# Do high voltage power lines attract lightning strikes?

I always thought that high voltage power lines would attract a lightning strike more than other structures in the same area. Turns out I was wrong. My neighbor's chimney got struck by lightning and it destroyed a lot of stuff (street lamps, wifi APs, small home electronics). We live very close to high voltage power lines - so, is my premise wrong? Do power lines not attract a lightning strike more that other objects?

Also, if a chimney isn't connected to the power grid (or am I wrong?), then how is it possible, that almost all of the street lamps don't work and other electronic devices were destroyed?

• The voltage(potential) difference between a power line and a storm cloud can be significantly lower than the difference between storm cloud and ground. The maximum difference for a 220kV line can the peak voltage, which is $220kV\sqrt{2}$, while the ground is at $0V$. Lightning strikes usually overcome a few hundred to more than a thousand $kV$. Therefore lightning only has to overcome 2/3 of the usual voltage difference.