We just finished installing a 400amp 1phase multi-meter service on an industrial condo storage building. ConEd called to confirm some information and during the conversation ConEd said "3phase" and I said single.

Now, ConEd is saying they may have to change the transformer out to a larger unit due to the imbalance caused by single phase. If this needs to be done, it would be charged back to the building owenr. ConEd said their documentation stated the building would have 3phase power, not single.

My drawings called out single phase. I wanted to install a larger service and 3phase but the customer declined.

Update, just received a phone call from ConEd. They are requiring the customer to change his service to 3phase. This means pulling out the 200' run of 3/500mcm wires and pulling in 4/500mcm wires and changing the service gear.

Someone's going to be upset today....

Her in Pa we send in a Service and Meter App, before POCO will even answer a phone call. I am going to assume it is the same in Illinois

Did you personaly send in the App? Do you have a copy of it?

Phase should be checked on the App. If your copy says it's 1 phase. Your ass should be covered. But.... if it is not clear than you are replacing the service I am afraid

Here in ComEd territory I designed a 1200Amp service and the ComEd guy showed up with a work order that said 1-200Amp service.

That was another fun day...

I didn't submit any paperwork regarding the service. A few weeks ago I had a conversation with the same ConEd rep. and informed him at that time the service was single phase. It must not have registered with him at that time.

The rep. did say all we had to do was pull another 500mcm into the pipe past the existing three......

So no paper work is submitted at any time? You just call the POCO and say we need a service and they say "ok, we'll be out to hook it up"

Sounds fishy to me.

There is no paperwork on a service that size?

"Pull another 500mcm"? What size conduit? No easy task. Your going to have to pull all the wire out and then pull the extra wire back in. I hope you have not made any connections yet! I would get that guy's (POCO) supervisor or his supervisor and explain that it is his fault, not yours. Fight buddy. You said single phase to the POCO rep.
I don't understand how a project of this size would not have some kind of paper trail. Find the proof. He had to have made a report when he was there. Look at your records too.

Always remember, If it is not documented, is did not happen. POCO's wear teflon underwear so nothing sticks.

Heck, here even a 200A resi upgrade needs to go to a "designer". It only gets worse if you need to have the socket moved. They also want to see a load calculation.

Makes it hard to do a load calculation when the HVAC hasn't been spec'd yet.

In this area, all non-residential services 400A and larger are always three-phase, except "out in the country" where the POCO only has single phase available.

Folks, go easy on HEI... it wouldn't have made a rats *** of difference whether or not he had paperwork signed off, stamped, and everything was in accordance with the "Blue Book" because ConEd ROUTINELY makes changes at whim. Go ahead... march in there with all your papers with ConEd stamps and all and go fight them... they'll just disconnect the power in the iterim until everything is ironed out.

What HEI is describing is not at all unusual here in NYC. Ripping out new, signed off work is just part of "life in the big city."

I'm willing to bet too that ConEd won't be connecting 500 MCM to MCM... they'll probably feed something like 2/0, perhaps even smaller. Then everyone wonders why everything was going up in flames in northwest Queens a couple of summers ago.

Perhaps most lamentable is how we here all seem to accept this...

Like I said teflon underwear...