Hey y'all I need an electrician in Kingwood and quick. Lost a neutral line between the transformer and the house on Saturday and need it replaced. It's underground.

I've got power off to my house and would really like to avoid having to move my wife and 10 month old to a hotel tonight.

Anyone have any contacts for permitted electricians?

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Lost a neutral line between the transformer and the house on Saturday and need it replaced. It's underground.

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How do you lose a cable underground? Did someone steal it?

It's not a physical loss. It's called a floating neutral, it's when the neutral becomes disconnected from the ground causing the neutral to "float around".

Martin Q. Blank said:

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Lost a neutral line between the transformer and the house on Saturday and need it replaced. It's underground.

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How do you lose a cable underground? Did someone steal it?

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Wires go bad. Many homes in kingwood are nearing 50 years old.

Ag_07 said:

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Brian Ziese
281-770-6179

But I doubt he can get you back online today since that involves permits and what not.

Call CenterPoint and tell them the situation and that you'd like a temp line.

This happened to us last year and CP will come out and run a temporary above-ground line that'll last 30 days for $500. They came out the same day and had us back on in a couple hours.

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Your contact was able to give me some good advice. Thank you.

Moving forward with temp line and will quote several contractors for this repair which is shaping up to be more pricy than I figured initially.

Brian did this same repair for us last year and I think it ended up being close to $1500 and ours was only a short run from the transformer in the neighbors yard.

You'll have to pull permits and wait for inspections and all that fun stuff but the temp line will have you running as normal for 30 days. It'll be above-ground but they'll run it in conduit so it's not just exposed wires laying in your yard.

DiskoTroop said:

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It's not a physical loss. It's called a floating neutral, it's when the neutral becomes disconnected from the ground causing the neutral to "float around".

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There are no connections underground though. It's either at the transformer or the panel. Why replace the cable?

DiskoTroop said:

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Ag_07 said:

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Brian Ziese
281-770-6179

But I doubt he can get you back online today since that involves permits and what not.

Call CenterPoint and tell them the situation and that you'd like a temp line.

This happened to us last year and CP will come out and run a temporary above-ground line that'll last 30 days for $500. They came out the same day and had us back on in a couple hours.

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Your contact was able to give me some good advice. Thank you.

Moving forward with temp line and will quote several contractors for this repair which is shaping up to be more pricy than I figured initially.

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You can save yourself some money if you do the trenching yourself, go rent a trencher from Home Depot and knock several hundred dollars off.

Martin Q. Blank said:

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DiskoTroop said:

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It's not a physical loss. It's called a floating neutral, it's when the neutral becomes disconnected from the ground causing the neutral to "float around".

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There are no connections underground though. It's either at the transformer or the panel. Why replace the cable?

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Because the cable is 30-50 years old and it is no longer effective.

I thought this as well but CP policy is (and has been for the past 30+ years according to multiple electricians) is that if it's above-ground they'll do the repairs but if it's below-ground it's on you.

That's non-negotiable and just SOP

Dr. Doctor said:

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Call me crazy, but isn't CNP responsible for the line between generation and your meter? Why are you having to replace the line from the transformer to your meter (house)?

That should be in their wheelhouse and covered by them.

Getting them out quickly is a different matter, but they should be doing the work.

~egon

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Nah you're responsible for everything from the transformer unfortunately.

Happened to me in a 10 year old house in Copperfield. Direct buried cable (no conduit) where soil rotted the neutral line. You're lucky if nothing in the house is damaged. I lost my furnace fan, a couple of ceiling fans and lots of light bulbs. Mine was a short run as well but still expensive.

I may have an issue with one of my AC units. Working through that now…

What Village?

Just interested. Haven't heard of anyone with issues like this in Kings Point.

Bear Branch