity in the air can affect how much noise you get. With some lines you have to be fairly close to detect the interference, but with others you can have interference problems at a much farther distance. Google “transmission line corona” if you want more details. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-staight-dope-on-living-near-a-hydro-tower/562273/29 "2010-11-30T16:38:43Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Most electricity in Ontario is generated by nuclear or fossil fuels. Hydroelectric power is only about a quarter of it. For much of its history “Ontario Hydro” was named that for PR reasons as much as anything else. (It’s not called that anymore, of course.) Could be. I’m much more familiar with the situation in Quebec, since I go there regularly. I haven’t been to Ontario in many years. By the way, what do they call Ontario Hydro now? ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-staight-dope-on-living-near-a-hydro-tower/562273/30 "2010-11-30T16:43:51Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > Could be. I’m much more familiar with the situation in Quebec, since I go there regularly. I haven’t been to Ontario in many years. By the way, what do they call Ontario Hydro now? Ontario Power Generation, or OPG. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-staight-dope-on-living-near-a-hydro-tower/562273/31 "2010-11-30T17:31:31Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Montrealers are not charged for water? Really? No, we’re not. It’s actually in the Montreal Charter of Rights and Responsibilities. They might be charged for water in some of the demerged municipalities, but I don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-staight-dope-on-living-near-a-hydro-tower/562273/32 "2010-11-30T19:07:36Z")
When we bought our place, which is near a high-voltage power line, we had a guy from the power company come out and discuss it with us. He told us about field strength, the inverse-square law, etc; but his most compelling argument was economic. He said, “We’re not a private company; we’re a public utility. If there was anything wrong, we’d fix it, relocate people or whatever, and then just raise our rates. We have no motivation to cover anything up.” ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-staight-dope-on-living-near-a-hydro-tower/562273/33 "2010-11-30T19:44:10Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > No, we’re not. It’s actually in the Montreal Charter of Rights and Responsibilities. > > They might be charged for water in some of the demerged municipalities, but I don’t know. Where does the cost of maintaining the water infrastructure come from? General taxes? Do they care if someone wastes water because of leaky pipes? Here, that’s taken care of when he notices his water bill shoots up. Of course, I now live in an area that is in constant threat of drought, so it would be unthinkable to let people use as much water as they want with no consequences at all. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-staight-dope-on-living-near-a-hydro-tower/562273.md?page=1)