The Power Company Charged me $52,000 for this!!

[@usalaxbro11]

As an electrician, you’re completely right in this is exactly how we prep for wire pulls. String and vacuum. Never tried vacuuming mule tape directly but cool to know it’s possible. Also side note: mule tape has measurement markings printed the entire length. So you didn’t have to pull the mule tape out to measure. Simple subtract the number at the end to where your mark was. But 10/10

[@jonathanwilliams4501]

You have never used a "rat" with jet line?

[@jdsparky288]

You can use two vacuums of the same CFM rating and double yours suction power too. I have two old dewalt battery/AC combo vacs that I use in tandem and they work great. Simply plug the suction end of the second vac into the exhaust of the first vac. The key is making sure they’re identical vacs or have the same CFM. I’ve pulled mule tape 500+ feet with them on battery power and no issues where one by itself wouldn’t quite do the trick on 4” conduit

[@MGower4465]

You mean, like, do math???

[@charlesemmer8856]

I have used this method many times myself. After you have the pull length it is easier to calculate the wire needed for the run.

[@allenandtammyterwilliger1201]

I've done this many times but with 6"pipe using a commercial compressor and a mouse you don't want to be close to the pipe when the mouse comes through or you can get very wet as it will spray about 10 ft in the air

[@jimhill5472]

You should make a shadow box to hang on shop wall with power company's needle nose pliers in it with an engraved brass plate that has date you got power and maybe "worlds most expensive pliers" with their $52,000 cost. I am sure it would give anyone seeing it a chuckle.....and it could be seen in your videos when filming in shop. Great channel!

[@Golgi-Gyges]

Ha!

[@GeminiWoods]

I like that idea

[@charlesroberts6965]

My exact thoughts...but extremely happy for you and the end of this ordeal.

[@Curtislow2]

I'D FRAME THOSE " $52,000 pliers".

[@derschwartzadder]

It's the electricity to light they pliers that cost 52k. Not the pliers

[@chrisellertson3352]

I was a tradesman welding in oil and gas industry, for locals and farmers. It does not matter what I did or where I did it I cleaned up after and did not leave a thing behind and for 52000.00 there should not be a speck left behind. Great job Matt and congrats on an ever expanding work space. I appreciate your ethic and the integrity of your channel! All the best in the season up and coming!

[@Timothy-lb2vr]

Public utilities are legal monopoly’s. The few humans that operate a monopoly become wealthy and politically powerful. The reason they don’t include the copper wire is that copper itself is a commodity and subject to the open market regarding its pricing. Monopolies hate dealing with uncontrolled open market stuff any more than they have to. As you found out while trying to get power to your work shop. They feel what their customers (you) have to say about their golden goose monopoly is not worth their time, which by the way they include in their billing at open market pricing.

[@bsg2580]

For $26,000 an hour it could’ve been cleaner

[@johndenton5555]

We worked in Drs offices, clinics & hospitals, all the trades would leave us a mess to clean up, the rooms floors were there trash cans - though one was left in the room PROMINENTLY MARKED 'TRASH' . They always appreciated that whenever we worked, no matter how much crud and trash was generated, when we left, their rooms were spic & span, floors cleaned, and equipment wiped down to hospital sanitary specs. At our hourly or daily rates, we could not afford to do less than 'turn key' whether install, repair, or periodic maintenance. I used to joke with new guys they were training to become the highest paid janitors in the US.

[@garrydonnelly6433]

What a shame that this situation has been let develop and continue to rip people off, especially nice folks like Matt.

[@artm5294]

Did the $52,000 include the copper wire inside the conduit ?

[@downmid]

My grandmother recalled when electricity was brought to their farm in Chemung, NY in the Southern Tier. The electric company ran a free line on a few poles to the house but only if they bought two appliances. The got one electric light and a toaster. Later, small fractional horsepower electric motors revolutionized the farm in many ways. It was a huge important change.

[@gastonbell108]

Lots of folks in Tioga Center who still don't have electricity to this day... course, that's because they don't pay their electric bills. 🤣

[@TgWags69]

Hey Matt. If you feel the electric company overcharged, you can open up a claim with the Pennsylvania Utility Commission. They are the agency put in place to protect the consumers from predatory practices of the utilities. I've had to open claims against National fuel a couple times for doing estimated final readings when tenants moved out. One time even when the gas was shut off they tried to stick me with a $300 bill. Anyways, it's free and if they charged for work that you already accomplished on your own as part of the job it may well be worth it.

[@kirdot2011]

He was supposed to sue them

[@johnhouchins3156]

Having a career with a state regulated utility, I can assure you that many of those costs and fees charged were set by the regulating body itself. Much is considered, including future consumption. When you get out into the network, no, you're not going to get to do any of the wire work. Everything will be done and determined by the utiliy because they're legally on the hook for everything.

[@BraydenSB]

@@johnhouchins3156 Then I feel for the price they’re charging they should’ve laid all the conduit. For hell sake they basically had their hand held for them, all they had to do was the bare minimum. Total BS

[@KenFullman]

If I had £52,000 to spare I'd totally use it to invest in an "off grid" solution. He's still going to have to pay regular bills and a large part of that charge will be for infrastucture that he has already paid for outright.

[@DietzmanLTD]

Everybody wants to 'feel' like this is a ton of money for the task. I'm in California. I've done dozens of these transformer runs for utility connection. I've cleaned up every site after the utility AND never seen one under $35k. We had a 1/2 mile run for 2 homes, rn tandem 3" PVC to a pad mount and paid just under $100k.

[@scottschenk5456]

Thanks! Hope this'll help with some material costs! Good to see it's has been working for you. Still waiting for an update on the overhead crane. Scott from California

[@calholli]

He just needs another $51,950 more.

[@DinDooIt]

@@calholli I will never understand people who donate to yt'ers who have 500k+ subs and good view numbers, they are giving money to people who make more than themselves, its hilarious actually.

[@calholli]

@@DinDooIt The world is full of simps.. I don't know where they come from

[@docdurdin]

Most generous of you and given from the heart it's worth thousands.. Some don't undersatnd that..

[@DieselCreek]

Thanks a ton!! ill be working on the crane here eventually. still gathering pieces to that puzzle.

[@AlAndValOffGrid]

I am SO glad I decided to go totally off-grid on our property. We were looking at an 800' to 1000' run of buried line from the closest pole to our home site on our 30 acre property. The cost for that would have been around 15K not including any other items to make the actual connection to the house. We went with solar (and are looking at micro-hydro for 24/7 power generation from our creek) which came in at around 18K so far. We can generate far more power than we can use or store during most of the year, and in the winters here, we supplement the lack of sunshine with a propane generator to charge our battery array. At present, we can get 2 to 3 days worth of power from our batteries for snowy, rainy or cloudy days. We'll be adding some more solar panels and a few more batteries to the system and if we add the micro hydro, we can generate 1 to 1.5 kw/hr 24/7 to keep our batteries topped off even during the longest periods of no sun. And no power bills.

