Hydro Hookup Fiasco

Since we have less than two weeks to move in, we’re going strong now trying to get a few items in order with the log home build. The most immediate concern is hydro.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love camping and I don’t mind roughing it (some) but I don’t like living in a home, while working on building that home, and not having running water for more than a day’s time.

This discomfort escalates when you consider it is black fly season here. The minute they bite, your skin starts to crawl and you just feel dirty. Of course they’re biting inside as well as out…we still have holes where windows are supposed to be!

Here’s the skinny on Hydro One, Ontario…what a fiasco!

Two weeks ago the Hydro guy came out. A sweet and charming fellow who said all the right things to make a girl think getting hooked up wouldn’t be a problem. Bah! Nothing but false promises and downright shenanigans.

1.) He said, “Everything looks good here. Just get ESA (Electrical Safety Authority) approval on the buried wire and panel and we’ll be back to hook you up with a new transformer.”

A call to ESA netted a $500 charge for three necessary inspections. (1) Pre hookup. (2) Wiring (3) I forget already.

When ESA did come out, we were told that (a) our pole was too short and (b) our pole was too old.

Now I’m wondering why the hell didn’t the cute and charming Hydro One guy know that?

Poles can’t be more than 10 years old for new transformers. Our pole definitely was stamped 1984. Hmmm, 2009-1984, not hard for me to do the math, is it for you?

In the end this wasted the ESA guy’s time (our shanty isn’t exactly on the beaten path) and got us all off on the wrong foot. Fortunately our ESA guy is an old timer who knows the ropes and Hydro shenanigans and takes it all in stride.

2.) Hydro One said: “Within 4-5 days you’ll receive a package in the mail stating what you need to do and what we’ll be doing.” Ten days later, we had to go into the Hydro office, find someone friendly (a chore in itself) and get them to tell us what was required. One week later (now 2 1/2 weeks late, the package has still not arrived in the mail).

Phone calls and messages and waiting on the daily mail. Eventually having to spend close to $2,000 to get a new freakin’ pole in (thankfully we have good techs nearby who understand our plight and had the pole up in a few days time)…

Now here’s the joy with the new pole…it’s installed, in, ready for hookup…ESA just has to come and look at and approve it.

Except ESA needs to see a permit in the system for a pole before they’ll come look.

Did you know you have to have a permit to put in a freakin pole on your property?

Our permit had been submitted by fax but then it sat on some government-unionized worker’s desk day-after-day while we waited for it to be entered into the system.

All the while our deadline grows nearer – and my fear of bugs and no baths is growing…

When Suzie Secretary finally got to it, our ESA inspector came right out and approved us for hook up. I’m starting to like this Ed Goulet guy.

What is it they say about building a house? It takes $50,000 more than budget and every step takes twice as long to complete.

Tomorrow I’ll let you know how my conversation with Hydro One goes – they’ll probably tell me that the approval from ESA hasn’t been entered in their system yet! Geesh.

On a personal note, the more I work through this crap, the more I think about creating an Ontario Advocacy for People Who Have Lived Through A House Fire.

Honestly, it would be nice if someone stepped up here – it has been a year of exhaustion and red tape in one form or another. Maybe someday I could help someone else with their government and insurance beauracracy and hoops.

People seem to think that we are loaded because “it’s an insurance job”, they also seem to think that I don’t work because I’m available to take calls during the day. That’s simply not the case for everyone and certainly not the case for us. We were seriously under-insured which is why we have to build our own home, on our own sweaty backs. As for my work, take a look at some of the posts here…quite often they are written at 4:00 am – the end of my work day that often starts at 9 a.m.

If it wasn’t for companies like Freymond Lumber, Eager Beaver Excavation, Kawartha Credit Union (Bancroft Branch), ICF Solutions, Lynval Construction – personally Dave and Lucille Burke, Wayne and Rhonda and Brittany Minnie and many, many others in the community, we’d be homeless for a long time yet. Big hugs and thanks to all these people and companies – I’ll be paying it forward, some day, some way.