With much relief I can finally write it! We have the first draft of the engineering!
It took two engineering firms collaborating, way more cash than we budgeted for and more time than I care to calculate. So many months went by to get past this hurdle that we have to wait until spring to begin construction of the dome. All the stories of delays when building your own house are very true.
I sent the first draft to the building department as well as South Industries to see if either needed any clarification. Both have reported back that the plans look good. We are now waiting for South Industries to give us a formal quote that spells out exactly what is and isn't part of their process so we can determine our next steps. They have assured me that it will be "all down hill from here". I truly hope they are correct! We are clear about their role in constructing the dome superstructure but are a little fuzzy about what they can and can't do in regards to the foundation.
We are getting closer to powering up!
After several weeks of messages and phone tag we have finally talked to the electric company's engineer to go over the details for our connection to the grid. We were concerned we might be required to put in a transformer. Our electrician indicated it was possible they would require one since the barn is 420 feet from the road and the house is about another 50 feet beyond the barn. There is good news and bad news straight from the electric company.
Good news: We don't need the ~7k transformer! They can run the power up to 600 ft without one.
Bad news: Although the electric company will give you the first 200' of connection from the closest pole on the road..... they won't cover new poles or the cost of cutting the road. Our closest pole is on the other side of the road.
There are two electric companies in the state and each one has a territory and they don't overlap. Depending on what area you live in you are stuck with the one electric company that supplies that area. Our town falls into Eversource territory. Eversource requires customers to foot the bill for new poles if the power lines are on the opposite side of the road (road cross poles). The other company in our state is United Illuminating. Their policy is a bit more generous. They will, at no charge, put in a road cross pole to "not discriminate" against customers who are on the off side of the road. Their words not mine! They actually write that into their informational booklet. The paragraph about road cross poles in the UI booklet feels like a weird stab at Eversource.
It makes me think that the person that wrote it lives in Eversource territory and bitterly had to pay for a pole that Eversource makes very clear they will own.
We now need to schedule with the Eversource engineer to have the pole put in. As soon as it is placed we can rent the mini excavator and dig the power trench and the barn foundation. As usual we thought we would be farther in this process by now. I hope the pole can be placed fairly quickly so we have time to finish the barn before winter.
It took two engineering firms collaborating, way more cash than we budgeted for and more time than I care to calculate. So many months went by to get past this hurdle that we have to wait until spring to begin construction of the dome. All the stories of delays when building your own house are very true.
I sent the first draft to the building department as well as South Industries to see if either needed any clarification. Both have reported back that the plans look good. We are now waiting for South Industries to give us a formal quote that spells out exactly what is and isn't part of their process so we can determine our next steps. They have assured me that it will be "all down hill from here". I truly hope they are correct! We are clear about their role in constructing the dome superstructure but are a little fuzzy about what they can and can't do in regards to the foundation.
We are getting closer to powering up!
After several weeks of messages and phone tag we have finally talked to the electric company's engineer to go over the details for our connection to the grid. We were concerned we might be required to put in a transformer. Our electrician indicated it was possible they would require one since the barn is 420 feet from the road and the house is about another 50 feet beyond the barn. There is good news and bad news straight from the electric company.
Good news: We don't need the ~7k transformer! They can run the power up to 600 ft without one.
Bad news: Although the electric company will give you the first 200' of connection from the closest pole on the road..... they won't cover new poles or the cost of cutting the road. Our closest pole is on the other side of the road.
There are two electric companies in the state and each one has a territory and they don't overlap. Depending on what area you live in you are stuck with the one electric company that supplies that area. Our town falls into Eversource territory. Eversource requires customers to foot the bill for new poles if the power lines are on the opposite side of the road (road cross poles). The other company in our state is United Illuminating. Their policy is a bit more generous. They will, at no charge, put in a road cross pole to "not discriminate" against customers who are on the off side of the road. Their words not mine! They actually write that into their informational booklet. The paragraph about road cross poles in the UI booklet feels like a weird stab at Eversource.
It makes me think that the person that wrote it lives in Eversource territory and bitterly had to pay for a pole that Eversource makes very clear they will own.
We now need to schedule with the Eversource engineer to have the pole put in. As soon as it is placed we can rent the mini excavator and dig the power trench and the barn foundation. As usual we thought we would be farther in this process by now. I hope the pole can be placed fairly quickly so we have time to finish the barn before winter.
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