[@DarkFlamage]

@ucsncinc That's totally awesome! I bet you never have to replace batteries either so no recurring upkeep costs. Am I right?

[@Pinz314]

Hydro is the best en you can use it 24/7 365. Would love to have that.

[@danielw.556]

​@@DarkFlamageWhen they will have to replace batteries in 10-20 years, there will be Sodium ion batteries that cost much less than today's lithium. So yes, recurring cost, but a) not so much and b) you probably don't know the smile it puts in your face, when you don't have to pay for electricity or when there's a power outage... It's the same as a propane conversion on a car (at least here in Europe). It costs you 1-3k initially, but the smile in your face, every time you fuel up at half of the cost, priceless. I have 5.2 kWp solar on my house and shop, with 35 kWh of old forklift lead acid batteries and a 5kW inverter. Just about to add another 8-9kWp of solar on east and west, to extend my autark. At the moment, I don't use any grid power from February to October, including hot water, air conditioning, and some electric heating during spring. Only in winter, I need like 3-500 kWh (yes, so little) from grid. Thinking of better putting a Lister diesel as a heating-power-plant.

[@JeffTaylor-qm7gg]

Yes , solar is the way to go. All I can say is ....Matt I wish you would have given more thought to solar.

[@AlAndValOffGrid]

I shouldn't have to. The batteries are good for about 20 to 25 years of charging cycles and warrantied for 10 years. As long as I take care of the equipment, it should last for years. But I've made plans to keep a little something set aside in the event I do have an issue and need to replace anything

[@texan2560]

I had a similar experience with the power company. They wanted 80K to pull a few poles to my remote house. I told them to f*** off and I installed solar. Best decision I ever made.

[@WarrenLacefield]

I don't know for sure, but there may be more to it than that. The power company may incur liabilities way into the future, caring for easements, restoring power after some unforeseeable but statistically likely outage, maybe even more serious potential issues, things that could cost way more than the supplies and labor to run the line. I would imagine they just don't want to serve remote customers. Nowadays, fortunately you have much better options with solar and batteries, maybe even in some places geo-thermal ... and, as far as the power is concerned .. well, it isn't and you are on your own.

[@scottsthaname1]

$52000 would buy enough solar and batteries to power him for a week without sun...🤷‍♂️

[@geronimo5537]

Yeah after he said he went 52k for them to just charge him an electric bill. I was thinking, he could build a whole solar farm for that cash and have the company pay him! Cannot believe he accepted their very inflated deal.

[@WesleyChuen]

Very nice! When I start watching the video, I was thinking the exact same thing! For 52K, you can have a hack out of solar/wind and battery set up!

[@Jeepy842000]

Got to love monopolies

[@SummerOf1970]

Thats CRAZY expensive! Congrats on the barn build. This old operator really appreciates you saving all the old machines! Thanks Matt!

[@Bierkameel]

Not really for a transformer, a lot of wire and 15 guys showing up, it just sounds expensive.

[@flowerstone]

I would suggest that you build a really solid steel frame around the transformer and junction boxes. Protects them from falling trees and somebody backing into them.hust make sure you make the frame in front of the doors removable for access. 😊

[@thesteelrodent1796]

"somebody" ;)

[@jeffriley-lq5np]

bollards ? is that what your trying to say dont roof over it

[@alanjarvis8777]

Great suggestion!!!

[@hobens1]

Totally agree for 52k they're probably diamond encrusted 😂😂

[@Drostron]

Absolutely!! Nobody and nothing would ever hit them...😮😂

[@marksaddler]

An electrifying episode! Glad you are all connected up, but for $52k you would have hoped they would clear up properly after themselves.

[@harveylong5878]

their sparkies, Im shocked it was a clean up as it was.

[@cda32]

For $52k they should massage you in a deck chair while they dig the trenches and all the other work.

[@dishtech43]

install the primary outside your property , and pull it onto your property yourself. Thats what we did on a long pull too our lake to supply water too a hog barn. They dont have too have the primary at your house...

[@geoffh1]

At 2200ft the voltage drop would be massive. It would also require much larger wire which would cost much more than $50k.

[@jonathanspencer8244]

No it wouldn’t you bing bong. The voltage is too high for any issues. You need about 4 miles plus to use a regulator bank to boost back up voltages. Even then most times you’re good.

[@maineadventureswiththetayl7191]

I live in Maine and I did everything from the excavation to installing the line they required to my shop which was 1080'. I bought all the wire and installed so we didn't need to use CMP. After paying all the materials not including my time the electricians to do the meter hook up and all the fees associated I was at a little over $21,000. Your setup was twice the distance and they pulled the power cable and supplied I actually think you got a good deal other then its stupid expensive for what it is. The only reason we did ours was the waiting list was much longer then yours due to Covid. With that having power is worth the pain to the pocket in my opinion.

[@DXT61]

That's interesting.

[@ThatPartsGuy]

There's no denying it. Power company will always get theirs!

[@tetedur377]

This is what happens when the Goobernment creates/allows a public utility to have a monopoly stranglehold on a geographic region.

[@GlobalistJuice]

Just wait until everyone and their brother have the electric company in high demand to install their automobile battery recharge stations - it will be just one more checkmark on the long list of "progressivism" and their love of bending-you-over via state sponsored extortion!👍

[@212caboose]

@@tetedur377 ^^THIS^^ Remember kids: Monopoly's are okay, as long as the gov't (and it's subsidiaries) is the one benefiting from it.

[@MattyEngland]

All about the shekels. Some of those Israeli shareholders still haven't gold plated their driveways 😢😢 Gravel is NOT befitting of gods chosen people.

[@hayleyxyz]

​​@@tetedur377 not sure private monopolies are any better... See the absolute state of the water utilities here in the UK. The issue is a lack of regulation and oversight. I don't care if a utility is public or private, provided it's held accountable to the public, and our money is being used on investment, not inflated shareholder bonuses.

[@dandan7726]

Matt ,you can claim a credit on your taxs for energy efficiency improvements made to your home and property using form 5695 and it equals 30 percent of certain qualified expenses. Hope this helps lower price it cost you for the shocking amount it cost to get power. Keep up the good videos.

[@jeffwilson1399]

Taxation is theft.

[@GeoffreyMorrison-xh2eo]

Very fine point!

