Requesting a Voltage Adjustment by Utility Company

Procedure for Requesting a Change in Voltage

1. Call power provider and ask them to contact the electrical utility company via a formal request to lower the nominal voltage to the actual range of desired nominal phase-to-phase voltage.
   • If the property is fed from a pad-mounted transformer, they can usually adjust the voltage down using taps fairly easily. 
   • If the property is fed from a pole-top transformer bank, there is about a 50-50 chance that they can adjust the voltage downward.

Here’s a snapshot of CPE's default tolerance protocols:

General Information on This Subject

• The wiring method (e.g., copper vs. aluminum) would not scientifically affect the voltage readings.
• If wiring happened to be drastically undersized however, under load, it would make the voltage lower than the nominal voltage, not higher. 
• Often, voltages in some areas are a tad higher so that they can absorb the dip in voltages for a certain customer in the area (on that electrical utility provider's power grid circuit) that has a large demand. 
  • Example:  A tenant uses a lot of juice M-F from 9AM – 3PM: The electrical utility provider will adjust the power upwards, to absorb the fact that a certain client uses a lot of power, and that will bring the voltage down slightly.  Essentially, they raise it on purpose so that it can come down to some normal nominal voltage during peak demands. This is known as ‘voltage drop’.

This article has been shared by Direct Service, Construction and Design to specifically accommodate our intended clientele.  The intent of sharing this information is to better inform the public of these general topics, expand knowledge and safety for all and provide crucial information in regard to their MEP and building systems and/or assets. It is NOT our recommendation that any article recommendations or how-to scenarios be attempted by anyone other than a qualified or competent person.