Power to land

[bannerd]

Hey all, I'm looking at buying land. There is utility poles 1538FT away. I marked it out with my wheel. I called the power company and they lady wasn't much help. Does anyone have a rule of thumb of what it would cost to hook up power this far away?

 

[stikman56]

I'm in Washington and if the transformer is more than 200 feet from the house it's around 5-7 thousand to have a transformer put in and then around 600 bucks to hook up from there. This is underground power too, no idea for overhead lines. Call you local power company.

 

[Zeke]

I'm in Washington and if the transformer is more than 200 feet from the house it's around 5-7 thousand to have a transformer put in and then around 600 bucks to hook up from there. This is underground power too, no idea for overhead lines. Call you local power company.

He did. He's looking for people that have had this done, I assume both ways, underground and over head.

If there are a lot of trees if will be difficult to go underground. But if you can no tree will ever fall on your service and cut you off. I suppose you could do a little of each. Bring the service in on poles and bury it as you get near the house if those kind of aesthetics mean anything to you.

 

[jkwilson]

The power company deals with this all the time and generally have a standard cost per foot. Some will cover a portion of the cost. Sounds like you talked to somebody clueless.

 

[sberry]

You need the poco field engineer,,, some are and some are note takers but the phone girl usually doesn't know much about installs.

 

[Rookie2]

Our power company will not set a pole on your property with out a "right of way" and they are not into helping you out. You have to go underground to their transformer either on a pole or on a pad.

 

[bannerd]

There is a dirt road and other parcels of land. The dirt road gives owners right away (The town owns the road). The dirt road has rock walls on both sides of the road. The road is really narrow, when I drove the cummins down it a car would have to pull off to the side of the road. I have a 530B Case backhoe I could bury a power line with so as long as I can get it to this property I'm not to worried about getting power to the house (I'll run conduit and bury it).

I called the power company again and they're going to call me back with a rough estimate. The new girl I talked to was more willing to help but does not have a cost nor can she give me one. Roughly she said to have a pole installed it would cost 7K or more depending how well the install goes.

My other option is my buddy has a bidirectional drill. I don't know if this will be worth his time though, the land is very rocky.

 

[kj_mustang]

Cost will vary from power company to power company. Your total projected power needs, future house and any separate outbuildings, will play into the decision also. They need to determine the location of the transformer based on power demand, distance, etc. Some used to run the overhead lines for free. I had about 400' of underground line run and a transformer set at the back of my building for multiple thousands. I don't remember the exact number $2500 - $3500.

 

[bczygan]

Not to be sexist, but you need to stop talking to girls, unless they are engineers.

Get the proper info to the POCO engineer about site location and power needs. He (Or she) will probably need to make a site visit. Then they will design the addition to the system.

Then he can talk to you about options and costs.

 

[bannerd]

Engineer called me, basically the first 500ft is free. After that it runs 23$ per foot. I'm looking at roughly 23K to get power to the property. Yowzers.

 

[LEVE]

Can you do the trenching, etc, from the 500' limit to the power site? Can you provide the wire? How much can you do as opposed to what the POCO will do? That's what I've always done in the past. It saved me a whole lot of money.

 

[Zrexxer]

Engineer called me, basically the first 500ft is free. After that it runs 23$ per foot. I'm looking at roughly 23K to get power to the property. Yowzers.

And now you know why the land's for sale.

 

[CNGsaves]

Sounds like you should put up "temporary house" like a camper or cabin within the 500 ft so you'll get PoCo to install for free. Just order BIG like 200A or 400A.

Then after while when dust has settled, extend electrical on your own property at your own cost with the big equipment you have available. Trench down 4 ft and install 3" conduit for the last 1,038 ft as I'm guessing you can do it cheaper than $23 / ft.

Had similar situation for land that didn't have any natural gas service. However, across the road there WAS service. GasCo estimate was $7 / ft the whole way as it involved right-of-way under the road then down country road to the existing farm house that's been on propane for 50 years. Ironic thing is GasCo didn't have any problem about mile away to put gas service for EVERY house . . . those were $400K houses !!!

 

[bannerd]

Can you do the trenching, etc, from the 500' limit to the power site? Can you provide the wire? How much can you do as opposed to what the POCO will do? That's what I've always done in the past. It saved me a whole lot of money.

I could dig the trench, run the conduit and then lay whatever wire needs to be run. I'm not sure what would be the best feed wire. Maybe two 6 AWG Weatherproof Line Wire or some service entrance wire from home depot ($1.50 per ft) Good point, I'll have to weigh the options.

 

[Stuart in MN]

All that matters is how the power company in your area does it - there's no real connection in pricing or construction methods from one to the next.

