Line Side Gutter shall not use insulating taps

[slangdazzo]

There is a rumor floating around that FPL in South Florida is restricting the use of insulating taps (like polaris) with more openings than needed by the service. I have (4) sets of conductors coming from a pad mount transformer to a line side service gutter, the building only has (3) meters that need to be feed. If this rumor is correct than the electrician cannot use an (8) slot polaris tap because he will have one opening left that someone after the fact can tap into to steal electric. Has anyone heard of this yet. My FPL rep says that is bogus, so does the city inspector, where do these rumors come from???

 

[infinity]

Sounds bogus to me. The line side equipment should have locks to keep thieves out.

 

[bphgravity]

Positively a bad rumor. There are many scenarios where theft of electrical power is possible due to inherent design of the electrical system. An example would be cold sequenced metering which is permitted by FPL in some cases.

The bottom line to keep an open dialog with the power company so they are aware of potentials issues or hazards they may wish to avoid.

This is not one of them.