powering a new block of land

[me217]

hey all. just wondering if anyone has any idea on cost to get power installed on a new block of land. at a guess the closest power pole is about 500-600 m from where the house would go,

also who would you call to get a proper quote?

[su888]

If its anything like victoria, you only have one choice which is the distributor. Find out who it is, and speak to them about your site and requirements.

Essentially, they can charge whatever they like, and you don't have much of an option but to accept their costs.

Getting a quote alone can take 12 weeks.

[Malcolm Tugless]

If the power supply is outside your boundary then I think you need to contact Energex. Whether you do that through a licensed contractor or direct, I'm not sure.

[dogbox]

have you considered going solar an for the 240 stuff you can't live without inverter or generator

[me217]

have you considered going solar an for the 240 stuff you can't live without inverter or generator

I have considered and stand alone solar setup with batteries. I just wanted to compare the two options

[KingBilly]

On our farm, in 2004, the powerline and poles could only be done by Ergon.  About the same distance as yours up the dirt road to reach the boundary of our property.  Poles and single phase only.  $18,000.  Less a government rebate for some reason, can't remember now, maybe primary producer, of $6,000.  Talked a neighbour into sharing the cost as his place had no power either and he wanted to build also.  So long story but cost us $6,000 in the end.  At $18K, was a lot cheaper than solar.  This comparision would have changed since then.

Connecting to our property from the Ergon pole and transformer, was an additional expense.  This installation was done by a local sparkie and included installing a property pole and meters on our place.

KB

[markg66]

Call your local favorite electrical contractor, he will have to do the paper work, (which is now online work) to apply for the connection and metering etc once he has put in all the infrastructure.

If I was you go 3 phase at the start, the cable and the main switch is a little more expensive but it's worth it in the end if you wanna do stuff in your shed. Also second hand 3 phase stuff like welders and compressors etc are dirt cheap as not everyone can use them.

Energex will pay for the cable from their pole to your first property pole then the rest is on your bill, including all your property poles. Of course you can go underground.................

Of course if there is no energex/ergon pole near your block they may want to charge you to get it there first.

[me217]

I haven't bought the block yet. Just doing my homework before hand. It's only a small 158 acres block. Should give me some peace and quiet. I can clear any trees needed for the power lines. This is why I'm chasing a rough price at the moment. If I owned the block is just go in and get a quote straight away.

18 grand sounds about what I was expecting. 3 phase would be nice but not really needed at the moment. And I'm trying to keep costs down just so I can afford the place.

House probably won't be built straight away. Will probably build a shed and make it liveable for a year or two then look at building a house. And a couple shipping containers for "shed" space.

[mrdenn1s]

If its anything like victoria, you only have one choice which is the distributor. Find out who it is, and speak to them about your site and requirements.

Essentially, they can charge whatever they like, and you don't have much of an option but to accept their costs.

Getting a quote alone can take 12 weeks.

Not true. You can get any accredited provider to do the work.

[listo]

If you already have HV out the front, you will probably be given 4 poles for that distance. It also depends on what size tx you want as well as how many phases. Also if you wanted three phase & there's only single out front, you would have to pay for the centre phase to be ran from where it currently ends & that that would also mean upgrading the current pole you would be teeing off from. I'd ask for a quote on both & if the difference is rediculous then, if you don't have or plan to have three phase equipment, I'd go single. It's still a good reliable power supply.
I don't know much about the pricing of things, but I'd reckon about 20k for Ergon.
Listo

[speewa158]

Central QLD Permanent catchup block . We can Power your block . All you need to do is supply firewood &                       

[Rodt]

Had a cousin look into this after the 2011 floods and I thought I recalled it was closer to the $30k and I think his distance was much the same. In the end he went with fully self contained solar. As others have said check with Ergon / Energex (whichever it is) or a leccie and they should be able to give you a ball park figure.

[Lori]

Short answer - alot.

I can tell you how it works in NSW. Every state and network have varying rules, but all in all the process is very similar.

Any work carried out on the network is carried out by approved service providers (ASP) level 1, ASPs have permission to work on network assets. You cannot just ring up your local sparkie, they cant do it and most likely wouldn't know how - working on the network is a specialised area of electrical work.
There is alot of variance in what it could cost. What lines are passing your house, is the area already at full capacity, do you need a transformer. Basically its user pays, if the network needs upgrading in order to carry the extra load of your property then they will bill you for the upgrades.
Are you only interested in bringing the power to the boundry? are you going to want it to come in the property? if so, how far? will you want it underground or overhead?

