Electricity Supply Costs

[Kelvin]

Hi all, my first post. ?

 

We are in the process of buying a plot of land. We've had our offer accepted subject to conditions one of which is the cost of the electricity supply. I've completed the form for an estimate from SSE and they've come back today with £25,500 ex vat. They've based this on a new three phase supply with a mx capacity of 35kVA for the entire development. We're building one three bed house with an ASHP, MVHR, and possibly an EV point but not confirmed. The plot is in a rural area with electricity supply nearby (the supply runs overhead across the bottom of the plot) The design document suggests they need to upgrade a transformer. I know they recently installed a brand new transformer in the field opposite that my connection will come off.

 

I am somewhat surprised at the cost as had budgeted around £17,000 at the high end. I was warned to expect a high estimate though. Part of the game apparently. 

 

I've left them a message to call me back to discuss. 

 

Would welcome any suggestions or advice. 

 

Thanks

Kelvin.

Edited July 26, 2021 by Kelvin

[ProDave]

Do you NEED 3 phase?  Did you ask for it?  Do you NEED 35kVA? That is a LOT for a single house.

 

In my case I avoided any upgrade charges by accepting an offer of a single phase 12kVA supply which is proving plenty.

[patp]

If it is anything like our dealings with Anglian Water then good luck! They do not give "quotes" just "estimates". The estimates are not detailed and, when you go to an approved outside contractor, AW move the goalposts to make the "estimate" loaded for the parts that the contractor is not allowed to touch. When I mention contractor they were extremely difficult to find and were very reluctant to waste their time quoting due, no doubt, to previous experience of losing out to the shady practice of bumping up the price of the AW side of the estimate. Even took them to the Ombudsman who was not interested in the middle of Covid.

[Kelvin]

I didn't request 3 phase and estimated the supply at 20kVA.

[ProDave]

SSE are usually pretty good.  They should provide you with a drawing showing what is going to be upgraded and what is going to be installed as new equipment.  If you have that, then post it (anonymised)

 

If you did not ask for 3 phase then definitely tell them you only need single phase.

 

What are your intentions re heating demand?  are you just going to build something that will scrape through building regs or are you planning a well insulated low energy house?  do you have any idea yet how you plan to heat it?

 

 

[nod]

18 minutes ago, Kelvin said:

Hi all, my first post. ?

 

We are in the process of buying a plot of land. We've had our offer accepted subject to conditions one of which is the cost of the electricity supply. I've completed the form for an estimate from SSE and they've come back today with £25,500 ex vat. They've based this on a new three phase supply with a mx capacity of 35kVA for the entire development. We're building one three bed house with an ASHP, MVHR, and possibly an EV point but not confirmed. The plot is in a rural area with electricity supply nearby (the supply runs overhead across the bottom of the plot) The design document suggests they need to upgrade a transformer. I know they recently installed a brand new transformer in the field opposite that my connection will come off.

 

I am somewhat surprised at the cost as had budgeted around £17,000 at the high end. I was warned to expect a high estimate though. Part of the game apparently. 

 

I've left them a message to call me back to discuss. 

 

Would welcome any suggestions or advice. 

 

Thanks

Kelvin.

We’ve just had a quote for two six beds 

ASHP also Rural location 

 

From GEC Took about a week 

About £7500 for two 

[Kelvin]

9 minutes ago, ProDave said:

SSE are usually pretty good.  They should provide you with a drawing showing what is going to be upgraded and what is going to be installed as new equipment.  If you have that, then post it (anonymised)

 

If you did not ask for 3 phase then definitely tell them you only need single phase.

 

What are your intentions re heating demand?  are you just going to build something that will scrape through building regs or are you planning a well insulated low energy house?  do you have any idea yet how you plan to heat it?

 

 

 

Well insulated SIP house with ASHP and MVHR. Possibly a Heb Home timber kit. It's alsp worth pointing out that their drawing below is wrong. Where they have marked the assumed point of connection to the network well that pole is actually at the East boundary nearer that house on the right. 

