# OpenStreetMap power lines (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL)

Transmission lines mapped in OpenStreetMap (power=line ways of Geofabrik's U.S. extract), a separate source from HIFLD with its own snapshot, and five metro measures of line length, corridor length and the highest reported voltage.

## Source

| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publisher | OpenStreetMap contributors, extracts by Geofabrik GmbH |
| Product | OpenStreetMap power lines (power=line ways, Geofabrik US extract) |
| Source | [https://www.openstreetmap.org/](https://www.openstreetmap.org/) |
| Category | Utilities |
| Period | The extract date of the active snapshot |
| Refresh cadence | Monthly |
| Geographies | Metro: each line clipped to the metro outline and measured on the ground. Never merged with another source. |
| Availability | Available |
| Cadastre key | `osm-power-lines` |

## Licence and attribution

| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Licence | Open Database License (ODbL) 1.0, attribution required |
| Terms | [https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright](https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright) |
| Register status | Verified; licence open |
| Allowed uses | `internal`, `derived_analytics`, `public_display`, `public_geometry`, `bulk_export` |

Wherever its figures are shown, this source requires the credit **© OpenStreetMap contributors** ([https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright](https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright)), printed with this note:

> Transmission line data © OpenStreetMap contributors, available under the Open Database License (ODbL 1.0), https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright. Measures are derived by Cadastre and are not endorsed by OpenStreetMap.

## Measures

The key is the measure's identifier in Cadastre. A measure stored for the metro itself is read as stored; **Rule from counties** is how a metro is assembled from its counties where it is not (see [Methodology](https://getcadastre.com/docs/methodology)).

| Key | Label | Unit | Rule from counties |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `osm_power_line_miles_230kv_plus` | Transmission line length, 230 kV and above (miles), OpenStreetMap | miles of line inside the metro (ways tagged power=line with no construction, proposed, disused or abandoned tag, and with a voltage tag (the highest of its values); ways with no usable voltage are not counted; mapped ways are summed as drawn) | Not assembled from counties: a metro has a value only where one is stored for the metro itself |
| `osm_power_line_miles_345kv_plus` | Transmission line length, 345 kV and above (miles), OpenStreetMap | miles of line inside the metro (ways tagged power=line with no construction, proposed, disused or abandoned tag, and with a voltage tag (the highest of its values); ways with no usable voltage are not counted; mapped ways are summed as drawn) | Not assembled from counties: a metro has a value only where one is stored for the metro itself |
| `osm_power_line_miles_500kv_plus` | Transmission line length, 500 kV and above (miles), OpenStreetMap | miles of line inside the metro (ways tagged power=line with no construction, proposed, disused or abandoned tag, and with a voltage tag (the highest of its values); ways with no usable voltage are not counted; mapped ways are summed as drawn) | Not assembled from counties: a metro has a value only where one is stored for the metro itself |
| `osm_power_line_max_voltage_kv` | Highest reported transmission voltage (kV), OpenStreetMap | kV of the highest-voltage line with at least 100 m inside the metro (ways tagged power=line with no construction, proposed, disused or abandoned tag, and with a voltage tag (the highest of its values); ways with no usable voltage are not counted; mapped ways are summed as drawn) | Not assembled from counties: a metro has a value only where one is stored for the metro itself |
| `osm_power_line_corridor_miles_230kv_plus` | Transmission corridor length, 230 kV and above (miles), OpenStreetMap | miles of line corridor inside the metro (ways tagged power=line with no construction, proposed, disused or abandoned tag, and with a voltage tag (the highest of its values); ways with no usable voltage are not counted; parallel circuits counted once: the length of the union of the in-service lines, so a double-circuit corridor drawn as two features, or one way with two circuits, counts once; 230 kV and above only) | Not assembled from counties: a metro has a value only where one is stored for the metro itself |

## Known gaps and caveats

- Reported line geometry only: it says where a line of a stated voltage is mapped, never available capacity, megawatts, redundancy, cost or timing.
- OpenStreetMap maps ways, not circuits: a double circuit can be one way. Corridor miles count parallel circuits once and are the comparable figure.
- Lines under construction, proposed, disused or abandoned are left out, and a way with no usable voltage never counts.
- Edit recency is uneven, and operator names are on a minority of ways.
- The derived line dataset itself is offered under the ODbL on the [Open data](https://getcadastre.com/open-data) page.

## See also

- [All datasets](https://getcadastre.com/docs/datasets)
- [Rights and attribution](https://getcadastre.com/docs/rights)
- [Data freshness](https://getcadastre.com/docs/freshness)