Understanding Your Power: How Electricity Gets to Your Home
Ever wondered how the electricity that powers your lights, appliances, and devices actually reaches your home? Understanding this journey helps you make better decisions about electrical upgrades and troubleshoot problems more effectively.
The Electrical Grid: From Power Plant to Your Panel
Electricity travels through a complex network before it reaches your outlets:
- Generation: Power plants produce electricity through various means—natural gas, coal, nuclear, solar, wind, or hydroelectric
- Transmission: High-voltage lines carry power across long distances (69,000 to 765,000 volts)
- Substation: Transformers step down voltage for local distribution (4,000 to 35,000 volts)
- Distribution: Local lines bring power to neighborhoods (often 7,200 volts)
- Transformer: The barrel-shaped unit on the pole near your home steps voltage down to 120/240 volts
- Service entrance: Power enters your home through the meter and main panel
Your Local Utility Companies
In Missouri, several utilities provide electrical service:
- Ameren Missouri: Serves most of St. Louis metropolitan area
- Cuivre River Electric Cooperative: Serves rural areas in Lincoln, Warren, and parts of St. Charles counties
- City of O'Fallon: Municipal utility serving O'Fallon
Why this matters: Your utility determines things like service upgrade requirements, meter installation, and time-of-use rates.
Service Types: Overhead vs. Underground
Overhead Service
- More common in older neighborhoods
- Utility maintains wires to the weatherhead on your house
- Homeowner responsibility begins at the weatherhead
- Easier to repair after storms, but more vulnerable to damage
Underground Service
- Standard in most newer developments
- More reliable—protected from wind and ice
- More expensive to install and repair
- Homeowner usually owns and maintains the cable from transformer to meter
Understanding Your Meter
Your electric meter tracks energy consumption in kilowatt-hours (kWh). Modern smart meters also:
- Report usage in real-time to your utility
- Enable time-of-use billing
- Detect outages automatically
- Allow remote connect/disconnect
Reading your meter: Most utilities provide online access to detailed usage data. Check your utility's website or app.
Service Upgrades: Working with Your Utility
When upgrading your electrical service (say, from 100 to 200 amps), coordination with your utility is essential:
- Application: Your electrician submits an application to the utility
- Review: Utility determines if their infrastructure can support the upgrade
- Meter base: You may need a new meter base that meets utility specifications
- Inspection: After electrical work is complete, the utility inspects before connecting
- Connection: Utility installs the meter and connects service
Timeline: Allow 2-4 weeks for utility coordination. Rush fees may apply for faster service.
Power Quality Issues
Not all electricity is created equal. Common power quality problems:
- Voltage sags: Brief drops that cause lights to dim
- Surges: Spikes that can damage electronics
- Harmonics: Distortion from electronic devices that can affect sensitive equipment
- Outages: Complete loss of power
Solutions: - Whole-house surge protector ($300-$600) - Uninterruptible power supply (UPS) for computers ($100-$500) - Standby generator for extended outages ($3,000-$15,000 installed)
Time-of-Use Rates
Many utilities now offer time-of-use pricing:
- Off-peak: Lower rates during low-demand hours (typically overnight)
- On-peak: Higher rates during high-demand hours (summer afternoons)
- Super off-peak: Lowest rates during very low demand periods
How to save: Run dishwashers, laundry, and EV charging during off-peak hours. Smart home systems can automate this.
Net Metering for Solar
If you have solar panels, net metering lets you:
- Send excess power back to the grid
- Receive credit on your bill for power you generate
- Draw from the grid when your panels don't produce enough
Current Missouri policy: Ameren and other utilities offer net metering, though policies vary. Check with your utility before installing solar.
Emergency Contacts
Report outages: - Ameren: 1-800-552-7583 or ameren.com - Cuivre River Electric: 1-800-392-3709
Downed power lines: Stay away and call 911. Assume all downed lines are energized.
Questions About Your Service?
If you're considering an electrical upgrade, EV charger, solar installation, or just want to understand your options, we're here to help. We work with local utilities daily and can guide you through the process. Contact us for a free consultation.