What is a temporary power pole and do I need one?
If your crew is running saws, lights, pumps or a job trailer for more than a few weeks, a pole beats fuel runs to a generator every day. It is a wood or metal pole set with a meter base, breaker panel and outlets, inspected, then energized by the utility. Most builders order one alongside a mobile office trailer rental so the trailer has real power from day one instead of running an extension cord across the lot. Pair it with a handwashing station rental or a portable sink rental near the trailer entrance, since those units need water pressure but not power, and keeping both close to the trailer cuts down on foot traffic across an active Longmont site. A pole also keeps temporary fence rental lighting and gate controls running if your perimeter needs it lit at night.
How does temporary power pole installation work?
Installation starts with an electrician setting the pole, wiring the panel, and scheduling the utility for inspection and connection. A 200 amp temporary power pole is the common choice for most residential builds and light commercial jobs around Longmont, big enough for saws, compressors, lighting and a trailer without tripping breakers constantly. Bigger commercial sites sometimes run higher amperage or multiple poles, especially with a restroom trailer rental or shower trailer rental also drawing load on site. Longmont Porta Pros does not pull permits or wire panels ourselves, but we schedule our deliveries, our construction site services, and our dumpster placement around your electrician's timeline so nothing blocks the pole location or the utility's access lane. Clearance matters here too: a roll-off dumpster rental needs about 60 feet of straight clearance behind the delivery truck, so plan the pole and the dumpster pad on opposite sides of the lot if space is tight.
What does a temporary power pole cost, and what else do I budget for?
Pole and installation pricing runs through your electrician and the utility, not through us, so we will not quote a number here. What we can lay out is everything else that shares the site budget with a pole install: portable toilets, fencing, and waste haul-off, all priced by day, week or month depending on the job length.
| item | day | week | month |
|---|---|---|---|
| standard toilet | 100 to 350 | 130 to 500 | 125 to 325 |
| ADA unit | 200 to 400 | 120 to 240 | - |
| temp fence | 30 to 75 | - | - |
| 20 yard dumpster | 51 to 112 | 426 to 778 | 91 to 500 |
Check current toilet counts against OSHA 1926.51(c), which sets 1 toilet for 20 workers or fewer on a construction site, scaling up from there. Full porta potty rental cost detail, including porta potty rental per day and monthly porta potty rental breakdowns, lives on their own pages. Site electrical also falls under OSHA 1926.404(b)(1)(ii), which requires GFCI protection on construction power, worth mentioning to whoever wires your panel.
Where does the pole go relative to everything else on site?
Set it near the site entrance, close to the meter run the utility prefers, and clear of the swing radius for deliveries. That is the same logic behind our porta potty placement guide: keep service equipment reachable without crossing active work zones. If the site is tight, a storage container rental or 20ft storage container can double as a barrier between the pole and equipment traffic. For jobs near Firestone, about 9.5 miles east of Longmont, or Loveland, 18.8 miles north, we still run the same delivery windows, so distance is not the constraint pole placement usually is.
How long does it take to get a temporary power pole installed?
Timeline depends on your electrician's schedule and the utility's inspection queue, not on us. Most crews budget a few weeks between application and energization. Order your portable toilet rental and fencing separately so the site is compliant while the pole process runs in parallel.
Do I need a permit for a temporary power pole in Longmont?
Permitting requirements need confirming directly with the city, since rules vary by project type and we have not verified specifics here. Your electrician typically handles the permit application as part of the install. Ask them to confirm before pole delivery.
Can Longmont Porta Pros install the power pole itself?
No. We handle site sanitation, fencing, dumpsters and storage, covered under construction site services, not electrical work. We coordinate delivery timing around your electrician so nothing on site conflicts.
What size pole do most construction sites need?
A 200 amp temporary power pole covers most residential and light commercial builds. Larger commercial jobs with a restroom trailer rental or multiple trailers on site may need higher capacity. Your electrician sizes it to your actual equipment load.
Does a temporary power pole affect where I place my porta potty?
It can. Keep toilets clear of the pole's swing radius and the utility's access path, similar logic to ADA accessible porta potty placement, which under ADA Standards 213.2 requires at least one accessible unit in any cluster.
Next step
Get a delivery date
Tell us the address, the dates and the headcount. We size the order and confirm the route.