It's typical for them not to give out pricing (or to only give out very rough estimates) unless they have a firm order for service, that's just how it is. I suppose they're like any other business, they don't want to spend all their time providing price quotes for free.

Check around on their website, most utilities these days will have an installation guideline manual posted. You may have to dig some, as they always seem to be hidden away in some obscure corner of the website.

Finally, for the record I deal with a half dozen different electric utilities on a weekly basis, and they all have women working for them who are every bit as competent as the men.

 

[Jagmandave]

It might make it easier for us to help you if we knew what part of the country or world you are in....

Why won't people fill out their frickin profiles!

 

[AlwaysFixingSomething]

You get the numbers off the nearest pole and call back the POCO and put in a work order. They will go out and see what needs to be done and tell you the cost simple as that. Don't expect them to go out right away though my POCO is running 4 weeks behind.

 

[jkwilson]

I could dig the trench, run the conduit and then lay whatever wire needs to be run. I'm not sure what would be the best feed wire. Maybe two 6 AWG Weatherproof Line Wire or some service entrance wire from home depot ($1.50 per ft) Good point, I'll have to weigh the options.

Around here, everything up to and including the transformer is owned by the power company, and though they might let you trench, they aren't going to let you do any of the wiring. This isn't service entrance, but distribution line voltage. From the transformer to the meter varies a little. You usually own the meter base and the wiring from the transformer to the meter.

You are not much limited on how far the wire runs before the transformer, but once you step it down the losses become higher. A couple of hundred feet isn't usually a problem though.

You don't need to come straight from an existing pole. They will usually set a pole in existing wiring if that is closer.

Get an engineer or lineman to come out and tell you. That's the only way you'll get a final answer.

 

[Gasgt1]

Our power company will not set a pole on your property with out a "right of way" and they are not into helping you out. You have to go underground to their transformer either on a pole or on a pad.

I got a quote several years ago for one of our buildings in a rural area.
Closest pole was 5-600 ft away.

Took forever to get someone out.
Finally figured $12-15,000 for power to a shed I would likely need power in rarely
Plus, I would have to get an easement from the neighbor to continue up the road.

Generator sitting there now instead

 

[tdkkart]

Hey all, I'm looking at buying land.

There is a dirt road and other parcels of land.

This is where I would stop. If there are other parcels, are they owned by the same person that's trying to sell you the land?? If so, I would think it would be in that person's best interest to get the power line run in there. Might be well worth your time to explain to the current owner that it's gonna cost you $25,000 just to get power run in.
Depending on the power company, if there's 20 parcels that are actively on the market they might run a line into a central location.

 

[wyliesdiesels]

Whos your PoCo? They probably have info u need on their website...

Prices vary widely so unless someone on here has the same PoCo as u, its just gonna be a WAG!!

Sounds like you should put up "temporary house" like a camper or cabin within the 500 ft so you'll get PoCo to install for free. Just order BIG like 200A or 400A.

Then after while when dust has settled, extend electrical on your own property at your own cost with the big equipment you have available. Trench down 4 ft and install 3" conduit for the last 1,038 ft as I'm guessing you can do it cheaper than $23 / ft.

Had similar situation for land that didn't have any natural gas service. However, across the road there WAS service. GasCo estimate was $7 / ft the whole way as it involved right-of-way under the road then down country road to the existing farm house that's been on propane for 50 years. Ironic thing is GasCo didn't have any problem about mile away to put gas service for EVERY house . . . those were $400K houses !!!

Do u have any idea how large of a secondary wire u would need to go that distance for 200a service? Forget 400a...

For 200a u would need 800kcmil and were talking copper conductors!! Be prepared to shell out some dough!

I could dig the trench, run the conduit and then lay whatever wire needs to be run. I'm not sure what would be the best feed wire. Maybe two 6 AWG Weatherproof Line Wire or some service entrance wire from home depot ($1.50 per ft) Good point, I'll have to weigh the options.

Are u talking about running the secondary wire or primary wire?

If secondary, 2 6ga wires for a 3 wire service underground?? WAY TOO SMALL and not enough conductors. 6 ga triplex would be fine for overhead service if its a short distance to the transformer but thats because its free air wire and has a higher ampacity. Underground wire would have to be a lot larger. And SE wire cannot be used underground!

And if youre talking high voltage underground primary wire, thats a whole nother ball game!! That stuff aint cheap!!! And u probably wouldnt be able to get it!

 

[3rdgen]

For 1500 ft poco would more then likely run primary to a pad mounted transformer, then from there to your house. Running your own cable 1500 ft isn't going to be cheap as in you have to factor in voltage drop and up size your wire significantly. What I have done before in an area poco wouldnt go was drop a service on a shed, bump up the voltage with a transformer and then drop down at the house. Was still stupid expensive though.

