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Campo, Utilities, and the San Diego Gas and Electric Company The information on this page has been gathered from many sources including SDG&E, the local San Diego County utility company. I am gathering as many of their general engineering drawings and specifications as I can and posting them here for reference.
SDG&E Information Step one is to notify SDG&E that you need electricity. (There is no natural gas in Campo, we use propane.) Once you get their attention at 1-800-411-7343, sometimes it takes several calls so assume nothing, you will meet with a planner at your building site. If you are lucky and are building in the east county Bill will show up and help you plan your installation. For the complete step-by-step, SDG&E guide download the document . Working With SDG&E .PDF file . If your service entrance will be fed by above ground poles download the SDG&E Service Guides for customer owned service and meter poles .PDF file . If you are going to feed your structure with underground cabling here are several useful documents and steps. If, in my case, your feed comes from an existing SDG&E power pole you will dig a trench from their pole to the point on your structure where the electric meter box will be mounted. My information is the trench is generally 3 feet deep and 12 inches wide. The trench details are included in the Typical Underground Conversion Trench .PDF file . Your SDG&E planner will give you the exact details but in general if the distance from the existing SDG&E pole to your service entrance is over 150 feet they want a "pull box" placed in the run. That makes it easier for them to pull the cable through your conduit. It seems the technical term for a "pull box" is a handhole ! For more detail on these handholes see the 4 page handhole .PDF file . The size of conduit you use depends on the total amerage of your service. With my 200 Amp service I can use 3 inch conduit. The portion above and immediately below ground, for the run from SDG&E to your meter, needs to be Schedule 80. The below ground components can be a direct bury type. Here is a link to a good discussion of Schedule 40 an 80 conduit and fittings . Here is a table that shows the number and size of wires allowed for various conduit sizes. There is a lot more general and specific information you will need. I am going to do all the electrical work myself so I am sure I will commit some indiscretion of a code before I am finished ! By the way here is the official SDG&E site (not much there!) What's really funny is, on the stogy old east coast the utility companies post lots of useful information on their websites. For example this GPU site in New Jersey has great information!
Utility Information on the Internet It's been difficult finding general information on the web on what an owner / builder needs to know about connecting their own electric services. I won't go into gas lines yet as my background for 41 years is electronics and until I get better information from someone in the gas business I don't want to blow anyone up! Below are links and information I found useful. National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) Product and Manufacturer Guide University of Nebraska, Electrical Systems for Agricultural Buildings Lightning Protection for Farms Great site with information on more than electrical. codecheck.com
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