Any changes to the network require that an ASP level3 (electrical engineer/designer) make a design for the work. Usually an ASP level 1 will carry out the work, there is alot of network involvement that you wont see (and alot of fees for their involvement.) then for a hookup to the residence you will require an ASP level 2 to do the work.

I have friends that went the solar route, they are in a rural area and had a choice of connecting to the network or getting a full solar and battery setup. The cost for both was approximately the same, but with the rebate solar came in less.
Solar is not the easy solution, they really have to watch their load and what appliances they run at the same time, keep an eye on the batteries, which need to be monitored and cared for. Its not uncommon, especially in winter for the gene to be running at night time. At times they regret not just hooking upto the grid but generally they are happy they went solar, but its far from set and forget. The system is about 4 years old and due to some bad decisions and not servicing the batteries like they should, a few weeks ago they had to replace a battery block (2 batteries) and are waiting to see if they have another block that will need replacing - im sure that if they needed to replace both it was going to be about 3K, but dont quote me on that.

[Tim - Stratford]

A work mate just went solar. She's on 100 acres and building her home 400 metres from the boundary/existing power. Quote was $100k, $20k for the transformer and $80k for the lines etc. Hence why she went solar for $30k.

This is for country Victoria.

Tim

[listo]

A work mate just went solar. She's on 100 acres and building her home 400 metres from the boundary/existing power. Quote was $100k, $20k for the transformer and $80k for the lines etc. Hence why she went solar for $30k.

This is for country Victoria.

Tim

Privatisation, it's the best for everyone they tell us 

[me217]

Central QLD Permanent catchup block . We can Power your block . All you need to do is supply firewood &                       

If myswag crowd funded the power I'd. Clear 10 acres and put up a myswag sign. Free camp grounds for all myswag members

[Bird]

Quote was $100k, $20k for the transformer and $80k for the lines etc

Fark! Wonder how many people don't look into this.. that could break or break you!

[mrdenn1s]

Privatisation, it's the best for everyone they tell us 

Vic has the lowest network costs and the lowest retail energy prices in the country...add to it the highest reliability of the networks.

also, the $100k cost needs to be covered somehow. Who should pay if not the end user?

[listo]

I work in the industry and can't work out how the price can be that high... Unless of course the company is using gold plated poles?

[briann532]

Fark! Wonder how many people don't look into this.. that could break or break you!

I'm a level 2 in Shitney and I did a house for a builder and the owner was supposed to be organising his own connection.
No problems for me, I just do the house and they connect.

Long story short, he had to pay to upgrade the street capacity as it wasn't enough.
$84,000 later................. And that was just to the street pole, he then had to pay us to do the connections and undergrounds etc, as he got rid of his "mate" who didn't advise him correctly.

And this isn't country, its suburbia. Acreage, but still in suburbia.
A bill they weren't expecting!!!

[corndog]

What about if it has to be run underground?

[jmorgan1981]

I work for the supply industry in NSW and I was in the design section about 7 years ago. It was about $20k for a  transformer on a new pole in the existing line let alone adding a 500m Hv extension. I think $100k would be close to the mark.
Sorry.

[Lori]

Okay, asked my husband - this is what he does.

He's first question was 'whats on the pole?' Depending on whats on the pole really dictates everything.

Anyway his really rough estimate is 50k plus and said without knowing whats on the pole that can be way out.

[Tim - Stratford]

It'll be interesting to see our bill. We've been advised that our existing line, overhead, across road to house, will have to be underground to the new house....

Apparently you can get a quote but you have to pay for this...and it isn't accurate. 

Tim

[rockinj]

A while back we had to pay $1800 for an assessment - not a quote - a bit like a pre-quote inspection. We had to fill out a detailed form stated what was there and what was nearby. The assessment came back - all it told us was what we had told them. A very irate husband was finally able to get the $1800 refunded.
From memory, Ergon would put in the first pole, after that it was about $24k per pole.
Just had a lady from work put in solar as the up front cost was similar - ongoing costs obviously a lot less. She is now having terrible trouble with banks as the house they moved to the block and need to finish/remodel is not connected to mains. Loans were preapproved and have now been cancelled. Something to check first. She is very stressed about the whole thing.