 

[theoldwizard1]

I could dig the trench, run the conduit and then lay whatever wire needs to be run. I'm not sure what would be the best feed wire.

Forget conduit. The POCO will tell you exactly what kind of cable they want, and how deep to make the trench.

At the distance you are talking, they will likely have to run "high voltage" to a transformer close to your building before stepping it down. I don't think you want to own the high voltage cable or the transformer.

 

[ishiboo]

Forget conduit. The POCO will tell you exactly what kind of cable they want, and how deep to make the trench.

At the distance you are talking, they will likely have to run "high voltage" to a transformer close to your building before stepping it down. I don't think you want to own the high voltage cable or the transformer.

I would just dig the trench if they're willing and let them drop the cable in it. Whatever you think you save by dropping the cable in yourself is offset by the fact that they pay 1/5th what you do for the same cable.

More then likely, they're going to want to do the work.

 

[Aceman]

I have no idea what your POCO will charge you.

Over here, I had the POCO extend their overhead 3 phase lines 1600' for about 26,000 according to the customer who was billed for it.

 

[jives]

You also need to think about the route the powerlines will take. Here in central NY our electric company would put up the first pole up for free, but it would go straight through the property. We ended up having our contractor dig a trench around the property perimeter, and they laid the high tension cable, about 600 feet worth. With the transformer vault and secondary service to the house, the cost was about $9K five years ago.

For $23K I would go offgrid solar.

 

[bannerd]

The land is hunting land so the owner could care less if power was on it. Most of the houses down the road are hunting camps that burn wood and have candle light. A few of them run generators to help with the midnight booze. The POCO up here is "National Grid" https://www1.nationalgridus.com/CorporateHub

I might just buy the land and see what I need to do down the road. I've been looking into solar power but that's not going to run the TV all night long

I really don't know enough about power honestly, I own a welder/gen and that is as far as I went. The wife wants to move out into the country so I'm looking at all possible routes.

 

[arroberts]

This will run the TV and most everything else (selectively)

http://powerequipment.honda.com/generators/models/eb10000

Not to mention several years worth of gas and you are still ahead of running power.

 

[Fishplate]

In 2006, my EMC ran underground power from the transformer by the road to a small transformer near my shop, the underground to the meter base. 300 feet of underground coax transmission line, then 75 feet of underground feeder, plus the transformer.

$1250. And I thought that was expensive.

 

[theoldwizard1]

I might just buy the land and see what I need to do down the road. I've been looking into solar power but that's not going to run the TV all night long

A 2000w inverter generator will easily run a TV, DVD player and a small refrigerator for a couple of gallons a day. A good 'fridge will hold temperature for 12 hours so ou can turn off the generator when you go to bed.

If you really need power 24x7 find a used computer UPS big enough for your load, get rid of the internal batteries (they are typically sized to run the load for about 10 minutes). these frequently run on 24V, so a pair of deep cycle batteries would be required.

I really don't know enough about power honestly, I own a welder/gen and that is as far as I went. The wife wants to move out into the country so I'm looking at all possible routes.

The generator, UPS and batteries, should cost you about $2000-$3000, less if you shop around for used. You would have to up-size everything for a 240V well pump. Most generators can be changed to run on propane which you will probably use for heating and cooking.

 

[Bigbandguy]

This seems like a good opportunity for going both big and little. For less money you could get the big Honda for handling everything during the day and possibly the early evening when you are active in the house and then the small Honda and/or UPS setup for nighttime and for backup. The small Hondas are very quiet and would be plenty for overnight. I am in the county near a city and have the big 17KW Generac on natural gas with auto switchover. It will run everything but is very loud. I am considering the small Honda for overnight just so I would not have to listen to the monster if I don't need that much power. Just 2 more cents worth.

 

[ZAPPER68]

When I was building my garage the intent was to tap off the 400 amp service from our house which was 100 yards away. I called the local provider and they sent out a rep to discuss the situation. He said it was 'doable' but because of the issue with digging (think solid rock ... mountain side here) I was obliged to go overhead. Even then there would have to be a pole installed midway between the house and the garage which was going to look ugly.

With all this in mind, plus the cost, the only other option was to bring the power up from the mains down on the road. The utlility company gave me a quote of slightly over 15K. With that in mind... I was abliged to buy a pole for the service at the garage, they would provide the transformer, meter, wire and the pole down at the road. I had to clear a right of way and ended up falling 7 mature conifer trees.

