Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Congratulations! You have electrical service at your new property.

Mr. Stone cracks me up. It means that Pacific Gas and Electric has an easement across the property or onto the property. I'm assuming that your reference to the word "potential" means that you are looking at a preliminary title report, or a title policy. A recorded easement is an exception to coverage under your policy, so the title company is disclosing easements of record to you.

.......and the 40' part of the description probably means that it is forty feet wide, which seems pretty wide. The easement may contain overhead or underground electric power lines, or gas mains, or both. Such easements are commonplace. Utility companies won't run wires or pipes to your house without such an easement. Generally, you can have lawns and picnic tables on the easement, but can't build a garage nor, if there are underground pipes or wires, do any paving. I assume you have looked at the property, but if not, you should do so, because a 40' wide easement renders a fairly large area of reduced usefulness, and could mean there are high voltage transmission lines crossing the property.