Why do the powerlines switch sides of the street?

There could be a variety of reasons:

- proximity to loads - if more loads are on the south side than on the north side, it makes sense to run the line on the south side. But if the location of the loads change, then the line may also change.

- right-of-way - there could be issues with property ownership that constrain the ability to acquire right-of-way, or there could be obstructions on one side or the other that cause the planners to choose to move the right-of-way

- aesthetics - it is possible that someone decided that the installation would look better on one side of the street in some areas, and on the other side in other areas

- the designer simply wanted to do it that way and didn't need any other reason

In my neighborhood, it was apparently done to avoid a low hill on one side of the street (which would have force the power line company to buy poles of different heights).

Probably a property rights issue?

Or maybe there were originally more houses on a certain side of the street?