A passed city or county inspection and utility permission to operate (PTO) answer different questions. The inspector signs off on the permitted work. Your utility reviews the interconnection under its own process. Ask for the utility’s written operating authorization and any export conditions before treating the system as ready for normal operation.
Find the last documented milestone
Collect your permit number, final inspection result, utility application ID and the installer’s interconnection contact. Record the actual date of each completed step. If the installer says the project is “with the utility,” ask for the submission receipt and the current status in the utility portal. A scheduled inspection, a passed inspection and a final sign-off uploaded to the utility are three different milestones.
Match the status to the person who can move it
If the inspection passed but the utility has no record of the final document, ask the installer who must transmit it and request confirmation when received. If the utility returned the application for corrections, get the deficiency notice and a resubmission date. If the application is complete and engineering review or meter work is pending, ask the utility for its case reference and the next published milestone.
For a Southern California Edison project, start with SCE’s solar help center. For another service territory, use the utility printed on your electric bill. A neighbor’s turnaround can reflect a different utility, equipment configuration or review stage.
Use a status request that gets a specific answer
“Our final inspection passed on [date]. For utility application [ID], please confirm the last item accepted, any outstanding correction, who owns the next action and the next follow-up date. Please send the permission letter when issued.” Keep this reply with your contract. App readings or a commissioning test alone do not establish authorization to export.
Once operation starts, save the PTO letter and the meter reading date. On your first full billing cycle, compare utility exports with the solar app for matching dates. That avoids misreading a partial first month as a system fault.
A handoff checklist for the waiting period
Use this table as a record of evidence, not a claim that every utility uses an identical sequence. Some territories combine stages or require additional reviews.
| Milestone | Evidence to request | Who can identify the next step |
|---|---|---|
| Final inspection | Final result and permit number | Inspector or installer |
| Inspection transmitted | Upload receipt or utility acknowledgment | Installer or submitting agency |
| Application complete | Portal status and any deficiency notice | Utility interconnection team |
| Meter or configuration work | Work order or written confirmation if required | Utility and installer |
| Permission issued | Written approval and operating conditions | Utility |
| Owner handover | Commissioning record and monitoring access | Installer |
Separate a document delay from an equipment delay
A finished installation can still have an incomplete application. For example, an inspection might pass on Monday, while the final document reaches the interconnection team on Friday. A follow-up based only on Monday’s inspection date misses four days of the actual handoff. This is an illustrative sequence, not a utility turnaround promise.
Ask whether the pending item is a missing document, a technical correction, a meter task or utility review. These have different owners. If a correction is open, request its wording and the installer’s response, then confirm the utility received the resubmission. If no correction is open, request the current queue or case status and the next documented checkpoint. Keep dated replies in one thread.
Can the system run while permission is pending?
Follow the utility’s written conditions and the installer’s commissioning instructions for your specific project. Some systems have an approved temporary operating or non-export configuration; others must remain off until authorized. An app producing a graph or a salesperson saying “it is ready” does not establish which permission applies.
Ask for the permitted operating mode in writing, including whether battery charging, backup operation or export is allowed. Do not change an export limit or energize equipment to test the paperwork. A technical ability to prevent export and utility permission to operate in that mode are separate matters.
Prepare for the first complete billing cycle
When approval arrives, save the permission letter, start date, meter identification and any tariff enrollment confirmation. Check that the app account belongs to you and that you can download production data. Ask the installer to explain alerts, shutdown instructions and the support contact.
For the first bill, note the meter-reading start and end dates. If approval happened midway through that period, the month is not a clean full-month comparison. Keep fixed charges separate from electricity charges, and compare the utility’s import/export registers with matching app dates. If the installer stops responding, the warranty and repair navigator helps organize the records and distinguish manufacturer support from installation responsibilities.
Keep terminology local when using this checklist abroad
Permission to operate is common US terminology, but the same label is not universal. Other countries and network operators use different connection agreements, commissioning records and export approvals. Identify the authority responsible for the grid connection and ask which document permits the proposed operating mode. A retailer that sends the electricity bill may be different from the network company responsible for connection approval.
Use this article's document-tracking method rather than copying another utility's rules. Record the local application number, the actual approving body and the written conditions for your installation. If an installer cites a rule, ask for the relevant current provider document. Do not infer authorization from a procedure published for a different service territory.
Write a follow-up that closes a specific gap
Instead of asking only whether there is an update, name the missing evidence. For example: the inspection result is dated Tuesday, but we do not yet have confirmation that it was accepted in the interconnection case. Please provide the receipt or identify the person who must submit it. This wording distinguishes the completed inspection from the unresolved transmission step without assuming either party is at fault.
When a response arrives, update the record with its date and the next action. If the response says a correction is needed, ask for the correction notice and who will resolve it. If it says a meter task is scheduled, record the work reference and any owner preparation instructions. Avoid repeated requests that omit the case number or ask a different department to reconstruct the whole history.
What should remain in your permanent records?
Keep the final approval and its operating conditions, commissioned equipment list, inspection evidence, monitoring ownership details and the support contacts. Save these outside an installer-only portal so a later provider change does not remove your access. If the system is modified, ask whether further notification or approval is required for that specific modification. The original permission letter describes the approved installation; it should not be treated as blanket approval for every future equipment change.
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