[@StrangelyIronic]

We dinged a poorly placed meter in our drive way a bit back, and they gladly sent 2 trucks and 3 guys to replace the meter housing (some light tin metal that I could have bent back, zero damage to the meter or wiring) and swap the meter over in 10 minutes, proceed to sit in the driveway for another 20 or 30, then leave and bill us for 1200 dollars. Traditional work crew too, 1 guy dug the hole and did the work while the others talked about something else entirely.

[@christopherdolin8641]

Glad to see you've got power Matt, with the kind of activities that you are likely to have around the farm, I would suggest maybe putting up some reinforced concrete bollards around the junction boxes before you get too carried away with the landscaping. One swipe with an excavator or a trailer backing into them would tear one up pretty bad.

[@vanessah-ee2sl]

Matt, my husband introduced me to your videos and I gotta say, you're my favorite channel from his selections. For some reason, I am never bored with what you do or teach me about your love of mechanical stuff. You've got to be the hardest working KZbinr I know. You're a genuine hard-working nice guy. Hey, everyone, let's get Matt to a million subscribers for Christmas starting with me. Hey, fellas out there watching Matt, get your wives and girlfriends to add him on too! Thanks, Matt!

[@Niander101]

Not all our lasses are interested in this stuff

[@vanessah-ee2sl]

​@@Niander101True enough, my friend. But if they don't, then they never truly appreciate their man.

[@SquidgyTTV]

Chill out

[@eric_seguin]

@@Niander101 Doesn't matter if they're interested, the body count is what matters.

[@vanessah-ee2sl]

@@eric_seguin my point exactly 👍

[@brucesherman5625]

As a retired IBEW Electrical worker I am surprised that they showed such disrespect to you and your property. I'm sorry sir we were trained how to act in public.I don't know if these people were union people or not but everyone knows you don't leave a mess when you leave a job. Glad to see that you finally got power. Thank you for sharing your videos with us.Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New year.

[@mcarroll598]

I’m IBEW as well 26 years, I make it a point I have everything cleaned when you’re done with your job!

[@irunwire8528]

As a former industrial electrician I have seen both IBEW and non union leave jobs like this all the time, it seems to be just an electrician thing. I am my crew were never this way at all. After I started working in hospitals it came even more important to clean up after yourself, but again contractors coming in don’t always care anymore. I would have never left a tool though and that’s a fact, that stuff cost money.

[@jamesstewart-me1zp]

After 40 years in the industry and retired from local 3 ibew, I have found that electricians do not like to clean up after themselves!@@irunwire8528

[@janosszabo98]

I don't want to say it's a generational thing, because I'm sure it happened back in the day, too, but yeah... Some people take pride in what they're doing and make sure it's done to the very best of their ability, leaving the site the same or better they found it. Others just doing it for the paycheck ... and it seems like this is the more prevalent these days.

[@seanworkman431]

The clean-up is your reputation if you are a private contractor but as a carpenter I have rarely met an electrician that does so but those chaps, I guess, know they won't be back and at least Matt has power now. Reading the other comments suggest to me that we trained at a time when pride in your work came before the pay check, as an apprentice our motto was "Do it once, do it well".

[@thomasbarrett3175]

In the 80s, someone at work was selling shirts that said, "VEPCO has Virginia by the bulbs". It wasn't long before the company banned wearing those to work.

[@Molon_Labe1776]

Now they have 'Dominion' of the state.

[@TrashwareArt]

I pay $250 a month powerbill for a 500 sq ft apartment

[@CrypidLore]

@@TrashwareArt Might want to have them check your meter, that seems extortionately high.

[@bellemorelock4924]

@@TrashwareArt yeah, you gotta figure out whats wrong there.

[@ianlevine273]

Great episode again. Once the wallet recovers a bit, you could avoid a lot of last minute scramble having your electrician buddy help you put in a transfer switch and hookup box on the side of the barn to hook in the generator when the utility fails you. Probably not a big deal now but a huge convenience once it’s also backing up the house.

[@keithstudly6071]

Yes, you will be so happy every time the power goes down. Every time you throw that switch and the lights come back on you will thank yourself.

[@bellemorelock4924]

Yep the same backup generator would be used for heavy snows covering solar panels had he wanted a foolproof and much cheaper solution. No, thank you. This man loves the old skool tride an true pay thru the nose for the utility hose method. If God wanted his lights to stay on, it would stop snowing..

[@donaldstevenson2475]

Matt the Chinese finger clamp are very handy in more cases than you can imagine, but big ones are even better for pulling hydraulic hoses around a dozer or other equipment, so hang on to them ,just pull old hose out as you pull new hose into connect it .

[@huntz3215]

Power Co tried to charge my folks $120k for running 100mtr inside property to house. Turns out they had to upgrade street lines and tried to add that to the bill. When that was rejected they said how about $60k for the 100mtr trench. That was rejected & my folks managed with a generator for a few yrs. Eventually they got the trench in & mains power but whenever there was a storm & branches cut the lines it would take 1-3 days to be fixed being a rural sector. Last yr my folks went Solar with battery so if the power goes they don't lose perishables.

[@summerforever6736]

God damn criminals!!

[@davefroman4700]

For less than that today they could be 100% offgrid.

[@bertroost1675]

@@davefroman4700 Please explain.

[@davefroman4700]

@@bertroost1675 Solar is dirt cheap today. You can get 20kw for under $13k today. And even on a cloudy day it will still produce more than enough to keep a 30kwh battery system ($10-$12k) happy. You put in a 5kwh backup generator to charge the batteries if needed in the winter? And it still will only run 4-6 hours a day. The average household uses less than 25kwh a day.

[@ChrisWilson999]

$120K buys one heck of a battery and solar system.@@bertroost1675

[@ngrader]

30:35 When you said 'sketchy' earlier. I didn't realized the plug you had on there. LOL.

[@bmacd2112]

I'm a real believer in paying a little extra to buy quality tools. However, I think $52,000 is a little much for a small pair of needle nose pliers! 🤣 Congratulations on getting it done.

[@chrisgreenhalgh6358]

yes ,very expensive pair of pliers, you should have them framed Matt

[@seanworkman431]

That's too funny, man you would be fun to work with.

[@stevewilliamson4635]

Those are government prices..

[@NigelTolley]

@@stevewilliamson4635 LOL! Like the power company is "the government"... No, it's a very rich company.

[@stevewilliamson4635]

@@NigelTolley I was referring to the comment about 52,000 dollars just for needle nose pliers...the government is notorious for charging 6,000 dollars for an American standard toilet..not including installation..!!!

[@offroad3574]

15:00 I will never not be impressed at the ability to use excavators and such as precision equipment! Keep up the awesome work Matt!

