Construction Project Glossary

Grounding – A grounding wire is attached to outlets and other electrical devices and then securely connected to the ground at the breaker box.

This direct physical connection to the earth is critical, as the earth acts as a reservoir of charge and can neutralize an electric current. Along with circuit breakers, grounding wires are standard safety devices used with today’s electrical circuits.

Grounding of customer equipment must be in accordance with the latest issue of the NEC (Article 250 Grounding). Code enforcement agencies may require ground connection to be visible when an inspection is made. However, for safety reasons, the top of the ground rod should be flush or below ground level in permanent application.

Meter – A device that measures and records the summation of electrical energy over a period of time

Meter base ring – A metallic ring that secures the meter to the meter socket and can be sealed by PGE

Meter pedestal – A commercially built pedestal that contains a meter socket and Customer disconnect switches

Meter socket – The mounting device consisting of jaws, connectors, and enclosure for socket-type meters. The meter socket is also referred to as a meter base.

Readily accessible – A roof is considered readily accessible if it can be casually accessed through a doorway, window, stairway or permanently mounted ladder by a person on foot who neither exerts extraordinary physical effort nor employs special tools or devices to gain entry per the NEC.

Scaled site plan – A detailed engineering drawing of proposed improvements to a specific lot, representing buildings, parking, drives and other structures that are part of a construction project.

SDPM – The service design project manager, or SDPM, is your main PGE contact for construction jobs needing design work from us.

Select backfill – Material used to bed and cover conduit or direct-buried cable. It consists of materials that pass through a 3/4-inch sieve and contain no sharp or foreign objects.

Service Trench – Trench provided by customer for service lateral.

See more terms and definitions  in the Electrical Service Requirements book.