Cost to Run Power to Property in 2026: 200, 500 and 1,000 Feet

Running electric service to a new house or lot usually costs between a few thousand dollars and $30,000 or more. Most of the spread comes from distance and from your utility’s free-footage rules. Our national estimate for utility line extension is $6.50 to $30 per foot, with $15 as the planning figure. An underground service lateral runs $6 to $30 per foot. The customer-side meter base and 200-amp panel add $1,800 to $6,000. Some utilities build the first 500 feet, or even the first quarter mile, at no charge, so the same 500-foot run can cost nothing with one utility and $7,500 or more with another.

What you are paying for

A power bill for raw land has four parts, often quoted by different parties. The line extension is new primary line from the nearest usable line to near your building site, and it is where free-footage allowances apply. The transformer steps voltage down, and it may cost nothing if an existing unit has spare capacity. The service drop or lateral is the final run from the transformer to your meter, overhead or underground. Customer-side equipment covers the meter base, panel, grounding and permit, and sometimes the trench and conduit the utility asks you to supply.

National planning estimates for each component (low / typical / high). They are not quotes. See the benchmark method.

Free footage: why the same distance costs $0 in one county and five figures in the next

Most electric utilities publish a line extension policy. That is a tariff section saying how much line they build at their own expense and what you pay beyond that. Allowances come in three common forms: a number of free feet, a flat price for a set distance, or a dollar credit tied to expected revenue. The examples below come from tariffs cited in our benchmark research. They show how far apart policies can be. They are not a national rule, so read your own utility’s policy before you budget.

Published allowances and base charges from utility tariffs (dates as printed by each source).

Two details decide whether an allowance helps you. First, check what it applies to. Some allowances cover the primary line extension and others cover only the service from transformer to meter. Second, check the conditions. Allowances can be tied to a permanent, year-round load, so ask whether yours applies to a barn, well pump or seasonal cabin. Ask the utility to name the tariff section it is applying and to show billable feet separately from total feet.

Overhead vs. underground

Overhead construction is usually cheaper per foot on the utility side. Pioneer’s published rates, for example, are $6.50 per foot overhead and $10 per foot underground. Underground has other advantages: no poles on your lot, no tree clearing, and fewer storm outages. But it often shifts work to you. Many utilities ask the owner to dig the trench, lay conduit to their specification, and pass an inspection before they pull cable.

Flat-rate schedules can be hard to compare. Jefferson County PUD’s overhead price ($3,500 up to 120 ft) includes connect and engineering charges, while its underground price ($2,710 up to 300 ft from an existing pad-mount) is listed differently. Read what each line item includes before you decide one option is cheaper.

On long runs, the utility is more likely to extend primary line and set a transformer near the house, because long low-voltage laterals lose voltage. You then pay for extension footage, and possibly a transformer, instead of lateral footage.

Poles

If the route is overhead and longer than one span, you will need poles. Green Mountain Power’s 2025 tariff prices each pole at $960 to $2,278 depending on type. It also lists ledge drilling for a pole hole at $1,085.94 per hole, which is what rock can do to a pole budget (GMP tariff, eff. June 15, 2025). In our benchmark computation, a 1,000-ft single-phase overhead extension used about seven poles plus two guy assemblies. Utilities with free-footage policies usually fold poles into the allowance, but any pole on your side of the property line may be yours to buy and maintain. Ask who owns each pole on the plan.

Transformer

This is the least predictable line item. Many utilities include the transformer in standard residential service. In that case you pay $0, especially when an existing unit has spare capacity. Where it is charged, tariffs usually say the cost is “in addition” without printing a price. Our national estimate is $2,000 to $15,000, with $5,000 typical, and it is our lowest-confidence benchmark. Jefferson County PUD’s schedule shows how the premium can appear: $3,600 for underground 200 A service with a new pad-mount versus $2,710 from an existing one, about $890 more, plus the transformer itself priced at recent purchase cost (Jefferson County PUD, updated Sept. 5, 2023). Get this number in writing from the utility.

Meter base, panel and permit

Everything on the house side of the meter belongs to you and your electrician. For a new 200-amp service, the national estimate is $1,800 to $6,000, with $3,000 typical, excluding all utility-side work. On raw land, add a temporary construction pole if you need power before the house is framed. Expect the utility to wait for your local electrical inspection to be signed off before it energizes the permanent meter.

Worked examples: 200, 500 and 1,000 feet

These are the distances people search for most. Each example shows the arithmetic, so you can swap in your utility’s numbers. National figures are planning estimates. Tariff figures are the published rates cited above, applied to a hypothetical lot.

200 feet: underground from a transformer at the road

Underground service lateral, existing transformer with spare capacity, normal soil.

An overhead version is usually cheaper, but 200 ft is longer than many single-span drops. Jefferson County PUD’s flat overhead price, for example, covers up to 120 ft. Plan on at least one pole on your side, priced at $960–$2,278 each under GMP’s tariff, on top of a drop that runs about $900 as a national typical.

500 feet: rural lot, overhead extension

Overhead primary extension plus drop. Transformer shown separately because it is often $0.

Add the meter base and panel ($3,000 national typical) and a drop ($0–$3,500). With no allowance and no transformer charge, the national-typical total is $7,500 + $900 + $3,000 = $11,400. If the utility bills a new transformer at the $5,000 national typical, the total becomes $16,400. Under a generous allowance, the same lot can come in near the panel cost alone.

1,000 feet: long driveway or back-lot build

Overhead single-phase extension. GMP figures are our benchmark computation from its 2025 unit prices, including the 17% tax assessment.

At this distance, expect the utility to set a transformer near the house. The panel adds $3,000 as a national typical. If the last stretch goes underground, add trenching at $8 per foot in normal soil. For an extension just past a quarter-mile allowance, Pioneer’s rates show how small the billable part can be: at 1,500 ft, 180 billable feet × $6.50 = $1,170 overhead, or 180 × $10 = $1,800 underground.

Pitfalls that add cost

• Easements. If the line crosses a neighbor’s land, the utility will need a recorded easement before it builds. Without one, the route may have to follow the road instead, and that route can be longer.
• Rock. Rock raises trench cost and pole-setting cost. See our trenching cost guide for rock multipliers.
• Service size. A 400 A service, a large shop or an EV charger can change the transformer size, and with it the price.
• Refundable advances. Some utilities collect the full estimate up front and refund part of it as more customers connect. See utility extension cost.

How to get a firm number

Confirm which utility serves the parcel, because co-op and investor-owned territories can split along a road. Then apply with a site plan showing the house, meter location and service size. Ask for the tariff section and a written estimate, and get the electrician’s quote for everything on your side separately. Put both numbers into the utility connection cost calculator alongside water and sewer.

Related guides

• Utility extension cost: power lines, water and sewer mains
• Utility trenching cost per foot
• Gas line connection cost and free footage
• Cost to bring utilities to land
• New construction utility costs
• All calculators

Frequently asked questions