 

 

 

Edited July 26, 2021 by Kelvin

[ProDave]

I don't know how far the map extends beyond the bit you have posted, but is is possible to work out how many houses that existing 50kVA transformer is feeding presently?

 

In our street we were the 9th house to connect to an existing 100kVA transformer, and further down the street there is a 50kVA transformer feeding 5 houses.  So i expect if there are 5 or more houses already on that transformer then it will need upgrading.  But you might be able to argue you only need a low capacity supply.

 

DNO's get nervous of heat pumps because older ones had a high start up surge, make it clear you will be using an inverter driven low power heat pump with soft start.

[Thedreamer]

This is a well covered topic on the forum, worth doing a search for previous posts.

 

My advice is never accept the first quote. We had all sort of wild numbers chucked at us from SSE for a road crossing and 220 meters of cable.

 

If it's helpful about 5-6 years ago I spent:

I spent £350 on ducting

A day work on the digger £400

Electricity connection 220 meter and road opening £6,300

Less grant £1,500 

Less £980 - this was a cheque I received at a later date.

 

Total connection cost just over £4,500

 

I paid a further small fee of about £150 to move the cable into the house from the temporary supply.

 

 

 

[Kelvin]

I think about 7 from looking at google maps. However, if you follow the poles south from the one on the plot the second one down has a brand new transformer on it which they've not marked on the map

[Kelvin]

3 minutes ago, Thedreamer said:

This is a well covered topic on the forum, worth doing a search for previous posts.

 

My advice is never accept the first quote. We had all sort of wild numbers chucked at us from SSE for a road crossing and 220 meters of cable.

 

If it's helpful about 5-6 years ago I spent:

I spent £350 on ducting

A day work on the digger £400

Electricity connection 220 meter and road opening £6,300

Less grant £1,500 

Less £980 - this was a cheque I received at a later date.

 

Total connection cost just over £4,500

 

I paid a further small fee of about £150 to move the cable into the house from the temporary supply.

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks. Yes I had a quick search and read a few posts on the subject. A local architect said the same thing about not accepting the first quote. This is an estimate they've given us though and I expect they err in the bank's favour. 

[ProDave]

If you can, I would visit the site and have a walk around and see if you are able to follow the wires to see how many houses are actually connected to that particular transformer.

 

But definitely ask them to re quote for say a 12kVA single phase supply.

[Kelvin]

4 minutes ago, ProDave said:

If you can, I would visit the site and have a walk around and see if you are able to follow the wires to see how many houses are actually connected to that particular transformer.

 

But definitely ask them to re quote for say a 12kVA single phase supply.

 

We are visiting the site in a few weeks time so will have a look round.

[Carrerahill]

1 hour ago, Kelvin said:

Hi all, my first post. ?

 

We are in the process of buying a plot of land. We've had our offer accepted subject to conditions one of which is the cost of the electricity supply. I've completed the form for an estimate from SSE and they've come back today with £25,500 ex vat. They've based this on a new three phase supply with a mx capacity of 35kVA for the entire development. We're building one three bed house with an ASHP, MVHR, and possibly an EV point but not confirmed. The plot is in a rural area with electricity supply nearby (the supply runs overhead across the bottom of the plot) The design document suggests they need to upgrade a transformer. I know they recently installed a brand new transformer in the field opposite that my connection will come off.

 

I am somewhat surprised at the cost as had budgeted around £17,000 at the high end. I was warned to expect a high estimate though. Part of the game apparently. 

 

I've left them a message to call me back to discuss. 

 

Would welcome any suggestions or advice. 

 

Thanks

Kelvin.

Have they given you a price for the contestable and non-contestable?

 

Often doing the monkey work yourself will save a fair bit.

 

Why 35kVA TPN? 

 

20-25kVA SPN would probably be fine and is more or less what most people get if they buy a house 20kVA is basically a 80A supply, 25 being 100A - almost all cut-outs will show 100A but can be fused from 60A.

 

Also, have you approached some IDNO's for prices? If not, I suggest you do. 

 

 

Edited July 26, 2021 by Carrerahill

[Carrerahill]

15 minutes ago, ProDave said:

If you can, I would visit the site and have a walk around and see if you are able to follow the wires to see how many houses are actually connected to that particular transformer.

