Power Company Demanding Inspection For High Usage

Received a letter in the mail from my power company placing a hold on my account until they can get into my newly built garage to inspect for alterations to the electrical system. I do have a large setup and some pretty heavy duty equipment. I have been operating safely in there for about 8.5 months. Everything is safely wired but very probably not up to code I'm sure. It was however up to code upon completing the final build on it almost a year ago. I have 320 amp service to my home and garage and have been assured by my electrician that I'm not pulling an excessive load. Feels wrong to me to allow a state employee into my private residence that I don't want in there. The power company assumes that some alterations were made but they have no way of knowing that for sure. My bills have been very expensive since I have gotten going full bore but who says I haven't decided to heat my home with an oven and clothes dryer? Curious to hear from anyone who has any thoughts with how to proceed. I'm planning on talking to a lawyer but not sure what type of lawyer would be best in a situation like this.

Never heard of that. Ime if you pay your bill, they generally leave you alone.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm skeptical, what state? How much was bill? What do you mean " everything is safe, but not up to code" ?

yes,that seems odd

If it was wired by an electrician can they provide a statement or do you have receipts from his work?

Maybe a lawyer is best. Is it legal there? If you get a free consultation make sure to refuse and pay one dollar for it.

Washington state. I am completely legal as far as plants are concerned. My bills are averaging $1,000-1200 per month. All electrical was done by a very knowledgeable and experienced electrician but some corners were cut to make install a little easier

ezpete said:

Washington state. I am completely legal as far as plants are concerned. My bills are averaging $1,000-1200 per month. All electrical was done by a very knowledgeable and experienced electrician but some corners were cut to make install a little easier

Click to expand...

What kind of corners were cut. Not good words to hear.

What corners were cut?

I'm not super knowledgeable about codes and I know they can vary quite a bit between cities and states. I was very clear with my electrician friend that I was willing to spend as much as necessary to ensure things would be very safe. He wired up another location for me about 5 years ago and same type of situation only on a smaller scale. All the work he's done for me I feel very good about.

Well for one you should never cut corners with electricity,fire hazard!!!!.for codes if you did not meet them which your electrician should know,not only is his license at risk they will/can shut you down and bring a whole lot of unwanted attention to your place.if you provide them with a written description of what you have with pics also of any inspection or liceincing documents then should be fine.but sounds like you don't have that.codes don't vary,the inspectors do.

If you mess with state wiring they have every right to inspect their property, its in the agreement you sign when you start using their electricity. No state employee has a right to enter any residence unless you have their property situated inside said residence i.e.their electric meter, transformers etc and then you can refer to your original agreement with them (read the small print).

If m ty power company did that over here, I would say thanks buy no thanks and change power companies.

The reality is that any power company knows what we are doing. I just looked at a fancy graph of my usage I could pull online. Its pretty obvious if you know what your looking for.

Kingrow1 said:

If you mess with state wiring they have every right to inspect their property, its in the agreement you sign when you start using their electricity. No state employee has a right to enter any residence unless you have their property situated inside said residence i.e.their electric meter, transformers etc and then you can refer to your original agreement with them (read the small print).

Click to expand...

The power company does not get to decide what's code, that's an inspectors job. This is bullshit and I think you SHOULD investigate your legal options.

'High usage' is a smokescreen excuse. Fuck 'em! You pay the bill, right? They don't have the right to tell you what to do with the power or how much you can use!

kiwipaulie said:

If m ty power company did that over here, I would say thanks buy no thanks and change power companies.

The reality is that any power company knows what we are doing. I just looked at a fancy graph of my usage I could pull online. Its pretty obvious if you know what your looking for.

Click to expand...

In 'free market' America, we have power utility monopolies. It's very difficult to switch providers here.

My point is that it feels wrong that they can assume alterations took place when they have no proof whatsoever, just a spike in consumption

I guess I'm too good of a customer, suprising they don't want to make money off of me

ezpete said:

My point is that it feels wrong that they can assume alterations took place when they have no proof whatsoever, just a spike in consumption

Click to expand...

You did pull a Permit,yes?

fandango said:

You did pull a Permit,yes?

Click to expand...

Are you sure he even had to?

ezpete said:

I guess I'm too good of a customer, suprising they don't want to make money off of me

Click to expand...

They either want to inspect the meter or make sure you aren't paying 1k a month but using 5k a month..

I say screw em, if what your doing is legal where you are, then let em check out your wiring, if it isn't up to code then you should probably get it fixed anyways, safety first, then teamwork!