Looking for ideas

I will try to keep this short. I put a garage addition on this past summer. The new addition ended up going over my Xcel feed to my electrical meter. Xcel decided they didn’t like the feed being under my new garage floor, so they came out and moved it. They never said anything to me about it. I had just had a guy out with a bobcat and he had all of the dirt work done around the new garage and my concrete guy had put in the forms to pour the floor and a patio under my deck. Xcel showed up and made a mess out of the dirt around my garage and tore up the forms and packed sand under my deck to do their work. They left without doing any restoration. This was all done in July and I just received a bill from them for over $1800. Merry Christmas! I did take pictures of the mess they made, as it cost me $450 to have the bobcat guy come back and fix the mess, plus a few hours of my own labor raking everything back out. Anybody have any ideas if or how I can beat this?

Thanks in advance!

I believe with utility companies your only choice is to

i’d file in small claims court, then negotiate.
50/50 from a judge.
AllenW, waddajatink??

You could go with out power.

Ask for all documentation, including why it was moved, who authorized the move, who did the work (Excel or subcontractor). Check your building permit because they sometimes make notes on things that need to be changed or brought up to code.

I am assuming that they did not come in unannounced and let you know that they were providing a new underground service so look at any paperwork you have from them. I am guessing that your answer is in some of this paperwork.

I would be willing to put a bet that you are on the hook for this service work, but stranger things have happened.

There is no paper work and nothing on my building permit. The only way I knew they were going to do this, is I happen to be working in my back yard when their contract locator showed up. I asked him what he was marking for and he said Xcel is going to move your feed. I called to find out when they were going to do it and the guy never said anything about me paying for anything.

so you knew the adition was going to go over your power feed and you did not contact excel? what fly by night contractor told you that would be ok.

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so you knew the adition was going to go over your power feed and you did not contact excel? what fly by night contractor told you that would be ok.

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Nope! Didn’t know it was going over my feed. The block contractor just knocked some holes in the block wall and ran the cables through the walls. He said that they do it all the time. First time i’ve ever done anything like this, so it was a learning experience.

I guess I would talk to the contractor about why he did what he did.
WW

He may say he does it all the time and if he does it is against the electrical codes. the wire would have to sleeved to pass trhough a wall. Not only that diggers hotline or whoever locates electrical lines should have been contacted before any excavation started. You may be able to go after the contractor for some of the cost because it should have been dealt with before he performed the work. I would go talk to a lawyer, alot lawyers do the first meeting for free. That does suck learning the hard way, but any reputable contractor would have addressed this issue early on. If you wonder how I know, it is because I was a construction electrician for 25 years here in Wisconsin.

Good luck to you

Whenever the city comes onto my yard and messes it up, the city is responsible for getting it back to the point it was before they came in. They have a variance and had to dig a hole to fix the storm drain. They ripped up my yard but when they were done it was not too bad. Some of that cost I would think they are resposible for like my example.

Good luck

I know someone who works for the big X . Before any digging went on the contractor is required to get all utilities located. After locates any conflict should have been addressed. The contracter should have seen the wire needed to be moved(maybe he did) and told you. As far as the mess, when the crew left they would write up an order to fix what they destroyed. Gopher state one call will have record of who ordered the locate reguarding you service.

Just reiterating what Zits posted

GSOC is a mandatory law that all contractors in the state of MN must abide by.

Everything was located and yes we knew the addition was going over it. No other place to put it. The contractor did sleeve the cable going through the wall. Xcel uses a contract locator who could give a rip (I talked to him) about anything other than getting a paycheck. After some of the dirt started to settle, the cable coming out of my meter was being pulled down, so Xcel came out and fixed that. I don’t have a problem paying for that. But Xcel decided they were going to move the feed around the addition and the only way I knew about it, is I happen to be home when their (contract) locator was there. He told me they were going ot move it. He is not an Xcel employee. I think someone from Xcel should have called me and said something about sending me an $1800 bill?

They normally send a letter or postcard when working in your area. Most people throw them w/o reading. If your service was going to be interupted(which yours would because its getting moved) they would have sent you something (maybe a prerecorded voicemail thing).
I’m a little confused (shocker ). At first you didnt know the line needed to be moved and in your last post you did? (I probably misread something)
Anyway xcel will say, you forced us to move your service because of the garage and therefore you will be billed for it. But you should have been notified about the time and cost of the move of service…

Reading the comments it looks like the contractor should be responsible for the bill if he didn’t have the utilities marked before starting. Perhaps if you call Xcel and explain the mess that they made and that you have pictures they might reduce the bill some. It might be to your benefit to call the building inspector and explain the situation with the contractor if he didn’t have the utilities marked out before construction. I use to do a lot of remodeling with the homes I lived in when I lived in St.Paul. The Inspectors worked well with home owners and were very helpful.