electricguy61
Senior Member
Let me tell you a woeful story
Had a Zinsco panel fail on a 2 story house. We were able to make temporary repairs around the burned busbar, but there were multiple problems and the panel needed to be replaced immediately.
Tuesday evening, pulled the City permit on line and scheduled inspection for Wednesday PM. Filed application with PG&E online for service change, noting it was an emergency. (Storms coming in Thursday)
Wednesday morning, my crew disconnects power and begins removal of the service. 1 hour in, PG&E T-man shows up at job site. Evidently he had no trouble calls, and the smart meter on my job had sent a trouble single so he was dispatched to our job site to investigate.
He came out, in a friendly way reminded my guys that it was a federal offense to remove the meter, took pictures of the vehicles, informed us we were subject to a $600 fine, knocked on the door and told the customer he likely wouldn't be reconnected that day.
We went forward with the service change, got our inspection, sent the meter release to PG&E. THEY WOULD NOT SEND SOMEONE TO RECONNECT. I spent hours trying to reach anyone that would listen and DO SOMETHING, but to no avail. Called PG&E this morning, no response.
We all know what the rules are, but we also know that in the real world PG&E can't possibly keep up with all the disconnects /re-connects. I always pull a permit, I always file the application with PG&E, I don't reconnect the service with Blue wire nuts (I use polaris connectors, at $45 per job, that the T-man promptly throws away), I always call PG&E and let them know the service is ready for permanent connection.
This is what I get for trying to take good care of my customers. I feel the customer is suffering because PG&E decided to make an example of me.
Be warned California contractors. This could happen to you.
Had a Zinsco panel fail on a 2 story house. We were able to make temporary repairs around the burned busbar, but there were multiple problems and the panel needed to be replaced immediately.
Tuesday evening, pulled the City permit on line and scheduled inspection for Wednesday PM. Filed application with PG&E online for service change, noting it was an emergency. (Storms coming in Thursday)
Wednesday morning, my crew disconnects power and begins removal of the service. 1 hour in, PG&E T-man shows up at job site. Evidently he had no trouble calls, and the smart meter on my job had sent a trouble single so he was dispatched to our job site to investigate.
He came out, in a friendly way reminded my guys that it was a federal offense to remove the meter, took pictures of the vehicles, informed us we were subject to a $600 fine, knocked on the door and told the customer he likely wouldn't be reconnected that day.
We went forward with the service change, got our inspection, sent the meter release to PG&E. THEY WOULD NOT SEND SOMEONE TO RECONNECT. I spent hours trying to reach anyone that would listen and DO SOMETHING, but to no avail. Called PG&E this morning, no response.
We all know what the rules are, but we also know that in the real world PG&E can't possibly keep up with all the disconnects /re-connects. I always pull a permit, I always file the application with PG&E, I don't reconnect the service with Blue wire nuts (I use polaris connectors, at $45 per job, that the T-man promptly throws away), I always call PG&E and let them know the service is ready for permanent connection.
This is what I get for trying to take good care of my customers. I feel the customer is suffering because PG&E decided to make an example of me.
Be warned California contractors. This could happen to you.