North Hollywood, CA · October – December 2025 · LADWP / LADBS

A wrong number on the application. It could not be changed.

Solar as part of a whole-house renovation — roof, kitchen, bathrooms, windows, heating and floors. Four days after filing the interconnection we found an error on it, and learned that applications are not editable.

Asked to correct a figure on a filed interconnection request, the utility's interconnections group told us on this project that the figures could not be amended and that a new work request had to be filed, with the first cancelled once the second arrived — and the new request carried its own fee. We are reporting the answer we were given on one application rather than a published rule: if you are in the same position, ask, because the cost of assuming is a duplicate fee.

At a glance

Scope

Whole-house renovation including solar

Also included

Partial re-roof, kitchen, three bathrooms, windows, HVAC, floors

Interconnection

Filed twice, four days apart

Reason

A figure on the first application was wrong

Utility's answer

Figures cannot be amended; file a new request

Service

Underground — separate fee

Refiling to PTO

Ten weeks

Utility / AHJ

LADWP / LADBS

The story

This project is one where the solar is a component rather than the job. The house was being renovated across the board — a partial re-roof, a kitchen, three bathrooms, replacement windows, heating and air conditioning, and new floors — and the array went in as part of that programme rather than on its own.

That context is why the mistake happened, and it is a common one. When a house is being reworked in several trades at once, the specification moves. A number that was right when a form was drafted can be out of date by the time the form is submitted.

The interconnection request went in at the start of October. Four days later we realised the total AC output entered on the application was wrong, wrote to the interconnections group and asked whether it could be corrected at their end — noting, honestly, that we had not yet paid the fee.

The answer came back the same day and it is worth quoting in substance: the figures cannot be changed, a new work request has to be submitted, and once the new one is received it will be processed and the previous one cancelled.

So that is what happened. A second work request was filed the same afternoon and the expenditure recovery charge paid against it. A further fee followed the next day for the underground cable portion of the work, because the service on this property is underground rather than overhead.

There is no drama in any of this and nobody was obstructive. The department is consistent: an application is a record, not a working document, and a record that can be edited after submission is not much of a record. But it does mean two things practically.

First, check the figures before you file rather than after, because a correction is not a correction — it is a resubmission. Second, on a project where several trades are moving at once, file the interconnection when the system design is actually settled. Filing early to save a week can cost more than the week it saves.

Once the second request was in, the project ran without further incident. The utility's review, confirmation and completed site evaluation all landed two days later. The interconnection agreement was signed in the middle of November, the installation was released a few days after that, and permission to operate arrived on the sixteenth of December — ten weeks from the refiling.

One closing note on the renovation. When solar sits inside a larger job, ask which contractor is answerable for the interconnection specifically. It has its own timeline, its own fees and its own failure modes, and it is the piece most likely to be assumed to be somebody else's problem.

How it ran

Two work requests, four days apart. Only the second one exists now.

What we did

• Carried the solar as one trade inside a whole-house renovation.
• Found the error on our own application rather than waiting for the utility to catch it.
• Asked the interconnections group directly whether it could be amended, before paying the fee.
• Filed the replacement work request the same day the answer came back.
• Paid the separate fee for the underground cable portion of the work.
• Took the refiled request to permission to operate in ten weeks.

System specifications

Is your project like this one?

• You are renovating and solar is one of several trades on site.
• Your interconnection application has an error on it.
• You are not sure who on a multi-trade job owns the utility paperwork.
• Your service is underground and you want to know what extra fees apply.
• You want the system design settled before anything is filed.

Cali Energy in North Hollywood

Frequently asked questions

Can a mistake on a solar interconnection application be corrected?

Not by amendment. On this project the interconnections group said plainly that the figures could not be changed and that a new work request had to be submitted, with the previous one cancelled once the new one was received.

Does refiling cost more?

There is a fee against the new work request. On this project the expenditure recovery charge was paid on the second request, and a separate fee followed for the underground cable portion of the work.

When should the interconnection be filed on a renovation?

Once the system design is settled. On a job with several trades moving at the same time, a figure that was right when the form was drafted can be wrong by the time it is submitted — which is exactly what happened here.

Does an underground service cost extra on the utility side?

There is a separate fee for the underground cable portion, paid in addition to the expenditure recovery charge. On this property that was a second payment the day after the first.

Who is responsible for the interconnection on a multi-trade renovation?

Whoever is named as the contractor on the application. It is worth settling explicitly, because the interconnection has its own timeline and its own fees and is the piece most often assumed to belong to somebody else.

What this would look like on your roof

Related

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