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The Most Critical Step Developers Should Prioritize in Every New Construction Project: There’s one essential task we believe all developers should prioritize at the very beginning of any new construction or development project—even before selecting a General Contractor: Beginning the arduous task of coordinating utilities to your site. Today we will discuss electric as this is generally the most complex utility for a Contractor to undertake (Sewer/Water are mostly handled during plan approval process and less is required from a Contractor) For novice developers, we strongly recommend finding room in your budget to hire a consultant, General Contractor, or Civil/Electrical Engineer to walk you through this process at least the first few times. Early coordination with the Utility companies can save tremendous amounts of time, and prevent costly headaches during the meat of the construction project. Here’s a general breakdown of the process flow: 1. Coordinating with an electrical engineer to submit a "Load Letter". This is required by the utility company to assess your energy needs. You'll then receive a "job number" and be assigned a project consultant who will guide you through the process. 2. Your project consultant will connect you with a Utility Engineer who will identify the power source – Determine if you’ll be tapping into an existing transformer ($), installing a new one ($$$$), and connecting via overhead or underground power. 3. Paying any necessary fees – There is often a calculation Utility companies to perform to determine what your cost, if any will be. It entails the cost for the Utility co. to perform the work, and a credit for the future value of the revenue they may receive. Mostly unavoidable and not negotiable although we have successfully won a small battle on one project. 4. Coordinating with utility and project engineers – Collaborate to develop a game plan for bringing power to your site between the Utility Engineers, your electrical and civil engineers. Try your best to do this prior to breaking ground so these teams are not relied upon for speed of response time. 5. Getting electrical equipment approved – Ensure your project’s specific electrical equipment is approved by the utility company well in advance (12+ months before installation) to avoid delays. 6. Construction and inspection – Assuming all goes smoothly with the above, you can proceed with constructing, inspecting, and testing the electrical infrastructure. That is a post for another day. The Bottom Line: Start the utility process now. Even a simple consultation with an expert can give you a more detailed understanding and help prevent costly delays. As I am sure we all know, certain entities run on their own timeline. Try and be respectful but consistent when coordinating with Utility companies. We like to believe that all folks want the best outcome for your project, and sometimes just need consistent follow ups to remember this 😅