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What goes into a substation capacity figure
Why aggregation methods, shared equipment constraints and assessment dates matter when comparing sites.
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Electrification headroom vs EV headroom
Why the same feeder can have different capacity estimates for different types of load.
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What a public map can and cannot answer before you ask
What published capacity maps can support in site screening, and what requires a project-specific utility answer.
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Reading negative capacity values
What a negative published capacity estimate does—and does not—establish.
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When an MVA label does not mean you should convert to MW
Published capacity fields need to be interpreted using the utility’s methodology, not a default power-factor assumption.
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Hosting capacity maps vs distribution load serving capacity maps
Why hosting capacity numbers for the same equipment are derived from opposite conditions.
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ConEd queue records
What ConEd’s shared queue numbers represent.
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Developer alternatives if capacity is unavailable
When capacity is unavailable, developers can turn to storage, behind-the-meter generation, or waiting.
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N-1 and N-2 contingencies
How utilities size equipment to survive losing a transformer, and how that loss is priced in.
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Transformer emergency ratings, LTE and STE loading
How long a transformer can run above its normal rating before the overload becomes a cost to the equipment's lifespan.
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Distribution interconnection queues
How distribution interconnection backlog differs from transmission-level.
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Disclosure rules vs data quality
A comparison of how California, New York, and New Jersey require utilities to disclose hosting capacity data.
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Utility capital plans for capacity upgrades
How rate cases move a capacity constraint from a utility's load forecast into a funded infrastructure project.
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Rate case docket numbers
How to find and read a rate case docket.
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Binding tariffs and voluntary hosting capacity maps
The difference in legal weight between a tariff, a rate case outcome, and a utility's voluntary hosting capacity map.
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NEMA, IEEE, UL, and ANSI
What these standards actually require and their legal weight.
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Vertically integrated investor owned utilities vs co-ops
How ownership structure determines how much a utility answers to its state regulator.
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Hosting capacity disclosure mandates
History of hosting-capacity disclosure requirements in California, Illinois, and Minnesota.
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How equipment ratings are used to determine capacity
Thermal limits and contingency margin that determine capacity ceilings.
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Single-phase, two-phase, and three-phase feeders
How feeder-level capacity numbers can hide phase imbalance.
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Pole top, pad mounted transformers
The layers of equipment between a substation and the transformer that serves a building.
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What a short capacity history can establish
Why a short record history cannot establish a physical capacity trend or a statistical margin of error.
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Immutable historical records, slowly changing dimension
Why overwriting a corrected data point erases information that used to be true.
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Incident response and status page design
How AWS and the EIA each handle telling customers whether a fix is retroactive.
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Six utilities, six front doors
Where a new-load request starts at National Grid, Central Hudson, O&R, Con Edison, UI and CMP.
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Preparing a useful utility capacity inquiry
The location, load profile and service date a utility needs to assess a request, and the documents required as it progresses.
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What a utility response establishes—and what remains unresolved
How to distinguish preliminary capacity feedback, study results, cost estimates and service agreements when assessing a project.
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Who pays for the line
What New York's service rule and the utilities' pages say about cost responsibility.
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Utility economic development programs
Which utility programs pay for site power, which discount the bill, and when to apply.
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How long power takes
Published connection timelines, equipment lead times, and the large-load process.
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Redundant utility feeds: reliability, availability and cost
A second utility feed can reduce exposure to some outages. Its value depends on shared infrastructure, switching arrangements and the utility’s service terms.
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What a building’s electrical service rating tells you
Amps, voltage and phase describe the existing service. They do not establish spare capacity in the building or additional capacity on the utility network.
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Connected load, demand, peak and ramp-up
Why the sum of equipment ratings exceeds what a building draws, what load by type means on a form, and why a utility asks when the load arrives.
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Load form and load letter
What a utility’s load form asks for, how a load letter differs, and how to present the project’s demand and timing.
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One-line diagrams, riser diagrams and cut sheets
What a one-line diagram, a riser diagram and a cut sheet show, who prepares them, and how a reviewer reads them together.
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Site plan, stamp, municipal approval and easements
What a site plan and a plot plan are, what a stamp and a municipal approval each mean, why a utility asks for them, and what an easement gives the utility.
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Electrical capacity and utility service glossary
Electrical capacity and utility service terms, with their implications for site selection and project planning.