Temporary Power Planning In Construction

How to Plan Temporary Power for Your Construction Project

Temporary power planning is something that must be done on every project—whether you’re connecting to an existing transformer, getting a power drop from a utility pole, or finding a solution for a remote site. No matter where your project is—downtown or out in the field—you need power. And not just for the trailers and restrooms, but also for spider boxes, temporary lighting, and all your other construction power needs.

This blog is all about making sure you have a clear plan, a solid timeline, and the right resources to get temporary power set up early and efficiently.

The Power of a Good Plan:

Let’s start with the plan. On our team, we combined input from electricians, a bit of help from ChatGPT, and step-by-step thinking to outline everything from regulatory requirements to system protection, safety measures, and inspection processes. Yes, it’s a lot of text—but it’s incredibly valuable. We included this in our bid packages and shared it with trade partners, and the response was clear: “This is complete. We know exactly what you’re going to do.”

That’s the power of a well-documented plan. Everyone stays aligned.

Building a Timeline:

Next up: the timeline. We built our schedule in InTakt and tied it into our overall production plan. You can export this into Primavera P6, Microsoft Project, or Excel, but the logic remains the same—plan early and tie it to real dependencies. We didn’t need power for early sitework, but it was critical for starting foundations. That’s where the logic connection lives.

From signoff and permitting to installation and inspection, every step is accounted for. That ensures the power company and trade partners can execute without delays.

The Sketch: Visual Clarity

We also created a detailed sketch—complete with notes, a legend, and a high-level visual of the entire power setup. I’ve kept this intentionally a little fuzzy to avoid distracting from the big picture, but it communicates the critical flow of work.

The sketch shows where we’ll tie in with the city and utility company, where service entry sections go, where we’ll need temp power for each construction phase, and how power will reach laydown areas and buildings.

This visual allowed our trade partner to analyze power capacity needs and respond accurately. They even asked for phase details and durations so they could match their work to our project timeline.

Summary: Plan, Timeline, Sketch

To recap, we did three things:

1. Created a detailed plan — including regulatory, safety, and installation steps.
2. Built a timeline — integrated into our production plan and aligned with project milestones.
3. Developed a visual sketch — to communicate clearly and align stakeholders.

Even before we had electricians on board, we used this information to initiate early procurement, issue letters of intent, and immediately bring trade partners up to speed.

Whether you’re a field engineer, project engineer, or assistant superintendent, this blog gives you a repeatable process: Make a plan, sketch it out, set your timeline. Then collaborate, communicate, and execute as a team.