I have a very small (1000sq feet) 1920 home in Northern New Jersey which 15 years ago was upgraded to breakers with a 100 amp panel. The whole house does have copper romex in it now, and I am adding a substantial addition (3000 sq feet) to the house and I want to put a sub panel in the new portion. My plan is to upgrade the existing 100 amp panel and replace it with a 200 amp panel and put a 150 amp sub panel in the addition.

Now for my questions:
There is no existing ground rod for the existing panel which I am assuming I will need to add. What size copper ground is needed and where does it have to ground to i.e.. Water pipe and ground rod and does it have to be in one continuous run. What size feed is needed to the power company and do I only need to supply the meter socket and new panel and they supply the cable from their transformer to meter socket. Do they do this as part of their service or is there normally a charge for this? Also do they mandate a particular meter socket, i.e. with an attached side Junction?

Do I need to add a ground rod to the new sub panel, which will be located in the new garage and what size copper ground is needed for it.

I am planning on running over head from my existing panel, which will be the new 200 amp panel, through a drop ceiling in the existing above ground basement to the new above ground garage, with 2/0 al Service entrance cable, through a wall which attaches the two structures. How far apart do the supports need to be and can large Romex staples be used? In the new garage I have engineered beams, which I am planning on drilling holes in them to run the service entrance cable. There is no way to support the cable through these holes. Is this acceptable?

Finding a 150 amp breaker I have found is challenging. My plan is to put a 150 amp breaker in the new 200 amp panel to feed the new panel in the addition. This new panel is approximately 50 feet away. My question is this, if I use 200 amp rated wire (4/0 al) can I tap in at the lugs of the new 200 amp panel and feed the breaker to the panel that will be in the addition. If so, does the 200 amp panel need to have double lugs?

One other question. Do I need to contact the Power Company (NJP&L) prior to changing the existing 100 panel to the new 200 panel, and if I do not can the tag be removed from the meter and it is understood it was done to facilitate the addition of a new panel. I do have all permits which does include the changing of a panel.

As far as question on the utility, I believe you need to start here:


https://www.firstenergycorp.com/forms/contractorApplication/initServiceRequest.do

Go through this application with your details and get back with any questions regarding sizes, etc.

150 amp is an odd size in most areas.

Why 150 amp?

Regarding grounding, do you have city water, with metal pipe serving the home?

I chose 150 amps because of the cost of the wire and 2/0 SE is available to me in my local home improvement store. I am not opposed to making the sub panel the same size as my primary and I was wondering if that could be done by tapping into the lugs at the panel and feeding the sub panel.
I do not have city water, I am on a well.
The link that you gave me does not work. They may have changed links. Do you have a different link I can go to.

Thanks again for your help.

Hmm, linked worked for me, brings up a on line form to apply for a new or upgrade service change, you need to step through with specific info to get < I assume , more details, on what they want for specs.

Here is the home page:
FirstEnergy Corp.: Home (http://www.firstenergycorp.com/index.html)

There is a pulldown menu to select your power utility, New Jersey Central P&L.

My point with the utility is that you do need to consult with the utility, one to apply for the upgrade, as they want to know, or should, what loads you have, is existing service location OK, type of meter sockets they have approved, etc.

#2/0 copper is good for a residential 200 amp service.

Your service has no ground at all? Is there a bare # 8 copper leaving the box that contains the Main breaker? That should be going to at least one ground rod. It may connect to the well water line if that incoming line is metal. A metal water line buried at least 10 feet is allowed to be used as a grounding electrode.

The water line in the home should be "bonded" with a copper wire, but that would not act as the ground. This can be a bit confusing, let's step through as we go, and see what you do have and what you need to do.

Feeding a subpanel off a main panel is usually done by using a branch circuit breaker in the main that will feed the sub.

There are panels that have subfeed lugs, but are special order, and only done under certain conditions, none that I can see apply here. If the main panel is a 200 amp, that panel would not allow a 200 amp branch breaker, usually 125 amp max. This is what would probably be the method you use. I would use the Main panel for as many large loads, such large appliances,AC, and feed the subpanel for lighting and general purpose circuits.

See if you can go through your utility application process and we can go from there.

If the links still do not work , I did a Google search for "New Jersey Power & Light"