[@tracywagoner4907]

As a retired old electrician, I can say that the power companies around here usually pro-rate based on expected future KWh usage. I am a bit shocked by the 52,000 when you have a semi-commercial shop and a residence both going in. But when you live out in beautiful countryside instead of suburban hell, that happens. Congrats on having it done. Glad you found out about the vacuum trick, we always used that when it was available. Works a treat.

[@longshot726]

Mine will pull 250 feet before they even start charging you and everything after that is prorated. It does matter how it is zoned and if you are currently building though. Residential they won't prorate at all unless they see a residence going up on the property before they pull it. They won't let you pull your own here since they don't know if maybe you branched something off underground.

[@swedishpsychopath8795]

Thank you Norway for inventing the vacuum technique to pull wire.

[@Hoaxer51]

@@swedishpsychopath8795, What!! I’m pretty sure that Thomas Edison invented the vacuum so he could pull wires, he did that right after he invented electricity! I think it was the second thing he ever invented, just for that reason. lol

[@DavidBeckerSr]

Great Video! For $52 K, you’d thing these Overpaid Prima donna’s could at least clean up their mess 😢. Everybody is entitled today, it’s the world we live in. The work you did, was perfection,learned a lot, but then again, I always do . Enjoy your new power!⚡️ 😊❤

[@calholli]

@@swedishpsychopath8795 Norway invented space?

[@randyjackson2127]

Mr. Creek, you are living the dream. I’m an equipment operator turned foreman in the gold mining industry in rural Nevada. Seeing all this vintage equipment saved and used warms my heart, especially the old shovels and dozers. I think that’s 52K well spent to be able to continue work on what is shaping up to be an incredible property.

[@geraldrooke4922]

Apparently I have been waiting three months to see how you put the draw rope into that ducting. It was worth the wait. Well done Matt. I just need to see the wood burner installed now. Keep up the good work.

[@Hwb415]

52k is a bit absurd but as a lineman there is a bit more that goes into the process. Factor in the cost of the primary cable (we use 2/0 aluminum primary cable for this type of service), medium voltage elbow on transformer side (possibly additional elbows in junction boxes. Not sure of that style junction), medium voltage termination on pole side plus possibly a cutout and other hardware to run cable up pole and connect to existing infrastructure. Again 52k is a lot but having the equipment and manpower to come out and energize the service isn’t cheap and the power company is obviously making a fair bit as well. Primary cable is also a bit more involved to terminate than your regular 600v or 1000v secondary cable.

[@BlackEpyon]

My suspicion was that the power company wanted to make sure nothing went wrong with the pull, like a gash in the insulation or sketchy splices in the middle that could overheat and cause a short later on.

[@nathangandara9607]

He said he is supplying the cable for 15k he paid they're just pulling it with the string he also had to install

[@Monkeh616]

Not to mention taking responsibility for the entire installation from that point on. People seem to take that for granted.

[@BlackEpyon]

@@Monkeh616 Yeah, it's like the people who drive without motor insurance and get into a car accident. Like, whether or not there's price gouging involved is a separate issue, but regulations exist for a reason!

[@MrEndzo]

@@nathangandara9607 $15k was for the conduit and renting the trencher.

[@braddokken9191]

Another huge accomplishment. It seems like yesterday you were prepping for the first shipping container. It's a lot of money but what else can you do? It's not going to get any cheaper. Congratulations! I'm looking forward to seeing a wood boiler install in the future.

[@DonK-v5t]

Just for comparison, I installed an underground feed 14 years ago from the highway to a location 3900 feet away on our farm. This is in Ontario so requirements are quite different from that in your location in the US. The primary wire was basically a large coax cable about 1 1/4" in diameter and good for 16000 volts if my memory is correct. Even though I am an electrician myself I hired a contractor to help due to the size of the job. An excavator was used to dig a 24" trench up to 5' deep. A stone slinger layed 6" of sand in the trench as well as on top of the cable after installation. The only conduit used was at the pole to get into the trench and at the other end where the cable entered the concrete transformer base. The transformer base also had a ground field installed around the perimeter as well as the installation of the central metering base. The total cost was just over $42,000, $20,000 of which was for the aluminum primary coax cable. For the pad mount transformer, I only had to pay the difference between the cost of a pole mount and a pad mount. This gives me enough for approximately 700 amps at 240 volts. I know that here have been lots of increases in costs of just about everything in the past couple of years so no idea how much this would cost today.

[@richardgadoury8452]

Could you have put in 600V or was it not available at source

[@DonK-v5t]

I assume you are talking three phase 600 volts. This would have required a lot more costly underground cable. Three phase was available at the source. @@richardgadoury8452

[@infblu3808]

@@richardgadoury8452 What he said was 240 on the Low End(user end) of the XFMR. He said the high side was 16kV. 600V would mean he would need another XFMR for all normal loads.

[@chaps7976]

Yep for sure on the cost part. Construction prices in the US have nearly gone up 50% if not more since covid.

[@asarand]

I will be watching this on my television. Just wanted to put in a comment and say that $52,000 is a lot to pay. Especially given that you did the majority of the work preparing the trench.

[@djreese1885]

Typical town/city/government type company to bend ya over and take all your money for minimal work. Very sad and disgusting. Especially like you said he did most of the damn work

[@williamevans6522]

1/ 2mile of copper ain't cheap.

[@nicholas4839]

Who cares what you're watching this video on

[@objektivone3209]

​@@nicholas4839Because the video is so dang well made.

[@objektivone3209]

👍👍👍

[@roycsinclair]

The one box right beside the road, for safeties sake I think you should put in a couple of hefty barrier poles on each side of the box just to mark them clearly (especially in snow) and to keep any slightly off the road vehicle from tearing through that and forcing you back onto your generators.

[@jeffriley-lq5np]

if matt marks them he’s liable for them. did matt set them off the right away? that’s in him too

[@DieselCreek]

All laid out to spec

[@MetalSphere10]

@@DieselCreek Matt, it’s late. Go to bed.

[@warrenmichael918]

None of his boxes were close to the road. They were in his driveway but not the road people drive on. The one at the end of his drive was at least 60 feet or more off the road.

[@warrenmichael918]

@@jeffriley-lq5np Right of way? They are all on his property, he doesnt need to make sure any right of way distance ion kept. The power company gave him a spec sheet to follow and if he wasnt 1000% within that spec, they wouldnt pull the wire. This was inspected a few times before the guys showed up to pull the wire, even though we didnt see the inspections, it was all gone over very well.

[@timziegler9358]

I am sorry for all the problems you have had to endure with the power company. I wish you the very best!

[@joshuawatson8569]

Costs I’m seeing for 15kv underground is around 25/foot, I wouldn’t be surprised if you were only charged for this cable and everything else was socialized. There’s a world of difference between your 120 volt wire and a primary underground conductor.