Because I was drilling and blasting for the garage foundation, I had another hole blasted for the installation of the pole required at the garage. This wasn't a big deal after the 140 holes already drilled. Anyway, when the dust settled (literally) the $15K quote was bang on.

From that point onwards, the budget for my garage went to hell in a hand basket. It must me nice to dig a hole/trench by hand or with a Ditch Witch! Good luck with your project.

 

[Diesel Benz]

If you do go the generator route, keep maintenance intervals in mind. My Honda EU2000i's require a 100 hour oil change interval. Running all night, eight hours per night you'd need an oil change about every 12 days.

 

[TheEquineFencer]

Put up light poles every 300 ft and run high voltage overhead, then drop down to a transformer. Where are you located? Is everything run underground?

 

[Jarcese]

Yeah National Grid is not going to let a single residential customer run primary wire. There would need to be a primary meter and those a pretty much reserved for major industrial users. WylieD is right, the only way to go is to run primary because of the length of the run and they are not going to let you do your own work. They probably will let you dig your own trench though, in fact they may require you to do the trench yourself, at least on your property, then they will do public property if there is any. You're either going to be paying them to run overhead, which is expensive, or dig your own trench and pay for more expensive wire and a more expensive transformer. Either way doesn't seem like it will be friendly to your wallet.

 

[TheEquineFencer]

You can drop a service at the end of their line, go into your meter/base/disconnect. leave it like that a while, a service going know where. The come out of your disconnect, step up to 4160 or even 9600 going overhead to your place, then step back down to 120/240. 1-2000ft of overhead wire for this is "easy" to "find" if you know the right people. The transformers can be bought surplus new or even from the same guys you get the OH wire from. If you know someone with an unlimited License, they can do the HV wiring from the meter base at the end of the line back to your place. You just need to get a little creative in your thinking. I heard a while back in an Alternative chat group of a guy with a similar problem. He started building his windmill and solar grid at home and then approached the local power company with the Federal mandates that stated they HAD to buy his excess power and they HAD to run the line to get it. After the local EMC figured out it would be cheaper to come to an agreement with him, if they ran him power, he wouldn't hold their feet to the fire to buy his power from his windmill and solar system. It's amazing how a lawyer can make things sound so bad to the receiving party when they know they're right. I think if you produce power from a renewable power source and have an excess, local power companies have to buy it from you even if the cost to get it to them is more than what it's worth. You can thank your government for that.

 

[Scott r c]

What about a fullsize propane tank and a whole house generator.

 

[tdkkart]

Try generating your own power for more than emergency uses and you'll gain a whol new appreciation for how cheap your current electric bill is.

 

[CNGsaves]

Lots of vague guessing as OP won't tell us even what COUNTRY this is in ??

23K estimate from PoCo on a 1,500 ft service run . . .
. . . in rural area of high income Britain is totally different than rural Mississippi !!

Now would be good time to Update GJ Profile with City / State / Country.

 

[atfulldraw]

You can drop a service at the end of their line, go into your meter/base/disconnect. leave it like that a while, a service going know where. The come out of your disconnect, step up to 4160 or even 9600 going overhead to your place, then step back down to 120/240. 1-2000ft of overhead wire for this is "easy" to "find" if you know the right people. The transformers can be bought surplus new or even from the same guys you get the OH wire from. If you know someone with an unlimited License, they can do the HV wiring from the meter base at the end of the line back to your place. You just need to get a little creative in your thinking. I heard a while back in an Alternative chat group of a guy with a similar problem. He started building his windmill and solar grid at home and then approached the local power company with the Federal mandates that stated they HAD to buy his excess power and they HAD to run the line to get it. After the local EMC figured out it would be cheaper to come to an agreement with him, if they ran him power, he wouldn't hold their feet to the fire to buy his power from his windmill and solar system. It's amazing how a lawyer can make things sound so bad to the receiving party when they know they're right. I think if you produce power from a renewable power source and have an excess, local power companies have to buy it from you even if the cost to get it to them is more than what it's worth. You can thank your government for that.

I've seen this come up a couple of times as well.

One guy had a written work order for 86K in his hand if he wanted the power line run.
He spent 33K on a kickass, solar, wind, double backup generators and battery bank and then laughed when they had to run the poles to him for free.

Try generating your own power for more than emergency uses and you'll gain a whol new appreciation for how cheap your current electric bill is.

Well, sure. Economics of scale being what they are and all.....

I paid to have power run to a property, then the neighbor wanted to branch off of my line to his property. The co-op charged him the same amount they did me, when his should have been free. We filed a joint complaint with the utility commission and both got a refund.

We pay next to nothing for power (less than a hundred bucks a month) so I can't stay mad at them for very long....