Power Company frustration

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Volta

Senior Member
Location
Columbus, Ohio
You guys should move here. Our regular POCO (AEP) is professional, easy to work with, and timely. I never have a problem with them. I have a handle on their few basic time limits, and if I get my end done correctly, they do their part.

Now our state requires an inspection before connecting to the utility, and I wish there was more leeway there as that can be some tight scheduling, but with very few exceptions, they are the most reliable party in the equation.
 
H

Hv&Lv

Senior Member
Location
-
Occupation
Engineer/Technician
jmellc said:
At any rate, I will not be held up by POCO again, or my customer messed up. I'll hook it up myself & be done with it.
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Central NC... Progress energy and Duke? (AKA one in the same). Another one that is sometimes slow to respond. I do not mind at all going to jobs that are already connected, as long as the inspection passed. I have applied many squeezons behind a split bolt and cut the split bolts off and returned them to the electrician that installed them. Even on the contracting jobs that I do, sometimes it seems like I am an inconvinience to the POCOs, and I work for one!
 
P

petersonra

Senior Member
Location
Northern illinois
Occupation
engineer
Years ago I worked on a project for an electric generating station.

It took them almost a month to get the plans signed off from their own engineering department so they could bring power into the equipment we were providing.

OTOH, other power plants seemed to just run conduit where ever and however they felt like it.
 
cowboyjwc

cowboyjwc

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Simi Valley, CA
Here POCO is anywhere from 1-10 days. All Depends on their work load.

If it had a fire, there could be a Building and Safety hold on the address also.
 
gadfly56

gadfly56

Senior Member
Location
New Jersey
Occupation
Professional Engineer, Fire & Life Safety
cowboyjwc said:
Here POCO is anywhere from 1-10 days. All Depends on their work load.

If it had a fire, there could be a Building and Safety hold on the address also.
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In which case, wouldn't the answer be a flat "no", not "see you in 10 days"?
 
J

jmellc

Senior Member
Location
Durham, NC
Occupation
Facility Maintenance Tech. Licensed Electrician
While we're bashing POCO's, I don't understand some of the slop they do & get away with. Most of their work here is good, as far as their line & pole work go. Usually looks professional & secure, etc. But on the ground is another matter. I installed several 100 amp services around my church yard, for outdoor equipment, etc. 1st one, I gave them a 2" PVC conduit for their feeder. Left a strut strap loosely tightened in case they needed to tweak it any. They took the strap off & left it on the ground nearby, leaving the conduit gapping from the strut nearly an inch. On 2 services, I gave them a conduit into the ground, with a 45 going into the ground. They used NM liquid tight flex to bring in the feeder & tie wrapped it to my conduit. I had even left a note that the PVC was for them! What the heck were they thinking? I see them all the time, putting 5 or 6 feet of PVC to a meter base for UG service & not strap it at all. Is often crooked too. .
 
J

jmellc

Senior Member
Location
Durham, NC
Occupation
Facility Maintenance Tech. Licensed Electrician
Volta said:
You guys should move here. Our regular POCO (AEP) is professional, easy to work with, and timely. I never have a problem with them. I have a handle on their few basic time limits, and if I get my end done correctly, they do their part.

Now our state requires an inspection before connecting to the utility, and I wish there was more leeway there as that can be some tight scheduling, but with very few exceptions, they are the most reliable party in the equation.
Click to expand...

I've hard a lot of good things about Columbus. Had a few friends from the area years back. Had a crush on a student teacher from there when I was 11.
 
V

Volta

Senior Member
Location
Columbus, Ohio
jmellc said:
I've hard a lot of good things about Columbus. Had a few friends from the area years back. Had a crush on a student teacher from there when I was 11.
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Yup, good place. I'm from the east originally, but chose this to live. Good (enough) economy, people, good music, food, etc.

Maybe they are extra careful here 'cause AEP is headquartered here, I don't know, but as someone with a strong dislike for corporations in general, I can say these guys are pretty darn good.
 
R

rambis

Member
here in socal the poco (so cal edison) its 10 days. They even had to wait 10 day on there own project at their main yard.
 
J

jmellc

Senior Member
Location
Durham, NC
Occupation
Facility Maintenance Tech. Licensed Electrician
Volta said:
Yup, good place. I'm from the east originally, but chose this to live. Good (enough) economy, people, good music, food, etc.

Maybe they are extra careful here 'cause AEP is headquartered here, I don't know, but as someone with a strong dislike for corporations in general, I can say these guys are pretty darn good.
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Are you familiar with Barnesville? I think about 100 miles from you, toward WV. My wife's family is from there. I went there once, my only trip to OH. A great town, a lot of nice people there. On Highway 800, not far off I-70. People there go to Wheeling to fly anywhere.
 
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