[@WhiteOutHunting]

I love how you do all the work and still have to pay 52k to get it connected!

[@jimlaredo87]

Hi Matt! Been watching your videos for years now, always fun watching you tear into all these heavy projects on your own! Can’t describe the sense of inspiration you give to work through a tough obstacle! Just wanted to maybe give you a few tips on installing basements and terminating in meter bases in the future. I am an electric lineman in Michigan so we do this work all the time. When burying your basements we typically don’t burry them flush against the ground because they will tend to settle into the ground over time. I’ll leave roughy 8-10 inches or so exposed out of the ground to set the transformers and switch cabinets (which is what is by your gate) on for settling and also it gives you more room for the primary and secondary wires to bend around and more room for us to work with them easily to terminate as well as have extra wire for when the frost starts to pull on the wire it won’t pull the bushings out of the transformer. This also applies to your meter base. I always make a decent bend on our wires so there’s a few inches of wire to play with for frost. Doesn’t have to be much but a little snake bend can make all the difference as opposed to just running straight up like that. Been to many homes over the years where it’s pulled the meter base right off the home or barn and everything has to be redone. Just some little tips and tricks for you for next time if you ever have to do it again in the future!

[@rossx5468]

Congratulations on finally getting mains power Matt, loved the vacuum cleaner trick. I would frame those needle nose pliers if I was you, along with the caption "the $52000 pliers".

[@robertbrown327]

We’re jumping back to the video, pulling string with a vacuum or a mule tape with a vacuum is my favorite way to do it. You could also suck out any debris or water that might’ve gotten into it. I see you had a good seal, though.

[@samwest9444]

Matt that’s awesome, well done. Please don’t ever stop being a one man band. That’s what makes this channel so authentic. Please consider chucking some bollards infront of the transformer so you done back over it with a machine

[@DieselCreek]

not allowed to obstruct access

[@LukesJukes]

4 corner reinforced formed cement posts 6" across & 24" down ought to do the trick without obstrtucting access. :)@@DieselCreek

[@DieselCreek]

@@LukesJukes I know it wouldn’t be an obstruction but I asked and they said don’t put anything like that in place.

[@LukesJukes]

@@DieselCreek Dang, that sucks! I guess if some trees just so happened to grow close around it, they’d come cut them down? 😅

[@SodiumInduction-hv]

Obstruction of pad mount access is not allowed

[@chrisb2239]

Fantastic!! Nice “clean” work all around. Given you have so many trees and often use heavy equipment in the area, I suggest you build a “corral” of concrete piers with a couple runs of good steel rails between them that keep a height well above the transformer. This way if a tree falls on it the corral will hold the load rather than crush the transformer.

[@kevinpeacock9476]

Totally awesome to see this leg of the project finished, what a journey. Looking forward to seeing the wood fired boiler being installed. Man that shop is gonna be toasty! Love watching your videos, greetings from Wales UK.

[@knight0334]

I work the telco side, and we pull U/G cables via same method. We jet thru or on shorter runs, rod/mandrel thru, a pull string/mule tape. Then use it to pull through our cables. In some districts they have a jetting machine to directly jet thru fiber cables.

[@concankid4202]

I checked on a run like that at my place in south Texas for overhead and it was about $40,000, but that was 5 years ago. The power company has a cost estimator on their website so I just calculated based on 2,600 feet and today's cost is $66,434 for overhead and $111,800 for underground. The good news, if any, is that these costs are all inclusive. Looks like you did OK.

[@bigtxbullion]

Never would have expected a run to cost that much. Its not even a three phase commercial property. Yikes. Who is the power provider in STX?

[@johnarnold24]

It has been almost 30 years since I quit the field work but these prices seem outrageous.

[@richardthomas1743]

WOW! I have never seen that before with a bag , string and Vacuum , and yes you NAILED IT Matt! 👍

[@johnrobichaud130]

Trade method for years

[@richardthomas1743]

@@johnrobichaud130 Yes but it is NOT something that all of us see everyday.

[@johncottingham8987]

I never seen someone have such a big smile on their face after spending $52,000. Congratulations on getting hooked up to electricity. Your videos always bring a smile to my face and at 79 years old I am still learning things through you. Thanks for the videos and introducing your friends to me as it I enjoy a lot of the same things. I seldom get to get my hands dirty like I use too but it's like watching a football game on tv. I can set in the stands and watch the excitement with out all the aches and pains of doing it. Keep Safe.

[@tallboy49]

That meter means money, lots of it and it all belongs to the power company. Power companies must be all the same around the world as in Australia they charge an arm and a leg plus one kidney to connect the power to your premises in rural areas. I knew one guy who was quoted $52000 to connect the power to his rural property and there was only pole involved. No underground. He went full solar with batteries and a back up generator and with the government subsidy the system cost him nothing.

[@dylanb8427]

Shit, for $52k I could have set you up with an off grid solar setup that would power that shop 24/7. I think my last large one was ~$35k including a shipping container and 100kw backup genset (2 stroke detroit!). Produced ~40kwh/day in the summer and 20kwh/day in the winter. Plus had 40kwh of battery storage. It provided 240V split phase and easily started larger loads like big motors and even ran a 240V welder just fine. Hell, I usually did my laundry at night, off a 240V well pump, full size washer and full size electric dryer - without the genset.

[@brandon4185]

Does seem crazy not to do solar+battery given the prices… it was over $65k which buys a lot of solar and battery.

[@bellemorelock4924]

add 50% to that price and you can have Tesla branded solar, installed, and 25 yr warranty. But still less than this! (AND NO BILLS)

[@spoolin55psi]

Mule tape might be the best thing ever made very little stretch super strong and easy to use.

[@chris_martin]

As a heavy equipment mechanic, I absolutely hate mule tape, and when it gets into brushes of a sweeper, gets into bearings etc

[@KC6UFO1]

Matt, I love your video, and you have a great property and shop. In terms of cost, it cost me 18k to put in direct burial cable, 8 years ago in Colorado, including the setting of the transformer. $18 per foot. It was hell digging in the rock, and conduit just doesn't cut it here. As a plus, I received $3.5k back when the adjacent neighbor ran power to his place. Given the cost of things today vs 2015, and the price of both labor and wire, while I understand your frustration, all things considered I say at $23 a foot, even with your work, that you got a pretty good deal. If anything goes bad, the power company is on the hook to fix the cable and everything else associated with the installation for life. All in all, your project looks great! And you're blessed. Merry Christmas

[@johnnycaps1]

Haven't seen a vicious flame war in awhile. Really surprised that this video would "spark" one. No pun intended. Exciting. Interesting story about electrical infrastructure and the power grid. Thank you.