 

But definitely ask them to re quote for say a 12kVA single phase supply.

12 is a little low for future proofing for an electric future. 

[Kelvin]

3 minutes ago, Carrerahill said:

12 is a little low for future proofing for an electric future. 

 

On the form I asked for 20

[Kelvin]

2 hours ago, Carrerahill said:

Have they given you a price for the contestable and non-contestable?

 

Often doing the monkey work yourself will save a fair bit.

 

Why 35kVA TPN? 

 

20-25kVA SPN would probably be fine and is more or less what most people get if they buy a house 20kVA is basically a 80A supply, 25 being 100A - almost all cut-outs will show 100A but can be fused from 60A.

 

Also, have you approached some IDNO's for prices? If not, I suggest you do. 

 

 

 

I've phoned about 70% of the companies listed on the Lloyds Register. None of them do domestic. Does anyone have a contact for a company that does it in Scotland ideally. 

[Carrerahill]

8 minutes ago, Kelvin said:

 

I've phoned about 70% of the companies listed on the Lloyds Register. None of them do domestic. Does anyone have a contact for a company that does it in Scotland ideally. 

Have you tried Energetics? Maybe they will be the same.

 

What if you say you are the developer? I'd be tempted to twist the truth. 

 

We once used my wife's maiden name on an order form for ventilation equipment so that I could claim I was the installer and she was the client as they would not sell to the end client because their product was soooo specialised only a trained pro could possibly install it. BS. We even have the full warranty because I registered the MVHR as I the installer and wife the end client.

[recoveringbuilder]

19 minutes ago, Kelvin said:

 

I've phoned about 70% of the companies listed on the Lloyds Register. None of them do domestic. Does anyone have a contact for a company that does it in Scotland ideally. 

I tried several other companies when we got an astronomical quote from SP energy,  nobody would touch it as they said SP didn’t like other companies touching their lines 

[Kelvin]

11 minutes ago, Carrerahill said:

Have you tried Energetics? Maybe they will be the same.

 

What if you say you are the developer? I'd be tempted to twist the truth. 

 

We once used my wife's maiden name on an order form for ventilation equipment so that I could claim I was the installer and she was the client as they would not sell to the end client because their product was soooo specialised only a trained pro could possibly install it. BS. We even have the full warranty because I registered the MVHR as I the installer and wife the end client.

 

 

Yep tried them they don't do single houses either. I have said I am the developer to a few of them but the follow up question is how many houses lol

[Kelvin]

5 minutes ago, recoveringbuilder said:

I tried several other companies when we got an astronomical quote from SP energy,  nobody would touch it as they said SP didn’t like other companies touching their lines 

 

The conclusion I am reaching myself which makes a bit of a mockery of the 'you have a choice' stuff on the SSE website and the link on their email they sent me (which didn't work anyway)

[Kelvin]

Just coming back to this.

 

I made it a condition on our offer for the land that it would be upon a number of things including the cost of getting electricity to the plot. At the moment all they've provided me is an estimate of the cost which, in reality, is fairly meaningless. Therefore, should I ask for quote for the work? We won't be ready to start any work for many months so the quote will run past its 3 month period and of course things can change in between.  

Edited July 27, 2021 by Kelvin

[ProDave]

Are there any other houses planned in the area?  i.e. is this plot 1 of 3 for example?  If so don't be in a hurry, let the first build their house and pay for the upgrades.

[Kelvin]

No it's a single plot. The plot is in the middle of farmland and very rural and planning permission wasn't expected to be achieved on it. I walked around the area and I couldn't see any other likely nearby plots that could have planning granted. But given this plot got it then who knows. Ultimately it's a point of negotiation with the seller so we may just reduce our offer slightly splitting the difference between us and them. The farmer who owns this plot owns all the surrounding land too.

[SteamyTea]

Some people have found that there is no wayleave agreement when cables cross their land, then use that as a bargaining point.

Also try to design out the need for such a large load, PV and battery/thermal storage can reduce the peak power considerably.

Edited July 27, 2021 by SteamyTea