Granada Hills, CA · February 2024 · LADWP / LADBS

The inspection passed. The paperwork did not arrive.

A 7.47 kW AC system in Granada Hills on LADWP, finished and inspected — and stalled for weeks because an electronic release between two city bodies never landed.

A passed final inspection does not switch anything on. The building department has to transmit a release to the utility, and when it does not, nothing announces it.

At a glance

AC System

7.47 kW CEC

Utility

LADWP

AHJ

LADBS

Inverters

Enphase micro

Roof

Composition shingle

Battery

None

Release to field order

9 days

LADWP app → PTO

76 calendar days

The story

There is a seam between the building department and the utility, and projects fall into it.

The sequence is supposed to be simple. The inspector passes the final. The department transmits an electronic release to the utility. The utility issues a field order and sets the meter. Permission to operate follows.

When step two does not happen, nothing tells anyone. The work order does not fail — it simply sits, looking exactly like a work order that is progressing normally. The homeowner believes the job is signed off, because it is. The array is on the roof, finished, doing nothing.

We found this one by checking a work order that should have moved and had not. The utility could see the release had never arrived, and pointed us at the inspector directly rather than at a general line.

From that point it took nine days: the release was re-sent, the utility confirmed receipt, and the field order for the meter went out the same afternoon.

Permission to operate followed on 22 February 2024.

We have seen the same failure on another Granada Hills project since. It is not a one-off, which is the reason to write it down: if your system is finished, inspected and still dark after several weeks, this is the first thing to check.

The system has run since February 2024. Cali Energy now checks the release against the utility's own record before anybody waits on it — on this Granada Hills project and on every one since.

How it ran

The 76 days run from the interconnection application to Permission to Operate. Most of that window was the stalled release and the wait behind it, not work on the roof.

What we did

• Tracked a work order that should have moved and had not.
• Traced the failure to a release that had never been transmitted.
• Reached the inspector directly and had the release re-sent.
• Confirmed with the utility that the meter field order had been issued.
• Kept the owners out of it — the calls to both agencies were ours.

System specifications

Is your project like this one?

• Your system is finished and your final inspection passed.
• Weeks have gone by and nothing has happened.
• Nobody has told you anything is wrong, because as far as the system knows, it isn't.
• You have been told to wait for the utility, with no date attached.
• Your Granada Hills property is served by LADWP and permitted through LADBS, so two separate city bodies have to hand off to each other.

Cali Energy in Granada Hills

Frequently asked questions

My solar passed inspection weeks ago and still is not on. Why?

One cause worth ruling out early is that the electronic release from the building department never reached the utility. Passing the final does not switch anything on: the release has to be transmitted, and the utility then issues a field order for the meter. When the release goes missing, nothing flags it and the work order simply sits. There are other reasons a project can stall, but this one is quick to check.

What can be done about a missing release?

It has to be traced and re-sent. The utility can confirm whether the release arrived, and the inspector can re-transmit it. On this project that took nine days from finding the problem to the field order being issued. The step is easy to miss because nothing in the process raises a flag, so it is worth someone checking rather than waiting.

How long should a Granada Hills solar project take through LADWP?

This one ran 76 days from application to permission to operate, and a stalled release accounts for a large part of that. Timelines vary with permit type, corrections and inspection scheduling, so treat any single number as this property's, not a quote.

Does Cali Energy deal with LADBS and LADWP directly in Granada Hills?

Yes. Granada Hills is inside City of Los Angeles boundaries, so two separate city bodies have to hand off to each other on every project — LADBS for the permit and inspection, LADWP for the interconnection and the meter. Following that handoff, including when it fails quietly, is part of what we do rather than something the owner is left to chase.

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
• The utility approved a smaller system Granada Hills, CA · 11.6 kW DC · 28 days to PTO Solar
• The project was fine. The payment was not Sun Valley, CA · 13.20 kW · 54 days to PTO 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.