[@scotpettengill7801]

Another step in the right direction. The price to do the power is never cheap. In New Hampshire here at my son's house I did a power service upgrade from 150.amp service to a 200 amp service this spring. I dug the 225' trench and laid all the 3 inch pvc and 1 inch pvc with my son. Public Service had us pull the strings as well and install slip joints at the meter box. There was no cost for the wire underground because when, they are upgrading the power it's free, so that was a huge savings. Your progress on your shop and land is amazing, keep up the good work. Happy Holidays.

[@tiredoldmechanic1791]

The power companies are like the phone companies used to be when there was only one provider for each area. My uncle lived on the border of a phone company service area. The neighbors house, that was within 200 feet of his house was a long distance phone call away. As Lily Tomlin used to say as Earnistine the telephone operator on Laugh in. "We don't care, we don't have to, we're the phone company."

[@powrguy1696]

Yeah; the phone companies USED to be a bundled service, and MUCH cheaper. Now, just like utilities, it's per-piece-pricing.......how much would it cost to build your car, on nut and bolt at a time, and all components billed separately? ROFL

[@netking66]

Nothing which two tin cans and a length of string would not sort out.

[@burkepete110]

It would have been smart to include a transfer switch to facilitate use of a generator during power outage. You make a pretty good case that the job was costly.

[@afineliner740]

A momentous occasion, happy for you Matt. Shame you couldn't get it cheaper, but no looking back now, full steam ahead. 👍

[@kenn5894]

I tried pricing 15Kv primary wire and it's about $15 per foot. I'm guessing the single phase transformer was $5,000, and the new pole was probably 5,000. So about $43,000 in materials and the rest was labor and profit. I'm happy you finally have power. I've been thinking you'd want 3 phase power but i can't imagine what they would have charged you to run that.

[@jeffs2809]

I’d put that transformer closer to the $10k range, depending on size & manufacturer. I would guess it’s an around a 25kva.

[@glennschlorf1285]

You dont own the transformer

[@DXT61]

I know a fellow who doesn't live this far out. I mean he has power already to his shop but 3 phase was still going to cost something near this to have it as his residence. He just went the rotary converters. I just remember it being stupid expensive .

[@jonathanbradtke860]

I just installed 15kv primary and it’s $2.80 per ft for 2 awg full neutral stranded. Not sure where you got $15 from

[@kevink4914]

Them prices are maybe from 5 years ago. Transformers can be closer to $20,000 and primary wire $10 a foot

[@Oregonian1]

While I understand your frustration with the cost from the utility company, I also understand, from their point of view, how they cannot allow just anybody to pull high voltage primary wire, even though it is deenergized. There is huge liability on the side of the utility company if anything goes wrong with primary wire. While you are doing excellent work and would probably have no issue with pulling the wire, not everybody would do the same good job and the utility would be left with a lot of headaches from improperly done projects of this sort. I'm glad you got it done and look forward to continuing to watch your excellent videos. Thanks.

[@cleverca22]

exactly what i was thinking!

[@tomlind2]

The power company charges a lot of money but those guys do amazing work. Ten years ago a bad storm hit the town i lived in and it looked like a bomb went off. The power company swooped in with a bunch of different crews from all over the state (WI) and they had us up and running within a day and a half. I thought we were going to be without power for weeks. We had whole blocks of power lines down in the middle of the street and trees everywhere. They did amazing work and they were even nice about it.

[@parttimewoodcrafter307]

Hey Matt, if you see this, for future reference, mule tape has a little number printed on it every couple of feet. Those are footage. Read the number at both ends, subtract the smaller from the larger. That's your wire length without pulling the tape out to measure.

[@DieselCreek]

I checked my mule tape before I pulled it. No numbers on mine.

[@parttimewoodcrafter307]

@@DieselCreek gotcha, I figured it was worth mentioning. Thanks for the effort you put into your vids.

[@SuEnRoD]

Matt, if you REALLY don’t want to dig up your driveway, see if you can rent a ‘pipe torpedo’. You can dig a hole on either side of your DW and pound a pipe under it. I did many of them when I worked for the railroad. Probably overkill though. Nice content!!

[@iwantmyvanback]

You have some of the most interesting videos, Matt. Been watching for a few years and I'm still excited every time you post a new one. Great job!

[@weathermannax416]

Well, I paid $1,800 to replace my 20-gal steel well water pressure tank & switch. In its place is a 30-gal composite tank. Mind you, I dug up the old tank with a standard spade shovel & I had to bury the new tank. A regular plumber quoted me $3,500 to do it. Service call just to come to my home is $300 & if he had to use his own mini excavator, that is an additional $200/hour. And the tank replacement is still $1,800. When it is a necessity - it will cost you and arm and a leg, then some more. Which is more of an eye-sore? Small green boxes or wood poles sticking in the aire?

[@forexguy]

Genius idea. Being pillaged by the Power Company is no fun. I hope one of your viewers can bring this directly to your State Legislature on your behalf. You are a hard-working, industrious man. God bless your energy. Continued success.

[@EricsBBQAndMORE]

Great job documenting this whole build, looking forward to the next one!

[@davidweidner1675]

You know it's going to be a great morning when there's a new Diesel Creek episode

[@originaljcs]

Used a foam 'mouse' attached to the pull string 40 years ago when we laid conduit. Never imagined people would make videos and get mind blown by that kind of work in the next century.

[@georgewelker853]

It always blows my mind when there’s enforcement of extortion rules like this situation. Power companies, gas companies and health departments that have complete control of their perspective trades. They have rules to follow but they are essentially a monopoly with law enforcement behind their monopolies

[@tbas8741]

Only in 1 Country tho so there is a Solution, Change Country.

[@nathangandara9607]

U forgot insurance

[@czogg99]

Don’t forget health insurance .the biggest scam and monopoly.

[@keithstudly6071]

Yes, they are a monopoly. That is why they are regulated by the public utilities commission. The question is who is keeping the PUC honest?

[@derschwartzadder]

Several thousand feet of copper ain't cheap. Especially at primary gauges

[@samssungs4495]

Congrats, Matt! 52 grand is a lot of doe ray me, but that's the price you have to pay when dealing with the establishment! It's done, and it's time to start a new chapter at Diesel Creek. Your videos are the best, and we all look forward to seeing many more!

[@systemsrenegade9888]

Worked out just over 5 grand a truck maybe that's how they price it.

[@ctdieselnut]

@@systemsrenegade9888 transformer, high voltage line, etc., man hrs, overhead, profit. Materials/labor, no different than any other business. It aint cheap. Water company charged my buddy 80k to run water 600' to his new house, all utility work is like this. Sad but true.

