Granada Hills, CA · December 2025 · LADWP / LADBS

The permit that moved the gas meter.

A 12.05 kW AC solar system in Granada Hills, on LADWP. The array never touched the service panel — and the permit still required the gas meter and its piping to be moved to current clearances.

On this project, LADWP's service review required the existing gas equipment to meet current clearances before the associated service work could proceed.

At a glance

AC System

12.05 kW CEC

Utility

LADWP

AHJ

LADBS

Inverters

Enphase micro

Roof

Composition shingle

Battery

None

Service

Gas clearance relocation

Energized

December 2025

The story

A gas meter and an electrical panel had stood side by side on this Granada Hills house for decades. Both were original. Neither was in anyone's way.

Then the owners decided to put solar on the roof.

The array did not touch the service panel. No panel upgrade was in scope. The application still came back reclassified from the fast track to the standard track, with one condition attached: the gas meter and its piping had to be relocated to meet current clearances before the interconnection could proceed.

This is the part that catches homeowners. Existing equipment can sit for decades without anyone looking at it. When a permit brings the utility's service review onto the property, what is already there gets measured against the Electric Service Requirements as they read now — and on this property that included the clearance between the gas equipment and the electrical service, even though the work was on the roof.

One answer would have been to relocate the service panel. We proposed the other one: move the gas meter to the far side of its own riser, which satisfied the clearance without touching the electrical service at all, and coordinated the work with the gas utility.

The roof came off and went back on before any of it. Replacing a roof under a finished array means removing and reinstalling the array first, so it is done in the other order whenever the roof is close to the end of its life.

Permission to operate was granted on 13 December 2025.

One more thing happened after that, and it is worth knowing about. The service work that ran alongside the array passed its final inspection — and then stopped dead. The electronic release from the building department never reached the utility, and nothing in the process announces that. The work order simply sits. We found it, had the release re-sent, and the job closed out.

The array has run since, and both the permit and the work order behind it are closed. Cali Energy treats a gas clearance in Granada Hills as a drafting decision made before submittal rather than a correction collected afterwards.

How it ran

What we did

• Proposed a gas meter relocation that satisfied the clearance without moving the electrical service.
• Coordinated the relocation with the gas utility and the plumbing work it required.
• Replaced the roof under the array before any mounting hardware went down (C-39 scope).
• Carried the second interconnection application through review to permission to operate.
• Tracked the stalled work order and had the missing building department release re-sent.
• The owners spoke to neither agency. We did.

System specifications

Is your project like this one?

• Your electrical panel and gas meter sit close together on the same wall.
• Both are original to the house and have never been touched.
• Your Granada Hills property is served by LADWP, while permits are handled by LADBS.
• Nobody has mentioned gas clearances to you, because the job is on the roof.
• You have been told the application is on the fast track.

Cali Energy in Granada Hills

Frequently asked questions

Can a gas meter hold up a solar project in Los Angeles?

It can. When a permit brings the utility's service review onto a property, existing equipment is measured against the Electric Service Requirements as they read now, and those include clearances between gas equipment and the electrical service. On this project that requirement applied even though no work was planned on the panel itself. Whether it applies to yours depends on how your equipment is arranged.

Does a clearance problem mean relocating the service panel?

Not necessarily. On this project the clearance was satisfied by relocating the gas meter to the far side of its own riser, which left the electrical service where it was. Which options exist depends on the geometry of the wall, so it is worth asking what else would satisfy the clearance before accepting a quote to move the panel.

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

On this one, the second interconnection application reached permission to operate in 31 days. The clock that mattered was longer: the gas clearance question added about five weeks before the application could move at all. Timelines depend on the permit type, on whether corrections come back, and on inspection scheduling.

Does Cali Energy handle LADWP service issues in Granada Hills?

Yes. Granada Hills is inside City of Los Angeles boundaries, so permits run through LADBS and interconnection through LADWP. Service-side conditions — clearances, meter spots, panel questions — are the part of the job we take off the owner, and this project is one of several in the ZIP code where that was the work.

What this would look like on your roof

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