Step and touch potential can be risky situations
April 2026
by Preston Knight, Contributing Writer
A downed power line can literally put you one step away from a fatal movement.
That’s why such an act as a bunny hop exists in the electric utility space.
Perhaps it’s not ingrained in us at an early age as “stop, drop and roll” is to fires, but the hop can be just as much of a lifesaver when the unfortunate circumstance of encountering a downed power line occurs.
Through the processes of step and touch potential, serious injury or death is possible even when you’re not directly touching a downed power line. It has everything to do with electricity seeking the fastest path to the ground. If humans are in the path, electricity does not care.
Step potential is the voltage difference between the feet of someone around an energized object.
“If something brings a live line down, electricity is dispersed through the ground. It’s like throwing a rock in a pond and watching it ripple,” says Scott Austin, a field training and safety officer at Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative, headquartered in Rockingham, Va. “Think of it this way: Your feet are far apart, touching different zones of the ripple. With electricity you would be touching two different potentials, and the electricity flows through you to make up the difference in voltages between those potentials.”
The voltage of the downed wire is higher nearer the power line and becomes lower as it gets farther away. Each step you take away from the danger you see on the ground could lead you to danger you can’t recognize, Austin says.
A solution is the bunny hop.
“You have to do what you can to keep your feet in the same potential,” Austin explains. “If you can’t bunny hop, shuffle your feet away from the downed line. Keep them on the ground. And call 911 or [your local electric cooperative] as soon as you possibly can.”
Closely aligned with step potential is touch potential. This occurs when something you touch is electrified, making you a path for electricity flowing to the ground. One example is a vehicle that crashes into a pole and brings down live lines. Someone from the outside of the vehicle who touches it is subject to electrocution through touch potential, or the driver is at risk if he or she exits the vehicle touching it and the ground at the same time.
If possible to do without causing additional damage, the driver should break free from the power line by moving the vehicle. If the driver cannot move the vehicle, or if it’s already smoking or on fire, leave the vehicle by jumping with both feet together and then bunny hop to safety.
You want to be as far away as possible from energized objects and lines to avoid the dangers of step and touch potential.
“There are so many scenarios where step and touch potential could injure someone,” Austin says.
Do the bunny hop and help spread the word. It could save a life.
To watch a video about step and touch potential, visit tinyurl.com/stepandtouchpotential.