When you are building a custom luxury home, often you will choose a large, oversized lot to accommodate the size of the home. One potential cost factor often overlooked is the location of the electrical transformer in relation to where you choose to place your home on the lot.
For example, we are building a large custom home and barn on a 5-acre lot in the Citrus Green Equestrian Community located in Odessa. The electrical transformer is located on the far side of the the lot, near to the location where the barn will be built. The home will be located on the opposite side of the lot and will be too far away from the current transformer. As a result, an additional transformer needed to be installed on the lot by TECO (Tampa Electric Co.).
TECO considers Citrus Green to be “non-conforming.” This means that any changes TECO needs to make to the electric configuration gets charged to the homeowner. In this case, installing an additional transformer on the opposite side of the lot will cost approximately $15,000.
In a project of this size, an additional $15,000 may not seem like a major expense; however, it’s not one that the homeowner takes any great pleasure in spending.
Site preparation costs, including the location of the electrical transformers, are one of many things to consider when selecting a homesite to build your new custom home.
