Electric from the street

 

photo credit: Eversource

How high over the horses are you going to hang your electrical lines? ...is a question you may not have asked yourself today.

Another on the list of "things where your ignorance is a hidden cost line item" is electric. Not just wiring your house - we're not there yet - but actually bringing the power from the street to your home.

I called the local electric company to talk it over, choosing the "Contractors and Builders" line since that was the direction of my questions. The guy who picked up (no automated menu!) was friendly and knowledgable.

There are two prices for running electric from the street to the cabin - one for overground and the other for underground. Underground is cheaper - a little over $15/foot - or half the price of over-ground! 

You're right to be suspicious. It's cheaper because with underground you pay digging the trench, running the conduit, the string (strong fishing line you run along the conduit and then the use to pull the actual electric wires through the conduit), backfilling the trench, all that jazz. The electric co folks just pull the wire through the conduit and hook it up.

Overground is easier and means the electric company comes out and puts up poles and runs wire.

Either method, the distance matters. If the lines run close to 300 feet you'll need to put in a transformer, which is one of those trashcan-looking things on the power pole. If you go underground, the transformer sits on a concrete pad, and it's more expensive. I'll have to remember to build "distance from the road" as a variable in my cost model for not only the driveway, but also the electric and other cables.

I am weighing the benefits and drawbacks of each method, but am leaning toward underground because it has the benefit of not requiring extra tree-trimming, is less prone to breaking, and looks cleaner. If I run the electric underground, I may as well run the cable, telephone, and any other wires underground too.

The other piece of information I gathered is the timing for having the electric company come out and write the order. This is best done once you've staked out the foundation location (and approved that's exactly where the foundation is being poured), because then the price quoted by the electric company will be precise.