New Electric Service on Long Island
 

Hi all - building a new home on Long Island and NHEC says we need to pay $3k to upgrade the existing pole at the street and then likely much more (amount tbd) to add a pole at the end our driveway and run the wires there, then to the house.

Does anyone have experience with this, or know any alternatives (another company that will service Long Island, off grid solar, etc)?

Appreciate any insight and experiences! Happy almost July 4th, Thanks!

Each utility has a service region. I don't think they overlap.
Off Grid Solar would be a better question for other members.

If you can swing it financially then try to run the lines underground from your new house to the pole on the street.

Not only does it look better but you won't have any service issues should branches or trees fall on wires on your property. Underground is out of sight and out of mind.....

It's too bad that they are making you pay for an upgrade to the existing pole on the street (which others also utilize). I would try and appeal that requirement in light of the fact that you already will have to install your own compliant pole at the end of your driveway.

Best of luck!

The pole at the street might not have the necessary transformer... and power could be lost from anywhere on the line prior to the start of it going underground.

It makes sense in some situations, but not others.

The practice of paying to extend power lines and poles in not uncommon. When I built my place here 20 years ago CMP ( Central Maine Power) required me to pay for 2 new poles and the associated infrastructure that goes with it. At that time, it was about $3500. The good news for me was that about a year later, someone built across the street and they had to pay about half of the cost to CMP and they reimbursed me.

BT

I moved from Long Island to the Neck Rd. in 2018.
NHEC charged $11,400 for electricity hookup. At that time, copper was $22/ft.
Two new poles were placed on my property; hookup from pole on the Neck Rd.
My driveway is somewhere around 560 ft. Poles will either be from NHEC or Consolidated Communications. Usually, a transformer for each home. One transformer can become inoperative while others on that main line still provide service. Happened to me on West Point Rd. when a tree took out my house transformer.



NH PUC

"Four electric distribution companies operate in New Hampshire, each serving a mutually exclusive franchise territory. They include: Eversource Energy (Eversource) (formerly PSNH), Liberty Utilities (Liberty) (formerly National Grid and Granite State Electric Company), Unitil Energy Systems, Inc. (UES) (formerly Concord Electric Company and Exeter and Hampton Electric Company), and the New Hampshire Electric Cooperative, Inc. (NHEC)."

https://www.puc.nh.gov/Electric/electric.htm

Agree with BT, that the practice, of making new home builder pay for needed electrical service upgrades is not uncommon.......What is needed will that is up to the the electrical company, and the town inspector.... What you really want to understand, is what you will be responsible for it something gets damaged.

Generally anything before the meter is the responsibility of the electric company to maintain.

Additionally I would have the electrical company come out and meet with you they will explain why they are requiring what they are.... they may also have suggestions about alternative paths, that you have not considered that may change what infrastructure you have to put in place...

As someone else said as you are building new, and likely going to have earth moving equipment on site, I would suggest putting what you can underground....

NHEC handbook

https://www.nhec.com/start-stop-or-t...vice-handbook/

https://www.nhec.com/wp-content/uplo...mplete-pdf.pdf

Look up at the pole transformer and see if you can spot a two digit number about 8-10 inches high on it, and also note how many homes that transformer is feeding. If it is a single home right now(not including yours) it will likely be a 10kW. If there are multiple homes connected to the transformer then it will likely be a 25kW.
If it is the first case scenario and you are hookiing a second home into a 10 kW transformer you will likely be responsible for the upgrade.
If it is a 25 and there are currently three homes tied into it you will again likely have to foot the bill, but if there are only two the point is arguable. How large a home will it be and how heavy are your loads going to be? Are you going to heating with a minisplit? Will you have an EV charger? If not you might be able to argue an upgrade by downgrading your main electrical panel size. Most new homes are automatically equipped with 200 amp mains but in a lot of cases that is overkill and done mostly to have the luxury of a lot of breaker slots. I believe that a 100 amp service panel is the minimum allowed by NEC code and that would give you twelve circuit breakers, is that enough for your planned home? Talk your anticipated loads over with your electrician carefully.
There are a lot of neat tricks that can be applied through a solar application that can provide much more power than a transformer limitation can provide and we frequently legally employ them, but only as a benefit and never as a dodge. Upgrading the transformer will probably be your least expensive option as a start.

Thanks for all the feedback and thoughts, a lot to consider!!!