Winnetka, CA · July – August 2020 · LADWP / LADBS

Sixteen days from application to switch-on.

Seven point seven kilowatts AC-CEC on a Winnetka ranch house. The interconnection application went in on a Wednesday at the end of July. The net meter was set, and the system authorised, sixteen days later.

On this project the utility's review and its site assessment both closed within two days of filing, and the remaining eleven days were spent waiting for a net meter to be scheduled. Sixteen days, application to permission to operate.

At a glance

System

7.7 kW AC-CEC

Application to PTO

Sixteen days

Utility review

Closed in two days

Site assessment

Waived

Roof

Composition shingle

Battery

None

Meter

New net meter set on the PTO date

Utility / AHJ

LADWP / LADBS

The story

Seven point seven kilowatts AC-CEC on a single-storey ranch house: one long roof plane, a chimney near the ridge, and nothing tall enough nearby to put a shadow on it. The kind of roof that makes the engineering easy and moves the whole question onto the paperwork.

The interconnection application went in on the twenty-ninth of July 2020. The next day the utility confirmed receipt and, in the same twenty-four hours, sent the notice that the application had been reviewed and every detail confirmed.

Then came the notice that decides most of the calendar. The utility can require a pre-construction site assessment — a representative visiting before anything is built — or it can waive it. On this project the assessment was bypassed, and the interconnection review closed on the thirty-first of July. Two days from application to a completed review.

What was left was a meter. We wrote to the service planner on the sixth of August to ask for a timeframe; the honest answer came back that nobody could give one and that the automatic notice would arrive when it arrived. It arrived on the thirteenth: a new net meter set the same day, and permission to operate.

Sixteen days, application to switch-on. What this project did not run into is as much of the story as what it did: no correction to answer, no resubmission, no pre-construction visit to schedule. Other projects in the same city have waited months on a meter, on a service upgrade or on a department queue, and none of that is something an installer can promise away.

How it ran

Two days of utility review, then eleven days waiting on a meter. That is what a clean application looks like.

What we did

• Filed an interconnection application that needed no corrections.
• Carried the project through a waived site assessment to a completed review in two days.
• Chased the meter scheduling directly with the utility's service planner rather than waiting on the automatic notice.
• Installed on a single composition shingle plane with the circuits landed in a combiner beside the service.
• Closed out at permission to operate sixteen days after filing.

System specifications

Is your project like this one?

• You have been told a solar interconnection takes months.
• Your application has come back with corrections and you do not know why.
• You want to know what actually decides how long this takes.
• You have a simple roof and want it treated as one.
• Your Winnetka property is served by LADWP, while permits are handled by LADBS.

Cali Energy in Winnetka

Frequently asked questions

How long does permission to operate normally take?

It varies enormously. On this project it was sixteen days from application to permission to operate. On other projects in the same city the same step has taken months — meter scheduling, a service upgrade, a pre-construction site assessment or a correction on the building side can each add weeks, and several of them can land on the same job.

What is a pre-construction site assessment, and why was it waived?

It is a visit by a utility representative before the system is built, to check the service and what the site can take. The utility can waive it when a waiver is on file and the project raises no questions. Here it was bypassed, which took an unpredictable scheduling step out of the calendar entirely.

What took the remaining eleven days?

A meter. Once the interconnection review closed, the only outstanding item was the utility scheduling a crew to set the net meter. We asked for a timeframe and were told plainly that none could be given. It was set on the thirteenth of August, and permission to operate came the same day.

Can I make my own project go this fast?

Nobody can promise a date, because the steps that take longest are not the installer's to schedule. What is under our control is the submission: a complete application, an accurate single line diagram, a roof that matches what was filed and a service the array can legally connect to. Getting those wrong reliably adds weeks; getting them right removes one source of delay out of several.

Does Cali Energy handle the utility side in Winnetka?

Yes, on every project. Cali Energy holds B, C-10 and C-39 classifications under CSLB #1032379. Winnetka is inside City of Los Angeles boundaries, so permits run through LADBS and interconnection through LADWP.

What this would look like on your roof

Related

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• Nine days from install to a passed final Sun Valley, CA · 5.44 kW · express permit Solar
• Two dwellings on one lot. The array went with the meter Canoga Park, CA · 1.74 kW AC-CEC · ADU and addition Solar

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