Meter main relocation/upgrade question

[quincyg]

Hi Folks,
I'm about 6 months in with my utility company doing an underground service upgrade. The service has to be moved away from the gas meters and I'm trying to do this changeover as efficiently as possible. FYI I'm a forum verified general contractor and going to hire an electrician, but I like to have a clear plan in place with subs.

The current setup is a 200A two meter service with two 100A tenant disconnects that go to two 100A exterior panels.

The new service will be 400A with two 200A tenant disconnects 25 ft away.

I'm thinking the most efficient and least disruptive way to do this is to upgrade the existing panels to 200A panels prior to the new service trench work. They would remain on the 100A tenant disconnects until the new meters and disconnects are installed. We could run my new 200A feeds from the new panels to the new service and have them ready to go after the new mains are in. The runs would have to come off the bottom of the panels and run through the crawlspace. I guess we would need 3" LB's for those 200A AL SEU cables.

-Does this seem like a solid plan? I believe the 200A panels will be allowed to temporarily be on the 100A tenant breaker since the tenant breaker is the current limiting device.

-Also not sure if these panels need to be main breaker panels or if they all allowed to be main lug only?

Thanks in advance for your expertise!
Quincy

 

[Seven-Delta-FortyOne]

Yes, you could power a 2,000 amp switchgear from a single 15 amp breaker if you wanted.

But I would think the actual logistics of the operation should be hammered out between you and your EC.

 

[quincyg]

Thanks for the reply! The logistics will be hammered out with EC, just getting a solid starting point. I prefer to be informed as much as possible.

 

[quincyg]

bump

 

[markwilkie]

Hi Folks,
I'm about 6 months in with my utility company doing an underground service upgrade. The service has to be moved away from the gas meters and I'm trying to do this changeover as efficiently as possible. FYI I'm a forum verified general contractor and going to hire an electrician, but I like to have a clear plan in place with subs.

The current setup is a 200A two meter service with two 100A tenant disconnects that go to two 100A exterior panels.

The new service will be 400A with two 200A tenant disconnects 25 ft away.

I'm thinking the most efficient and least disruptive way to do this is to upgrade the existing panels to 200A panels prior to the new service trench work. They would remain on the 100A tenant disconnects until the new meters and disconnects are installed. We could run my new 200A feeds from the new panels to the new service and have them ready to go after the new mains are in. The runs would have to come off the bottom of the panels and run through the crawlspace. I guess we would need 3" LB's for those 200A AL SEU cables.

-Does this seem like a solid plan? I believe the 200A panels will be allowed to temporarily be on the 100A tenant breaker since the tenant breaker is the current limiting device.

-Also not sure if these panels need to be main breaker panels or if they all allowed to be main lug only?

Thanks in advance for your expertise!
Quincy

If subs are in seperate building, main breaker is required.

 

[Little Bill]

I think the general questions have been answered. Since an electrician will be involved, any details in the install should be handled by the electrician. So I am closing this thread as any further details would be getting into a territory that should be handled by an electrical professional.