My question involves an easement in the state of:California
I recently purchased a property that has two utility poles on it carrying electricity to a barn at the back of my property and then going underground to carry power to my neighbors behind me. There is no easement recorded in the title report and I received confirmation from PG&E that there is no easement for PGE to have the poles. PG&E had not done any of the required maintenance around the poles for years. The poles also are very tall, and I do not think they are typical residential poles. Two weeks after I moved in the wires were blown around in a wind storm, sparked against each other, frayed and broke, landing on the ground near the pole, continuing to spark. The fire department and police came out, and finally PG&E came out and replaced the wires with the exact same uncovered live copper wire.
I've called PGE to ask about getting the poles removed and the wires either placed underground the full length of the property or moved to the neighbors driveway - on the other side of another property - and reinstalled there. I have been willing to negotiate with PG&E about how to proceed yet have gotten lots of delays and runaround. Recently I received a bill from PG&E for $1000, with a statement on it saying that if I don't pay the bill within 90 days PG&E has the right to cancel my inquiry, and if I do pay the bill then "By going forward with this project and paying the engineering advance to PG&E you are also agreeing to pay PG&E for all costs PG&E incurs for your project in the even that your project is cancelled even if the costs PG&E incurs are more than this advance." This notice stunned me. I've received no project proposal, had no conversation about likely costs, seen no timeline, and gotten no assurances that a project could go forward and that PG&E would cooperate.
This seems unethical to me even if it may be legal. My questions are: What rights do I have as a property owner with respect to poles placed on property without an easement. Are there restrictions on the types of poles and wires that can be placed across a residential property? If PG&E has not lived up to its requirements for pole and wire safety does that weaken their claim to any pre-existing use? What types of negotiations or shared costs usually happen when trying to correct a situation like this?
Thanks for any responses.