[@ellesmerewildwood4858]

When you got the bill for the power did it come in the form of little bits of letters cut out from various magazines ? I can't imagine how much they would have charged if they'd done EVERYTHING themselves.

[@braveworld2707]

😂😂

[@bobbg9041]

25:08 52k.

[@normhowes2975]

@@bobbg9041 That's 52 grand just for the transformer, wire, pulling the wire, plugging in meter and hooking things up. It does not include the conduit, burying it, pull tape, pulling pull tape OR the run from transformer to building.

[@ellesmerewildwood4858]

@@bobbg9041 I know it cost Matt 52K but he did most of the work himself. What I wonder is how much it would have cost if the power company had done everything. Dug holes, dug trenches, dug up and repaired the road, laid pipes, filled trenches, placed transformer boxes, run the strings then the pull lines, then the wiring and lastly the connections. It would have cost at least 150K.

[@jrock865]

@@ellesmerewildwood4858 it would be a fortune and with wire prices now especially high voltage this price with transformer and all those guys actually is accurate people just don't understand what all it takes but leaving all that stuff is ridiculous.

[@chris_dahlen]

Saw on another Y.T. channel, they made a small building near the pole by road, had power company set transformer near that and saved a ton of money. Then had a licensed electrician run wire to main building

[@miker8915]

Congratulations Matt, it's nice to see the power company finally showed up and got you turned on. Awesome video. Thank you for taking us along.

[@HappilyHomicidalHooligan]

I thought Turning him On was his Wife's job? 😄😁😆😅😂🤣

[@tommosier3832]

As a professional Electrician I can confirm that this is the best way to get a line in the conduit. Lol. Nice job!

[@Adventures-of-Life]

I appreciate the honesty and full disclosure of the cost of the project. Some people want to do something like this is nice to know what it cost. At least they can base their estimate on his and see if they're getting a better deal or not.

[@moosescorner]

when you had the generator hooked up to the entrance feed my first though was might be a worthwhile idea to add a manual transfer switch to the building with a plug so if power goes out you can just hook generator up with little work and be back online in a jiffy.

[@ClintsHobbiesDIY]

It was nice of your neighbor to work with you so well.

[@DieselCreek]

He ought to, he’s my uncle

[@highlandrab19]

Family is no assurance of cooperation

[@snowballil3133]

Uncle DC 0.O

[@Narendra--Modi]

Lol

[@wrangler6977]

Too bad the power company isn’t as nice as your neighbor, they never are. Hope all that waiting turns out to be worth the electric bills when they send them to you. Can’t wait to see you working in your nice warm shop this winter, will beat working out in the frigid cold w/ little daylight. Good luck, have fun and keep those videos coming. Also I miss your original intro music, I always looked forward to it and knew I was on the right channel.

[@curtisnewton895]

the amount of stuffs we learn with you is baffling

[@KrisDouglas]

The amount they charged to do that small bit of work is disgusting. Cracking job as always Matt, they should've done all of your excellent prep work and brought you coffee for that price.

[@haphazard1342]

Curious if this is less of an "actual cost" thing and more of the hookup cost subsidizing some other aspect of the entire electrical distribution or production system. If they're like other utilities, the use fees aren't really the revenue stream. New hookups almost always cost a lot more than just the actual work involved.

[@Amonephis]

i feel like it would have been cheaper to go solar + diesel generator setup, that was pure extortion

[@jeffriley-lq5np]

im up to over $25 k in materials the poco supplied. before shipping

[@jeffriley-lq5np]

the transformer was $7-10 k and that cable is 7bucks a foot( cheapest some brands are $12 each. you have no idea what this actually costs to install-do you?

[@Amonephis]

@@jeffriley-lq5np he literally had to pay 52k for them to come and run some wires. what are you on about?

[@thetroll1247]

One favorite parts of being a sparky . Sending the pull line. Ive seen 5 stories and a block and half pulled in seconds. Cut a grove into the metal conduit.

[@keithwallick7440]

Congratulations on the power hookup! Maybe on a future video you can show a clean up, lubrication and will it run on a $52,000 pair of pliers! 😅

[@matthewerwin4677]

I believe the high cost is for the power company taking ownership of that stretch of underground line to the meter. They're responsible for it from now on. From the main line to the meter.

[@gambit1001]

Congtas Matt on achieving full power! Been watching your stream for a while, not gonna lie, I'm real happy for you!

[@AntonioClaudioMichael]

Atleast for the 52k they showed up in full force as a army and Got it done in less then 3 hours 36:02 @Diesel Creek

[@robmikell7444]

Matt, Rob again here. The company I worked for developed subdivisions and underground utilities. This company was so in tune, they could lay a mile of 4 ft storm drain, water, sewer & electric conduit bundled in the ground. No automation, teamwork. It was like watching a choreographed symphony every day.

[@zeeman1975]

Hang on to those "Chinese finger traps" as you call them! When I was sailing heavy lift ships we would use these to renew wire ropes in the rigging of the cargo booms. Cut off the eye on the old wire, stick this on (tighten the end with a small wire or even duck tape) Stick one more on the 'winch end' of the new wire, connect the 2 eyes with a small shackle and you can pull the new wire through all sheaves using the drum of your crane, When the new wire reaches the drum just tie it off, disconnect and unspool the old wire from the drum on to the ground. As you can adjust the diameter simply by pushing the together you can use these for a lot off different size wires (or cables). Keep them lightly greased or spray with some oil, store in a dry place and they will last a life time. Keep up the nice videos

[@andrewt9204]

Nice work. The vacuum strategy is so satisfying on those long runs! Although for 52k + whatever else you already spent, + cost of electricity, I'd just stay off grid I think. 52K would get you a MASSIVE solar+LFP battery setup and a decent backup generator. A little more complicated, but being self reliant is pretty cool IMO.

[@XantheFIN]

I love your cable holder ladder.. gonna steal that idea.

[@zachsmith98]

Glad you’ve got power now Matt! I can’t believe they couldn’t even be bothered to take the mule tape with them and throw it away.. especially since they basically made it impossible for you to reuse!

[@jeffriley-lq5np]

grab an end and walk off. its a consumable only a genuinely tightwad junk hoarders would keep it. but like other customers provided material its the customers to dispose of

[@zachsmith98]

@@jeffriley-lq5np even if you want to say it’s the customers to dispose of because they provided it, doesn’t excuse them of all the other junk they left lying around. I’ve been in construction a while. We always clean up our sites when we’re done with them, it’s just good practice.

