Not sure if I am posting in the write place, or if anyone has any help or advice. But, if you're sitting comfortably, I'll begin...

EDF Energy Networks wants us to pay £1,600 to reconnect the electric supply from the mains in the street to our property in South East London. It also wants us to wait up to four months before it actually reconnects the supply and, in the meantime, prepare the property for its engineer. Which means laying pipe from the fuse box to the street, at a depth of 45cm, so it can put the cable down. It also wants us to install a metal plate to fix the fuse box to.

We currently have no electricity (clearly), we have an 18-month old and a baby due in September. We are kipping on friends sofas.

The reason the property has no electric from the mains is that it was being used as a marijuana factory, was shut down by the police and, according to EDF, had the electric cut off at the mains. There is no evidence outside the property anywhere to suggest the street has been dug up and the cable cut. Is EDF getting us to pay for renewal of network infrastructure?

We are angry because the process is expensive, lengthy, complex, inconvenient and potentially dangerous.

The handwritten instructions left us by an EDF site engineer are extremely unclear. A rough diagram of where the pipe should be laid. No detail of where the pipe can be purchased. No detail of the type of metal plate. The sales order clearly states EDF will walk away from any site that is not prepared correctly, and a penalty charge will be levied.

Also, we have instructions to dig a trench 45cm below the ground from the fuse box in the house to the street. It is unclear whether the trench should be sited 45cm below the floorboards or 45cm below ground level.

Worse, there is a large concreted area between the front door and the public footpath, which we are also required to dig. We would require a heavy-duty breaker drill for this. The metal gas pipe to the house also runs under this section. It seems entirely logical and likely the gas pipe runs where EDF has indicated for us to dig. We contacted British Gas to ask if it knew of the precise location of the gas pipe. It said it did not.

Clearly if I, a novice with very limited information, hire a drill to dig the front garden and hit a metal gas pipe with a spark, there could well be an explosion. If we hired a professional, with very limited information available to him, there would quite reasonably be an insurance premium for the work.

We have paid the £1,600 in order to make the process as swift as possible.

Of course, our house renovation is personal. But it is also good for the community in light of the property's past usage. We are being held up by a public service. EDF is charging us a lot of money for reinstallation of the electrical supply, and we are required to prepare the site. The instructions we have are shoddy. We are also being made wait an awfully long time.

The cost hurts, ultimately, but could be made more bearable if the action by EDF was prompt and efficient. It is not. And our personal circumstances make the matter extremely urgent.

Is this normal? How can EDF get away with this? Because it is a monopoly?

What can we do? We have contacted our local MP, Consumer Direct and the Energy Ombudsman. Anyone had experience of this, or know how EDF works its infrastructure business?

Thanks.

You have received the guidance that would be given to someone building a new house. Surely the cable, is still visible in your cellar? All they have to do is reconnect it in the road. I suggest you ring EDF, and ask for the person's supervisor, until you get through to someone sensible.

You may have to get your house's wiring checked and certified okay by an electrician, as they are reluctant to connect unless you fax them a copy of the certificate.

You need to get a qualified electrician todo the work for you, edf will be dealing with whats called sd3 dig which is a new supply install. You dont know what the people who grew plants did to the electric supply, after all edf have to leave it safe.

Edf will connect the tails from the street to your main fuse then to your consumer unit.

A private elec will cost you about £1800 inc water bonding etc.

thanks for your reply. i think the guidance is probably, in essence, correct. we don't have a cellar so not sure where the old cable runs. spoken to many people within edf and it's a brick wall, unhelpful. we have the rest of the house wired up new, and will be signed off by a spark. the biggest issue we have is with time it will take, instructions we've been issued, which are really sketchy and demand us to do the work. the money is a pain too.

thanks veloxuk. understand the issue with the previous tenants may force the situation, so a new supply has to be installed.

but edf are shockingly unhelpful. we are required to pay out to do the work, essentially, with poor instructions and the threat of a penalty charge for not following them correctly.

first i have heard of water bonding, which goes to show how scant the information we've been provided is.

and what of the possibility of hitting the gas pipe and the water supply?

it is bloody ridiculous.

Isn't there an obvious hole in the floorboards where the wire previously went? Below this you should find if not the wire, then the duct.

Hi There

I have been searching the internet to find the solution to the exact issue. my NW London property was also run as a cannabis factory and the electricity was turned off from the mains. i am at the start of the process and would appreciate your insight.

I called EDF, they said they will send me an application which I should return to them. After that it would take about 4 weeks for them to send out a surveyor. Cost is likely to range from 1k to 2.5k for their service and whole process may take 10 weeks or more.

Was the digging work from the road to the main in your property done bny EDF and part of that 1600 figure your quoted or was this extra?

Watch out also for additional charge by your electricity supplie - British Gas quoted 640 for meterage charge once EDF had done their stuff. Did you also get this type of cost?

Have you found a quicker route to getting this done - this seems a long winded process.

thanks for any help & advice you can give me - your comments are helpful.

hi.

sounds very similar. the £1,600 is for edf to dig the street only, and run cable through ducting we put down. we have to dig the front yard concrete, lift floorboards and run ducting from street to meter in preparation of edf's arrival - now set for july 2. still have to organise for someone to do that - don't want to dig around gas, water pipes.

haven't heard from britsh gas about meter charge yet.

complained to local mp, who was good enough to write to edf, which in turn got an engineer to call and explain. as above. consumer direct couldn't help. doesn't seem like any other way around.

the site engineer who came out to us originally should have left us with a pamphlet about buying the ducting apparently. it has to be certain type, purchased from jewsons.

we are absolutely fed up with the whole thing. sorry can't offer more positive insight.