Encino, CA · September 2018 – January 2019 · LADWP / LADBS

The panel was not too small. It was not rated for the fault.

A 9.9 kilowatt system in Encino, and a meter spot sheet that asked for three things: a service panel rated for 22,000 amps of fault current, clear level working space in front of it, and three feet of separation from the gas equipment. None of those is about how many modules fit.

Before a net meter is authorized, the utility issues a meter spot sheet: the location it approves and the conditions attached to it. On this project the conditions were an interrupt rating of 22,000 amps at the service equipment, a clear and level working space in front of it, and three feet between the electrical equipment and the gas. A panel can be modern, adequately sized and still fail on the first of those, because the rating describes what the equipment survives in a fault, not how much load it carries.

At a glance

System size

9.9 kW AC-CEC recorded by the utility

Interrupt rating required

22,000 A at the service equipment

Working space

Clear and level in front of the service equipment

Gas separation

Three feet from electrical

Interconnection agreement

Returned once, corrected, approved 6 December 2018

Permission to operate

22 January 2019

Utility / AHJ

LADWP / LADBS

The story

Every net-metered project in this territory passes through a step that never appears in a sales proposal: the meter spot. A representative from the utility looks at the property, decides where the meter goes and issues a sheet that says so — with conditions. Those conditions are the utility's price of admission, and they have nothing to do with how many modules fit on the roof.

On this house the sheet asked for three things.

First: the service panel must be rated for 22,000 amps of fault current. This is the one that surprises people, because it is not about size. A 200-amp panel describes how much load the equipment carries continuously. The interrupt rating describes something else entirely — what happens in the instant of a short circuit, when the current available from the utility transformer is vastly larger than anything the house uses. Equipment has to be able to clear that fault without coming apart. Older residential gear is often rated 10,000 amps; where the utility requires 22,000, the question is not whether the panel is big enough but whether it is the right equipment at all.

Second: clear, level working space in front of the service equipment. Anyone who has watched a meter crew arrive at a panel behind a row of trash cans, on a slope, under a hedge, knows why this is written down. The rule exists so that somebody can stand in front of the equipment and work on it safely, and it is the single most common reason a spot is moved.

Third: three feet between the electrical equipment and the gas. Meters, regulators and relief vents belong at a distance from anything that can arc.

None of those three is negotiable, and all three are cheaper to solve before the equipment is ordered than after the array is on the roof.

The rest of this project was a lesson in how much of solar is paperwork moving between two organizations. The first service request went in on the eighth of September 2018. By the third of October the status had not moved in two weeks, so the request was re-filed on the eighth of October and the interconnection agreement was submitted the same day.

Later that month the meter location itself turned out to need explaining. The meter is outside the house, but behind a locked gate, and a single image of it does not make that obvious. Cali Energy documented it properly on the twenty-fourth of October, and the spot sheet with its conditions followed on the seventh of November.

That photo set is worth naming, because the utility makes its decisions on it without visiting twice: the face of the meter, the area around the main panel, three feet of clearance in every direction, and the service entrance where the supply comes in overhead. Four photographs, taken properly, replace a site visit.

Then the interconnection agreement came back. It had been submitted in October and was returned in late November with information missing or incorrect. It was corrected the same day and approved on the sixth of December. Nothing dramatic — but for the homeowner it is six weeks in which nothing visible happened.

The utility approved the installation in mid-January and permission to operate followed on the twenty-second, four months after the first service request. At the time this project ran, the utility also operated a solar incentive program with its own reservation and payment steps, which added its own paperwork to the same months.

What to take from this: when a contractor tells you the panel has to be replaced, ask which of the three it fails on — capacity, rating, or clearance. They are different problems with different prices, and the answer should be on a document from the utility rather than in somebody's opinion.

How it ran

Four months from the first service request to permission to operate. This timeline reflects this property and this permitting path.

What we did

• Filed the service request and carried the meter spot through to an issued sheet (C-10).
• Documented the meter location with the photo set the utility works from when it does not revisit.
• Read the service conditions off the spot sheet and confirmed the equipment against the required interrupt rating, working space and gas separation.
• Corrected and resubmitted the interconnection agreement the day it was returned.
• Carried the project through utility approval to the meter set.

System specifications

Is your project like this one?

• Your service panel is older and somebody has said it has to be replaced.
• Your meter is behind a gate or in a spot a crew cannot reach unannounced.
• There is a gas meter or a regulator within a few feet of your electrical panel.
• Your project has gone quiet and you have been told it is with the utility.

Cali Energy in Encino

Frequently asked questions

Does Cali Energy work with LADWP meter spots in Encino?

Yes. Cali Energy files the service request, documents the meter location for the utility and carries the spot sheet conditions into the design — interrupt rating, working space and gas clearance included. Twelve completed Encino projects are documented on our projects page. Our license is CSLB #1032379.

What is an interrupt rating and why does the utility care?

It is the fault current the equipment can safely interrupt — the instantaneous current available in a short circuit, which is far larger than any load the house draws. Older residential panels are often rated 10,000 amps; where the utility requires 22,000 at the service, equipment below that rating has to be replaced regardless of how many amps of load it carries.

What is a meter spot sheet?

It is the document in which the utility approves where your meter goes and states the conditions attached to it. Those conditions typically cover the rating of the service equipment, the working space in front of it and separation from gas equipment. It arrives before the meter is set and it governs what has to be true on site.

Why does the utility want photographs of my panel?

Because it makes decisions from them rather than visiting twice. The set is specific: the meter face, the main panel area, three feet of clearance around it, and the service entrance. Where a meter sits behind a gate or in an enclosure, the photographs are what tell the utility that before a crew is dispatched.

Why did the interconnection agreement come back?

It was returned for missing or incorrect information, which is common and quick to fix — it was corrected the same day and approved about a week later. The agreement is a separate document from the permit and from the application, and a project can be complete on site while that one form is still outstanding.

What this would look like on your roof

Related

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• The permit that moved the gas meter Granada Hills, CA · 12.05 kW · LADWP Solar
• At the end, the utility asked for three photographs Studio City, CA · 5.8 kW · 363 days, and 34 of them were the utility's Solar
• The three photographs LADWP needed before the meter Sherman Oaks, CA · 5.8 kW · new service Solar

This timeline reflects this property and this permitting path. Updated September 2026.