New Power line costs

   / New Power line costs #21  
My suggestion is underground high voltage to a transformer near house (less than 50 ft) and underground to house then you don't have any problem with trees an limbs.

Conduit isn't necessary direct burial is fine and cheaper.
If you have a fault in the cable electric co will dig it up to repair and back fill as oppose to pulling cable out and putting a new one in the conduit way cheaper the second time.

If you go conduit route I would put 2 power ones in one spare and another for phone and a spare future that way if you have a problem you can pull new one in the spare then remove the old cable after you are up and running.
plus go one size bigger than you need pulling will be easier.

and how are you getting internet? add that to conduit run too.


tommu
 
   / New Power line costs
  • Thread Starter
#22  
Thanks for all the info. from everyone. It seems as if I have it better than a lot of other places. As for voltage drop I thought the hot wires were ran in the conduit till it reached your homesite then they would put a transformer there. Nearest transformer is 3000 ft away.
 
   / New Power line costs #23  
at the pole they would tap off the line side of transformer and run the high voltage up to your(really theirs in your yard) transformer and drop the voltage to 120/240 there from the 4160 or 12000v high voltage

the wire size is inversely proportional to the voltage increase.

tommu
 
   / New Power line costs
  • Thread Starter
#24  
Well spoke to power co. about cost of underground today they must not like it, because they quoted me 18-20.00 per ft. That was with me trenching. All I can say is Holy s---..... Guess thats out of the question.. Thanks for the replies
 
   / New Power line costs #25  
Well spoke to power co. about cost of underground today they must not like it, because they quoted me 18-20.00 per ft. That was with me trenching. All I can say is Holy s---..... Guess thats out of the question.. Thanks for the replies

Might be less $$$$$ to go with alternative power at those prices.
 
   / New Power line costs #26  
You really need to discuss all your options with your rep when he comes out to your place. Going arial is always going to be the cheapest way, but not always the most attractive. For me, the price difference with me digging the trench is about 50% more going underground. That was just a rule of thumb for guesswork, but one that's safe for planning and comparing.

When talking to your rep, figuring out your demand load should have a big effect in the total install price. If you can document that you will use allot of electricty, they will lower the install price. At least that's how it worked for me.

When considering going underground, they will have a list of requirements that will start with bringing the wire down the pole, making the turn underground and the size of conduit you have to use. The wire is diffrent too. It's a heat issue that determines allot of what is used.

I ran my power the same distance. It was 900 feet along the state highway to my property line. There, the poles went just inside my land and my neighbors land. I had to get an easement for them on his land before they would do this. They said that they will not install the poles on the State Highways Land. They were also very picky on where they would get the power from and where they would cross the highway. Luckily, the pole that they tied into was in need of new bracing and on their list of poles to replace. This saved me some money because the direction of my line wasn't braced and that would have added to the expense I would have to pay.

Once on my land, they had to make a turn, but couldn't brace onto the State Highways land, so they put in two poles close together to so there wouldn't be any pull on line there. Each pole costs money, but there wasn't any choice here. Then the poles can only be 300 feet apart or less.

In my case, I was able to show that I will require allot of electricity and put in a 1,200 amp meter. Currently I'm only using 400 amps.

The cost for my install was in the $700 range three years ago. That was 7 poles and 1,800 feet of wire. Poles went in one day. Then a few weeks later, two boom trucks, working for two days with a dozen guys ran the wire. Another week or so later, another crew with two boom trucks showed up to connect the wire to the meter. I had to build a custom, cement base to hold the meter and breaker box. They provided the meter, but the breaker box cost a few grand. I forget if it was $3,000 or $5,000. But that's for 1,200 amps, and not your normal setup. Then after all that was done, one guy showed up and installed the meter and turned on the switch. This was all after clearing the right of way to their specifications.

Good luck,
Eddie
 
   / New Power line costs #27  
We used to install underground electric fencing cables from the main building to the paddock fencing, with a standard farm type subsoiler...
Al we did was attaching a heavy chain link to the bolt that connects the chisel to the ripper leg, to feed the cable down.

This worked great, you just needed 2 men, 1 on the tractor, the other feeding the cable down so it wouldnt plug on the chain link. When just pulling the cable out of the roll, it would damage, but with an extra man really pushing the cable into the trench, the friction of the plastic skin of the cable, to the steel ring, was very little.

They install drains with an extra pipe behind the ripper, with a small guide wheel at the bottom of the trench.
 
   / New Power line costs #28  
Eddie, I have to ask what kind of operation do you have to require a 1200 amp service?
Legdoc
 
   / New Power line costs #29  
I'm working on a long term project to develop my land into an RV Park. 50 amps for every RV site, plus three laundromats, a meeting hall and a few other buildings.

1,200 amps is just the first meter. I'll have about 20 more of them by the time it's all said and done.

Of that 1,200 amps, 200 will be used for another house, and the remaining 600 amps are for my store/office/resturant.

1,600 amps is as big of a meter as they said I could go, but the jump in price from 1,200 amps to 1,600amps is rediculous. It requires a totally different meter box and breaker box.

Here's what my meter looks like.

Eddie
 

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   / New Power line costs #30  
At my cabin location in SE Ohio, I paid around $6100.00 for a 1300 foot run from the road. The nice part was they gave me 5 years to pay for it and it included my electric bill up to $100.00 per month. In other words, if I used $1.00 or $99.00 of juice in a given month, my bill was still $100.00. If I used over $100.00, the bill was the actual amount used. This was 11 years ago and I thought it was a very good deal.
 
 
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