Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Giving credit where and when it is due...

Many times, the weakest link to the electric grid can be your house's connection to the pole found along your back property line. Mine was destroyed by Wilma in 2005 and created a delay in eventually getting power back on. I had to wait after my neighborhood already had power for a few days. Involved was an electrician, a trip to an Orlando-area Home Depot for electrical supplies (the closest "open" Home Depot in Ft. Pierce was overrun with customers and victims of the storm).

So, about a month ago I contracted with an electrician to place the feed to the house underground. Bill ended up doing the trenching work. The permit was issued by the city, conduit installed and box modified and inspected by the city. Yesterday was the final step when the city utility trucks arrived and the city workers went about disconnecting the overhead line. The electricians then installed the new wire in the conduit and the city reconnected the house to the power pole. All this was done yesterday morning after being called in on Monday. Power was on and off for only a half hour at most.

I just want to thank everybody involved at the city for making the process as painless as possible, acting professionally and quickly and helping to eliminate a weak point that can easily be impacted by wind, trees and debris in the case of a storm event.