panel change

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Jpreston

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My client was allowed by their utilty company to add a new baseline for their well pump. She is wanting to distribute more than just the well to the new meter. The utility is giving her an additional 100 amps. Can she distribute load from her original Panel to her new baseline? She is trying to save money by dropping to the second tier level price of per kilowatt which is .15 cents compared to her current price at .47 cents a kilowatt. She has an smart idea but is this code compliant after the fact the utilty company added this new meter for her well pump and well pump only? The well pump is only pulling 13 amps.
 
Jpreston said:
She has an smart idea but is this code compliant after the fact the utilty company added this new meter for her well pump and well pump only? The well pump is only pulling 13 amps.
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What Code and Code cycle are you asking about ? the NEC or Civil Codes?

Local codes may override other Codes.

what type of occupancy is this? (Residential, Commercial, Industrial, or Agricultural)
There may be legal exceptions to the pump only, but it depends on the specific circumstances. Plus the contract with the utility may supersede any other applicable codes.
 
Rethinking after the first post, didn't you say she wanted to MOVE her existing load to the new Service???? If that part is true, then I believe it will not meet NEC requirements as only ONE service can serve one "STRUCTURE". The pump service will be considered a separate "STRUCTURE" by code.
 
JP, welcome to the forum! :)

I'd look into what the power co. would say if they found out.

It's gotta be prohibited somewhere, or everyone would do it.
 
It's a breach of contract to misappropriate service specific metering. I'm not sure if she'd be caught, but wiring her up knowing it will be misappropriated is a matter of professional ethics.

Utilities often give farms a irrigation pump rate but only allowed for exclusive use by irrigation pumps, so if they find out that the power is being diverted to run HPS in a green house to grow pot on the farm, they might disconnect the service, or sue the customer(like, estimated kWh used by unauthorized purpose times the price difference to put the unauthorized usage to be the highest cost tier)

When the intent of misappropriation is to exploit the purpose-specific rate, I would think that its a theft of service.
 
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Electric-Light said:
It's a breach of contract to misappropriate service specific metering. I'm not sure if she'd be caught, but wiring her up knowing it will be misappropriated is a matter of professional ethics.

Utilities often give farms a irrigation pump rate but only allowed for exclusive use by irrigation pumps, so if they find out that the power is being diverted to run HPS in a green house to grow pot on the farm, they might disconnect the service, or sue the customer(like, estimated kWh used by unauthorized purpose times the price difference to put the unauthorized usage to be the highest cost tier)

When the intent of misappropriation is to exploit the purpose-specific rate, I would think that its a theft of service.
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I agree:cool::cool:
 
Even in theoretical maximum, a 240v 13A 1ph well pump could use a maximum of 3.12kW, continous, and talking about diverting the power for saving money. For this to be worthwhile, the power usage has to be substantial. What kind of load does he have in mind?

So even in the most unusual situation where the well pump operated under full load for 24 hours a day, 75kWh is the absolute maximum possible. Realistically, I'm not expecting much more than 10-15kWh/day.
 
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There's no way electricity is that cheap. You also happen to have ballasts with 347v connection.

I'm guessing you really meant 4.7 cents general, 1.7 cent pump. A rate that low...

Is your utility company called BC Hydro?
 
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