I'm in no way advocating doing anything outside of nec rules ect. I fully understand that the power company can shut your power off, fine a customer and cause all kinds of issues. Also I'm in no way advocating connecting any kinda backfeeding device without there consent. I'm all for going thru the proper channels and doing things the correct way.
My question hasn't been answered tho. I wanted to put in a subpanel last winter. 1st thing I did was call my municipality. I asked if I needed a permit. They explicitly said no. I even talked directly with the code enforcement officer. Same thing. In that regard if I'm not required to get a permit I'm not obligated to even get it inspected. I got an inspection anyways bc I knew I'd be dealing with the poco over the solar installation I had planned.
However if I hadn't got an inspection what legal grounds would the electric company have to demand to enter my property in the far fetched instance that they caught wind I put in the subpanel and decided they needed to see it? The governing body, my municipality said no permit was required. I understand that they can shut me off if they wanted to but considering that electricity is kinda an essential service they better have a helluva reason and be prepared to be sued. They could redtag me until they're blue in the face I can run off my backup generator indefinitely if I need to. Just as they have the right to refuse service I have the right to refuse anyone except a officer of the law with a warrant access to my property's interior. Like I had said b4 the only reasonr I'm even aware of that they can even shut me off is if there was some kinda obviously dangerous violation viable from my meter location, backfeeding without permission or running a generator without a transfer switch, illegally/modified main installation, loads that caused major fluctuations/service interpretations or interference with othe customers service, or some form of theft of service.
As far as I'm aware the only thing MY poco even requires to be inspected as the service drop to the main disconnect. Obviously if the main disconnect was inside I could understand if they wanted to see it. But like I had said b4 a generator or even off grid Pv setup that is isolated from their grid shouldn't be any of their business at all.
Obviously there maybe some municipality's that require backup generator installations to be inspected, and in that vein in that situation a off grid pv system used as a backup power generator may also be required to be inspected. However that's a completely separate issue than dealing with the poco. If I had a off grid pv system that was permitted and inspected through the municipality and the poco decided that they didn't like that would be too bad for them bc it wouldn't have a thing to do with them in that scenario. They would definitely be opening themselves up for a lawsuit. After all this is America. In all reality tho unless you had a over zealous meter reader (if they even exist anymore) , if you're not backfeeding or electrocuting guys working on the utility lines theyd more than likely never know anyways. There wouldn't be a valid reason for them to know regardless.
Just to be perfectly crystal clear I'm not playing any games with my electric company. Every piece of equipment on my property is ul listed, all proper paperwork filed, solar installation has been inspected and I'm currently waiting on PTO. The mass majority of what I'm talking about is hypotheticals.
My question hasn't been answered tho. I wanted to put in a subpanel last winter. 1st thing I did was call my municipality. I asked if I needed a permit. They explicitly said no. I even talked directly with the code enforcement officer. Same thing. In that regard if I'm not required to get a permit I'm not obligated to even get it inspected. I got an inspection anyways bc I knew I'd be dealing with the poco over the solar installation I had planned.
However if I hadn't got an inspection what legal grounds would the electric company have to demand to enter my property in the far fetched instance that they caught wind I put in the subpanel and decided they needed to see it? The governing body, my municipality said no permit was required. I understand that they can shut me off if they wanted to but considering that electricity is kinda an essential service they better have a helluva reason and be prepared to be sued. They could redtag me until they're blue in the face I can run off my backup generator indefinitely if I need to. Just as they have the right to refuse service I have the right to refuse anyone except a officer of the law with a warrant access to my property's interior. Like I had said b4 the only reasonr I'm even aware of that they can even shut me off is if there was some kinda obviously dangerous violation viable from my meter location, backfeeding without permission or running a generator without a transfer switch, illegally/modified main installation, loads that caused major fluctuations/service interpretations or interference with othe customers service, or some form of theft of service.
As far as I'm aware the only thing MY poco even requires to be inspected as the service drop to the main disconnect. Obviously if the main disconnect was inside I could understand if they wanted to see it. But like I had said b4 a generator or even off grid Pv setup that is isolated from their grid shouldn't be any of their business at all.
Obviously there maybe some municipality's that require backup generator installations to be inspected, and in that vein in that situation a off grid pv system used as a backup power generator may also be required to be inspected. However that's a completely separate issue than dealing with the poco. If I had a off grid pv system that was permitted and inspected through the municipality and the poco decided that they didn't like that would be too bad for them bc it wouldn't have a thing to do with them in that scenario. They would definitely be opening themselves up for a lawsuit. After all this is America. In all reality tho unless you had a over zealous meter reader (if they even exist anymore) , if you're not backfeeding or electrocuting guys working on the utility lines theyd more than likely never know anyways. There wouldn't be a valid reason for them to know regardless.
Just to be perfectly crystal clear I'm not playing any games with my electric company. Every piece of equipment on my property is ul listed, all proper paperwork filed, solar installation has been inspected and I'm currently waiting on PTO. The mass majority of what I'm talking about is hypotheticals.
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