Aerial service

[billconner]

Just thinking about electrical service way off road, and realized how little I know about aerial. I believe Poco will set a transformer on a pad at corner of property. Trenching through bedrock doesnt seem easy for 1200 feet so thinking aerial. I think 200 amp requires 4/0 aluminum triplex? Along property line, no driveways or any passages, how high and how close do I need to set poles?

Still considering pure solar and battery. Project is probably 2 years out, so solar and batteries can only improve.

 

[JohnKal]

If your going aerial I believe the poco will most likely set a transformer on a pole rather than a pad. As far as height and spacing, they can probably give you the specifics. National Grid?

 

[billconner]

Thank you.

Yes National Grid.

I have not seen another pole mount transformer in the area, and there are some aerial feeds. Just to complicate it - I'm at a town line and service ends 400-500 feet down the road one way, more the opposite way.

 

[mike93lx]

If the meter is at the house/cabin/site they own the wire down to the meter, usually, and will specify the wire needed.

Curious, how did this campsite escalate to 200a service?

 

[billconner]

I started at 200. May look at 100 or 150. I keep bouncing around with different ideas.

I'm told by a GC a pad and transformer with meter at road - everything else is mine.

 

[mike93lx]

I started at 200. May look at 100 or 150. I keep bouncing around with different ideas.

I'm told by a GC a pad and transformer with meter at road - everything else is mine.

4/0 is way too small at 200a for 1200ft. Is that how far the aerial would run? That wire would be over 6% voltage drop for even 60a

200a would require parallel conductors as 1000MCM isnt even adequate.

That's a draw that really requires voltage higher than 240, I think

 

[wyliesdiesels]

Just thinking about electrical service way off road, and realized how little I know about aerial. I believe Poco will set a transformer on a pad at corner of property. Trenching through bedrock doesnt seem easy for 1200 feet so thinking aerial. I think 200 amp requires 4/0 aluminum triplex? Along property line, no driveways or any passages, how high and how close do I need to set poles?

Still considering pure solar and battery. Project is probably 2 years out, so solar and batteries can only improve.

way to long of a run.... voltage drop would be extreme with 4/0 AL

Can you get the PoCo to install a padmount transformer closer to the house?

 

[Innovate1]

I would be talking to the POCO. I am about 500 ft from the road and before I converted to underground had a couple poles on my property with the last one about 100' from the house with the transformer on it. The POCO did everything up to the meter. Your area may be totally different though. My PoCo was very easy to deal with but then it's a coop and others may not be as easy.

 

[PCustoms]

Call the POCO, start there.

 

[billconner]

I'll call Poco. Electrical contractor said poco would charge $45,000 for overhead, plus have rights to right away. Solar is probably the answer.

 

[mike93lx]

I'll call Poco. Electrical contractor said poco would charge $45,000 for overhead, plus have rights to right away. Solar is probably the answer.

Sure sounds like it. Maybe a generator for backup power

 

[cvairwerks]

Depends on a lot of factors. Buddy needed about 250 amps of 440 3 phase for his back shop. POCO was way high on costs til he talked engineering into simply extending the 12.5kV 3p running across the front of the place, back to his shop, and he would supply the transformer. Think it ended up costing him a couple grand and he already had the transformer from a building cleanout he was doing.

 

[wyliesdiesels]

Depends on a lot of factors. Buddy needed about 250 amps of 440 3 phase for his back shop. POCO was way high on costs til he talked engineering into simply extending the 12.5kV 3p running across the front of the place, back to his shop, and he would supply the transformer. Think it ended up costing him a couple grand and he already had the transformer from a building cleanout he was doing.

He had a 12.5Kv/480v 3ph wye pole transformer just sitting around?

 

[mike93lx]

He had a 12.5Kv/480v 3ph wye pole transformer just sitting around?

You don't ?

 

[Norcal]

You don't ?

Everyone has them.

 

[cvairwerks]

He had a 12.5Kv/480v 3ph wye pole transformer just sitting around?

Wasn't a pole pig, but a pad mount unit....He had bought out a facility that was going to be torn down. Most of the machinery was sold off as it was removed. The transformer and some small machines were all that he kept. He made a bunch of money off of that place. One of those things where he was in the right place at the right time and made a good offer.

 

[beemerphile]

Wasn't a pole pig, but a pad mount unit....He had bought out a facility that was going to be torn down. Most of the machinery was sold off as it was removed. The transformer and some small machines were all that he kept. He made a bunch of money off of that place. One of those things where he was in the right place at the right time and made a good offer.

Did the POCO take ownership of your bud's transformer or did they do primary metering? This sounds unorthodox to me.

 

[mike93lx]

Did the POCO take ownership of your bud's transformer or did they do primary metering? This sounds unorthodox to me.

Maybe it's classified as commercial. One of the plants I work in has a primary feeder and we own the transformers. There's actually two discounts on our bill for "high voltage metering" and a "high voltage discount". About $1900 on last month's $40k transmission bill

 

[wyliesdiesels]

Did the POCO take ownership of your bud's transformer or did they do primary metering? This sounds unorthodox to me.

They mustve given him primary metering as i highly doubt they would take ownership of a transformer with unknown conditions.

This of course is a rare situation as most PoCos will only do primary metering for industrial customers that own their own substation

 

[cvairwerks]

I've always wondered how they meter us at work. Our feed is 3 sets of 135kV lines to our internal substations. We have 3 of them now and they are talking about building a 4th.

 

[beemerphile]

I've always wondered how they meter us at work. Our feed is 3 sets of 135kV lines to our internal substations. We have 3 of them now and they are talking about building a 4th.

PT's and CT's.

 

[cvairwerks]

PT's and CT's.

Learned something new.... It's interesting how it's done, since the low voltage feeds from our stations are probably 25kV. Out where I'm at, our feeds are 4160 to the cabinets and it's split to 480, 240, 208 and 120 to various panels in the hangars.

 

[ArcReactorKC]

PT's and CT's.

Bingo.

 

[wyliesdiesels]

yup CTs and PTs

 

[billconner]

Just to fill in (because the ec's note on costs resurfaced on my desk) they offered 240/130 amp - two 350 kcmil urd - for $25k; or 240/80 amp - one 500 kcmil urd - for $16k. Thats wire only - trenching, panels, termination extra - and is near 5% bv oltage drop. He said National Grid would do overhead for $25,200 - I assume all except panels.

I liked the transformer and meter at the road so easy to have power there. Maybe a garage/shop.

So, just a lot of pieces to juggle.