[@colinwilson210]

Granted you did much of the duct work, but you're talking 800m of high voltage cable (they're only trained to work on specific types types, so can't use any old crap), the transformer itself will be the thick end of $15k, plus the joint termination kit (both to the overhead line and transformer), plus the admin to assess whether the overhead line had enough spare capacity to give you what you wanted.

[@patreilly6826]

We ran into this for a friend of mine. His power “run” from the utility access point was 3/4 mile. Originally They were going to install 10 power poles with one transformer and the overhead single wire. Total cost estimate was $62,000 for the power company to do it but they wanted a 65 foot easement cut along the power line from the trees that were there. My friend bought that property for the nice forest that was there and to cut down 30% of those trees to run the power was a bit of a non starter. We obtained a spool of underground cable for $16,000 that was over rated for his load and had the power company put his meter and transformer on the existing power pole by the road. We then trenched in the cable with a ditch witch to the proper depth beside his access road and installed two step up and step down transformers for $3000 each. The step up transformers boosted the 240 volts from the meter to 600 volts and when it got to his service point on his building we stepped it back down from 600 to 240 volts to tie into his breaker panel. By doing that it reduced the voltage drop on large loads and reduced the wire size by at least two sizes. The power company still charged $12,000 for the transformer and the meter install but the total was $36,000 with the ditch witch rental for going underground. I am not sure if the electrical codes in your area allow for underground cable instead of conduit but the cost of your conduit and the difference in the wire types is another cost to look at.

[@boomer150]

New viewer, love watching old engines roar to life. VGG, NNKH, ultimately lead me here. That vacuum trick dropped my jaw, amazingly simple and I will be looking for the next opportunity to use it myself. I have heard of the rural expense phenomenon, how much more expensive it is to get the regular connivences of urban living to rural areas. Electricity, gas, internet. The markup for bringing these things to the middle of nowhere is nuts. As we all depend on electricity for our modern lives, not much to be done about it. Even solar has it's drawbacks. If it at all helps absorb the blow, underground electricity lines in my personal experience are the most stable and resistant to outages in bad weather. My home is fed by underground lines and in 10 years I can only recall 3 outages that lasted longer than a few seconds and even the longest was only about 10 min.

[@mikesorg6746]

That’s honestly really cool how quick that is running string. Finally case content. Been lurking in the background way too long and can’t wait to get your review on it. C&C dropped the delivery video yesterday.

[@deonswanepoel7966]

I just enjoy the pure joy you exhibit when things works for you. One of your best videos, and I have watched pretty much 95 % of them all. Regards from South Africa!

[@The-Deadbolt-Deputy]

Ive always wondered how the initial pull line was run. This was awesome to watch this process.

[@anthonyberry9132]

In Europe we use a compressor to blow 8mm rope through behind a plastic bag,same result

[@over-engineered]

what you could do is have the power company meter close to the boundary of your land, then everything after that you could run your own cable. BUT if they are running HV to you, your cable after the transformer/meter (LV) would have to be a lot larger. might not save anything!?

[@richardthomas1743]

Good morning Matt and thumbs UP! It is going to be an awesome Saturday with a new DC video!!

[@sams7655]

If he gets electricity then it will be AC video.

[@paulprigge1209]

If you haven’t seen the excavator that he is using being delivered check it out. Pretty cool. Win-win for both sides

[@CoolD32]

With the Wood Boiler you can set a Circulator to feed a couple of Hot Water Air Handlers also and help heat the shop. Free Heat. They make Hydronic Air Handlers. You should Set a Supply and Return Manifolds to allow you to connect other devices to the Wood Boiler. Lots of Flexibility. Size the Supply and Return Piping to the Boiler to give you extra capacity.

[@ronaldheit196]

Nice to see you now have power to your shop and also ready for your future home Matt. Looking forward to the episodes of you finally getting the wood fueled boiler to provide hot water to your pex heating system. That'll be less cha-ching ya gotta hand over to those extorsionists at the power company each month for heating your shop. Merry Christmas to you and your family Matt.

[@stephenalexander6721]

😊 having you put a line in the pipe shows that the pipe hasnt come apart. You know you do good work, I know i do good work, but not every body does. Went to pull an underground service once, couldn't get anything through. Turns out the conractor had installed pvc drain pipe with a drain ell. Stuck conduit on each end. Eventually ee started requiring prebackfill inspection and pulling line. If a new service request sat for about a week, we gave it to a contractor who could (usually) get it done soon. And we inspected them too. Sorry yours took so long, i cant speak to the cost ive been retired for 16 years. Where i worked we took the service in electric service seriously.

[@lxiflyby]

As someone who does this professionally, I can’t think of any utility that lets anybody else but them run the primary cable. Everything you did looks good, but we spec sand instead of stone for the transformer pads. Those guys look like they had tons of help; we would usually do that whole project with 4-5 guys max, but we’d be there for most of the day

[@defresurrection]

The power companies follow policy for everyone. In this case, it seems like the owner was trying to negotiate. And complaining about the cost was not warranted. The 52k was set in stone from the time this job was imagined. And on top of that, the power company didn't do it in less than 10 months. Almost a child-like attitude for this process. Edit: Allegedly 10 trucks plus workers... 52k sounds about right. Power company isn't a charity.

[@michaelterrell]

my nearly 60 year old pole pig died a couple years ago. Since it contained PCB based transformer oil, it required special handling. There were three trucks, and 10 people on site to ake sure that everything was done properly. This incled three people to observe the process, s they could be qualified, and a field supervisor The failure was frequent, short outages, until it finally quit. It also had an internal arc which wiped out all AM radio, and HF band radio.

[@dcs4555]

​@@michaelterrell cool info, thanx. i guess pole pig is a transformer. but i didn't even think about the emi interference/havoc it would cause, lol kinda like the old days when a bad ignition condensor(cap) just killed the cheap factory speaker sound during the days of 8 track.

[@michaelterrell]

@@dcs4555 Yes, a pole mounted transformer. I've heard that term, since about 1960 when the city was converted from 2200 to 7200 volt distribution. I was about eight years old. Those old transformers were installed around 1945, when entire subdivisions of 'National Prefab Homes' were built. Seven days from clearing the land, to being ready to move in. Cheap first homes for Veterans returning from WWI, and starting families. As for the ignition noise, a lot of idiots would buy non resistor plug wires and spark plugs. They would wipe out radio & tV signals for a half mile. I repaired hundreds, if not a thousand car radios and tape decks back in the '60s and '70s. I started working in a TV shop at 13, and ended up building Telemetry equipment for NASA.

[@TheSilmarillian]

@@michaelterrell Yep you need the three observers what ever happened to plain old common sense ?????? And employees that knew what they where doing without overpaid supervisors making sure they didnt get a blister or paper cut. Or God help it if they where misgendered or someone used the wrong pronoun to them lol