Going on the Grid-How much?

[3930dave]

Back in 2000 when I built my house, the local power company wanted $27,000 to run approx. 1/4 mile of line to my house.

When all was said and done, I paid just over $7000 for everything.

Not to take anything away from you bd (initiative, and thinking on your feet always score points with me), but if you can save 20 large just on your first rodeo, the utilities obviously don't want word spreading about how much easy money they are scooping up here.

Everybody's motivation and pain levels will vary..... personally, the further it gets past $2 or $3k for a hookup, my motivation to go off-grid increases proportionally..... YMMV.

Rgds, D.

 

[fitter1]

All good points guy's. I talked with a local logger this morning [we have helped out each other in the past] and he will check it out this week as the pole locations are already marked. I'll also talk to the field engineer for the power co. and get his thought on this. ****, I'm retired now and might as well spend it before I'm thrown into the burn pile. I still need to build a pole barn and garage or one large barn with 12ft over hangs.

 

[mike69440]

I negotiated when they ran power to my place, ended up paying for 2 of the 4 poles needed.
The other two pole I argued would better serve my two neighbors as well as myself than the toothpick crap they ran between the trees 30 years ago, so we all actually benefited even though 3 of the 4 poles are on my property.

I have solar, and use 3X what a normal household uses. If batteries bigger than whats in a Tesla would be available for less than the cost of a nuke sub, I d go off grid in a hurry instead of giving all that power back to the electric co-op and then paying triple when I use it at night. Can't win.

Also I buried the last 225 Ft from the transformer to my house. I still have to look at poles coming up my driveway.

 

[hawkeye08]

Around here, the price seems to depend on who you know more than the situation...

 

[timswi]

Not exactly he same but we had a 400' run to our camp..We had a local electrician install the lines and the terminations then the utility company did the final hookup to the primary panel/meter..1 200a panel near the road and a 125a at the site...If we would have needed poles, he could have done that, or we could have had the contractor do it..The poles weren't too expensive to buy..The whole thing was around $3k...We had to do the facility hookups and runs but that was cheap and fairly easy...Shop around would be my advise...If you have one of those lunatic utilities, then I guess it is what it is...Thankfully ours was very cooperative and we ended up with a residential type install.

 

[fitter1]

I talked with the field engineer and was told the cost would go up if anyone else did the clearing because they would have to be supervised. They are even charging me for past quotes. This is BS.

 

[coldsteelva]

...I have solar, and use 3X what a normal household uses. If batteries bigger than whats in a Tesla would be available for less than the cost of a nuke sub, I d go off grid in a hurry instead of giving all that power back to the electric co-op and then paying triple when I use it at night....

Have you seen this: Powerwall | The Tesla Home Battery

 

[Citydude]

I talked with the field engineer and was told the cost would go up if anyone else did the clearing because they would have to be supervised. They are even charging me for past quotes. This is BS.

I'm in the planning stage of having a power company run power 550 feet to my property. The field engineer suggested that I cleared the trees myself or hire it out. I'm doing it myself and he will come check it when I'm done. You are correct with what you are dealing with. Total BS.

 

[3930dave]

I talked with the field engineer and was told the cost would go up if anyone else did the clearing because they would have to be supervised. They are even charging me for past quotes. This is BS.

If they are that much of a PITA/Wallet now.....

Even w/o looking at used, diesel generators are not that expensive given the extortion you are seeing.

Random example, 15kw Perkins for about $12k CANADIAN.

Diesel Generators by Aurora Generators

I'd be researching diesel gens and doing the math. Quiet diesels can be one solution, which also enables you to look at alternate fuel sources if available locally.

Rgds, D.

 

[mike69440]

Have you seen this: Powerwall | The Tesla Home Battery

Sure did. I'd want at least 2 full days of juice stored, preferably 3, before I'd have to fire up a generator, and that means 6 of those puppies minimum. We have a farm, our electric bill is stupid. I told my wife run the air conditioner like heck this summer, just to spite the Co-Op and not let them buy electricity from us at pennies on the dollar.

Fair would be giving us the spot wholesale price on a KW, plus a sub-station credit, and not charge us to take the juice back. I accept that their should be a distribution fee on the juice we import.

 

[Cord]

I talked with the field engineer and was told the cost would go up if anyone else did the clearing because they would have to be supervised. They are even charging me for past quotes. This is BS.

