Moving overhead power lines - advice needed

[Don D]

Hi,

We are looking for some advice on how to approach our energy provider, National Grid, regarding moving the existing overhead power supply to our house. 

 

We plan to demolish our current bungalow and replace it with a new building, which will largely be on the same footprint but probably be a 1.5 or 2 storey build. Ideally, we want the supply to go underground.

 

The photos hopefully show the current arrangement, which is delivered from a 9m pole on our neighbour's property, across our drive and onto a short metal pole on the corner of our house. 

 

Ideally what we want is to be in as strong a position as possible in the conversation and wonder if there may be some leverage in the following factors:-

• The existing cables may well be too low** they are only 9ft above our drive at the lowest point
• A few years ago the previous supplier, Western Power, approached us under a Project which was looking to reduce overhead lines (that died a death and we never heard anything more)
• We would do the trench work and install a suitable external cabinet

 

**we have not been able to find any guidance covering cables over a private drive, only the 1988 legislation which talks about "a road accessible to vehicular traffic" roads https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1988/1057/part/IV/made

 

Thanks for reading, Don

 

    

[Don D]

The photos - showing l to r, cables over our drive, attachment to metal bracket on the bungalow and the cables coming off the neighbours pole. 

 

[Nickfromwales]

I’ve just moved clients into their new build home, and at the outset of the entire project when we had to redirect overhead 3ph supplies that spanned the plot we found a chap who was ‘no win no fee’ that handled the DNO application on the clients behalf. His “promise” was to get the price discounted and he’d bag 20% of the sum saved. This resulted in an £11k quote being reduced to a net cost to the client of £6k. Well done that man!

 

If you can think of it, someone is making money creating a solution around it! 🤷‍♂️

[FarmerN]

When we demolished our bungalow before the new build , we moved the meter into a temporary fiberglass cabinet on the perimeter of the site ,with a small distribution board and four external plugs in it. The builder also ran a cable from this to his cabin.

Sp Networks ( The Grid) did a survey and provided ducting to bring power from the pole underground to the cabinet. We dug it in except last meter (? )  to the pole , they then moved meter and supply to cabinet.

When the build was watertight supply was the moved into the plant room via underground ducts, we had put in, back to near cabinet . I was surprised SPNetworks then just made an underground connection there , rather than thread a new cable all the way back to the pole.

We had the advantage that the pole was on our land. We were charge by SPNetworks for surveys and the work they did, but it was not excessive. As a result we had a power supply throughout the build.

[Guy]

I recommend you 'phone your local Western Power (now part of National Grid) office - you may be surprised by how helpful they may be!  

 

We had very similar situation, demolishing a 1950s bungalow with the original power cable from the bungalow wall hanging over the driveway to a pole near the edge of our land (thence across an A road to a transformer on another set of poles).  We planned to install an external meter cabinet near the pole, initially to supply our temporary caravan, and when we're ready to supply the new house.

 

The National Grid planner turned up for a survey, took one look at the old pole and announced they would replace the old pole and put in new cable from the transformer across the road to the new pole and down to our external cabinet... for FREE.  All I had to do was build a wall and install the cabinets (one for their stuff, the other for us) and hockey stick.

 

(And that was my first post!)

[Don D]

Thanks for the replies; I'll report back on how it goes with National Grid. Cheers

[Alan Ambrose]

@Nickfromwales

 

>>> we found a chap who was ‘no win no fee’ that handled the DNO application on the clients behalf. 

 

Possible to give out his contact details? I think people & companies that do a good job should be shared openly - we all need a bit of help sometimes finding the right people.

[Silver Fox]

We had a joint supply, firstly to us then to the neighbours.

 

joint supply is no longer a done thing and Western Power are keen to remove them.

 

Admittedly the supply originated from the public highway but I paid around £800.00 for the supply to be separated.

 

Looking at yours it would be a simple removal and reconnection down the pole to underground service.

 

HTH

[Don D]

Thought I'd post a short update on this.

 

We submitted an "Alteration of Service" form on the NG website and emphasized the safety angle, i.e. the overhead line is within my jumping distance!! 

 

The NG "Planner" followed it up promptly and visited yesterday; without much prompting on my part he said it was a defect that they will now correct by undergrounding the 20 or so metres from the pole in our neighbours property to a new external meter box that we'd organise.

 

Our neighbour has been supportive up until now so hopefully that continues. NG will do the trenchwork and organise the wayleave details.

 

There are guidelines for height of cables above private driveways, but he didn't specify what they were, so I'd still like to know if anyone has that detail? 

 

We're waiting to get something detailed in writing now, but it seems to be going well currently.. I probably shouldn't tempt fate!

 

Cheers.

[joe90]

Well our DNO got ours wrong (replaced derelict building and converted to underground) they installed a new pole to feed a public telephone box that no longer existed!!,! I wish I had access to their information and got involved as this pole now serves no one and my trench work (that I did to reduce costs) was approx 10 times more than required. It was the engineers that turned up to do the connection admitted their planners got it wrong FFS.