United States

Getting Electricity in

United States

Listed below are the procedures, time and cost required for a business to obtain an electricity connection for a newly constructed building.

The information appearing on this page was collected as part of the Doing Business project, which measures and compares regulations relevant to the life cycle of a small- to medium-sized domestic business in 183 economies. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2011.

  • Name of Utility: Con Edison
  • City: New York City

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No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 Electrician files contractor work request with Con Edison (Coned) and receives service layout from them

Application for service may be made by mail, fax or by using Con Edison web site at www.coned.com/es/. However, written confirmation is required.
The customer or their contractor should consult Con Edison regarding the characteristics of service available before plans are completed, equipment purchased or construction started on facilities to be connected to the company's distribution system. Information the customer or their contractor furnishes Con Edison with regard to the customer's proposed electrical installation, must be in writing. The company has Electrical Contractor or Work Request Pads for your convenience. Only licensed electricians can conduct electrical connections. The licensing is done by the City of NY. The electrician hired by customer should be a licensed master electrician. The licensing is done by the City of New York. The service layout usually requires an inspection by Coned's staff who then give the technical conditions on the spot. After that the electrician can start the works. The electrician could have completed the works until the panels/ switchboard before Coned comes and inspects and then only do the wiring when they know from Coned where the service room is going to be. If the electrician however, wants to avoid to have to re-wire, they can first wait for the service layout that tells them where the service room should be. The electrician is in charge of all the works until the connection point. The connection point should be on the customer's land and within a distance of 10 feet from the property line (border between public and private lands), which we assume here. The service layout usually require an inspection by Coned's staff who then give the technical conditions on the spot. After that the electrician can start the works. Now, the electrician could have completed the works until the panels/ switchboard before Coned comes and inspects and then only do the wiring when they know from Coned where the service room is going to be, etc. If they want to avoid to have to re-wire though, they can first wait for the service layout that tells them where the service room should be. The electrician is in charge of all the works until the connection point. The connection point should be on the customer's land and within a distance of 10 feet from the property line (border between public and private lands).

Agency: Coned 		16 calendar days USD 7,500.0
2 Electrician submits final checklist to Coned and security deposit (online), requests and receives external works from Coned

The security deposit will not be recorded as it is refunded to the customer in 3 months time. The security deposit amount is twice the average monthly usage. Con Edison representative performs an inspection to verify that the site is ready for service construction (property-line box or sweep is installed, area graded to within 6” of final grade, curbs are installed, sewer & water lines installed, etc.). Electrician submits final checklist to Coned, requests and receives the works. The works consist of laying out a cable from the connection point to the closest supply source on the LV network (usually a manhole and not necessarily all the way to the distribution transformer). The works by Coned can be carried out in parallel with the electrician's works.

Agency: Coned 		38 calendar days no charge
3 Customer requests meter installation and electricity turn on from Coned

The electrician contacts the utility to inform them that the certificate of completion has been obtained, gives them the Dept of Buildings Control Number, and requests the utility to turn electricity on.

Agency: Coned 		7 calendar days no charge
4 Electrician requests and receives internal inspection from NY Buildings Dept.

TThe NY Building Dept Electric division inspector does the internal and external wiring inspection once all wiring and connections are final. This step is usually carried out after electricity has been turned on, and is not a requirement to obtain supply. It is required however in order to obtain an occupancy permit. If the inspector finds that everything is ok, he submits his report to the clerk in the NY Buildings office, who files it, and then publishes the Certificate of Completion online on the NY Buildings Website. This is usually done on the same day or next business day after inspection.
The actual application for Certificate of Internal Inspection is done by the electrician before internal wiring commences. The Dept of Buildings then issues a Control Number to the electrician.

Agency: Coned 		7 calendar days USD 380.0
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