That's pretty much where I figured it would head. You have to get your self into a mode where you can deal with this stuff and think your way out of the corner. So they quoted you to have the trees cleared to put the lines in. If you clear them then they'll have to have somebody supervise the work. Fine. You're not under contract so just let the proposal rest. It's your property, so clear the trees and then in a year or two have them quote to put the lines down this really nice cleared lane. Now the problem goes away. Remember, these people are not hired to solve problems. They are hired to work within some very well defined rules and they don't want to get in trouble for breaking any rules.

 

[3930dave]

Sure did. I'd want at least 2 full days of juice stored, preferably 3, before I'd have to fire up a generator, and that means 6 of those puppies minimum. We have a farm, our electric bill is stupid. I told my wife run the air conditioner like heck this summer, just to spite the Co-Op and not let them buy electricity from us at pennies on the dollar.

Fair would be giving us the spot wholesale price on a KW, plus a sub-station credit, and not charge us to take the juice back. I accept that their should be a distribution fee on the juice we import.

Curious - what is the problem with firing up the generator once a day ?

If you have that big of an operation, why not just have a controller auto-start the generator as needed ?

Asking partly to add some options for OP to review...

Rgds, D.

 

[civilian]

Question in general. Are propane generators cost effect? Better or worse than diesel? Just wondering. Thanks, Jon

 

[mike69440]

Curious - what is the problem with firing up the generator once a day ?

If you have that big of an operation, why not just have a controller auto-start the generator as needed ?

Asking partly to add some options for OP to review...

Rgds, D.

We are just a hobby farm, but Bucket heaters, pumps, etc several freezers, huge house with double kitchen washer dryer, welders, wood shop, green house, etc we use about 2000KW/month, sometimes a bit more. I do not have a diesel auto start generator. We have day jobs, and ok, I'm lazy and forgetful.

 

[mike69440]

Question in general. Are propane generators cost effect? Better or worse than diesel? Just wondering. Thanks, Jon

Dependable, but a bit expensive to run, fuel wise, great for emergencies.

 

[3930dave]

We are just a hobby farm, but Bucket heaters, pumps, etc several freezers, huge house with double kitchen washer dryer, welders, wood shop, green house, etc we use about 2000KW/month, sometimes a bit more. I do not have a diesel auto start generator. We have day jobs, and ok, I'm lazy and forgetful.

Thnx for the 411, and honesty :thumbsup:.

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

Question in general. Are propane generators cost effect? Better or worse than diesel? Just wondering. Thanks, Jon

For producing a lot of power, I'd expect diesel to win $ wise.... but there are regional aspects - propane seems to vary in price quite a bit, depending where you live, and can swing seasonally in areas with harsh Winters - if you can bulk store propane, you may be able to catch a deal.

For limited/random power generation, use patterns and existing fuel needs probably matter the most. One really nice thing about propane is that it stores reliably as-is, for a really long time. If you store stabilized diesel for other reasons, then you already have an existing source to draw from - easy if you already have a large tank at home for tractors....

One thing to keep in mind if you start with 20# tanks, a manifold with at least dual tanks is a good idea for reliable northern Winter use - you need that increased area of dual tanks (both turned on) to ensure propane vapourization at low ambient temperatures. Nick had a good posting on a decent low cost dual manifold he set up recently in another thread (might have been my Last Generator Maintenance Run thread, or one Nik(daFish) started lately (?)...).

Propane can be harder to source; esp. in an extended emergency I'd guess that diesel would be easier to acquire...

If you are already up to speed on maintaining diesels in cold-climates (not really all that hard, but not common consumer knowledge Can/USA), then adding another one is no big deal. Running a generator purely on propane should be a no-brainer for an avg consumer today, with the one note being pay attention to the Operating Hours - ie. don't rely on dark looking oil to indicate Change Now.

Rgds, D.

 

[oosik]

When we moved here in 1982 I had power run in, one mile, from the main line on the county road. At that time it cost $4600, which I thought was pretty high. I guess now its about 3X that amount.

 

[zmountaineer]

I must be lucky. Our co-op gives 250 ft and 1 pole "free" as well as tree clearing. Then another 125 feet for service. It would be $3 per foot after that. My run was 440 feet and was not charged a dime.

 

[fitter1]

There are 3 other land owners that will have poles on their properties which involve easements that I didn't mention. I will most likely get a diesel water cooled 1800 rpm generator for back up. But running a generator 24/7 with low hr. warranties is not going to happen.