I am a substation electrician and am familiar with the design, construction and problems associated with substation operation. Of course without direct investigation my opinions are conjecture.

Let’s begin with the ground matt. The ground mat is intended to provide equipotential protection during faults (shorts to ground) and provide grounding point to bleed induced voltage on metal structures.

The ground matt is usually made of bare copper buried about 18 inches below grade. At several points in the system ground rods are sunk to provide a solid ground. All secondary’s of wye power transformers normally have additional ground rods in place and are connected to the station ground matt.

Decades ago these mats were constructed using mechanical clamps. As with anything mechanical buried in the earth these connections tend to deteriorate over time causing problems, usually within the substation. Current practice is to use exothermically welding to fuse the connection.

Here I begin guessing.

Unless the utility in question is especially stupid they really have tested their ground mat and made repairs as necessary. Problems in the ground mat can damage very expensive equipment. I suggest the problem is not stray voltage.

A substation’s function is to transform transmission voltage to distribution voltage. The operating voltages of the substation were not mentioned in the articles I read. Typical transmission voltages range from 500kV to 60kV. At these levels induced voltage in nearby metal objects is common, as load increases this effect will expand in range.

So it appears the problem is a heavily loaded substation near a house with “normal” grounding. Substation ground mats typically use 40 foot ground rods depending on soil conditions. A 10 foot ground rod will not be sufficient to bleed off induced voltage. Even more problematic is the ground system at the house will normally have current flow. This is in opposition to normal practice of residential electric design and the NEC. As stated in an earlier post, an engineer with expertise in grounding should be called in.

Since the utility is the source of the problem they should provide the solution. Unfortunately the politics of the situation may cloud the issue. Let’s face it the utility has deep pockets and can afford better lawyers. If there is a state oversight entity it should be employed.

Second problem is the noise. Effective sound barriers are available and work reasonably well. The catch is their height is usually 125% more than the device causing the noise. This is obviously expensive to build not to mention ugly as sin and the utility will be reluctant to spend the money. Basically the house was built near an airport and then complains about the noise. The battle will be up hill to say the least.

I’ll stay out of the medical debate about noise and EMF as I have no expertise in the matter.