ADU Electrical Service with Turlock Irrigation District (TID)

Who TID serves

Irrigation district headquartered in Turlock that provides electric service to more than 240,000 people across 662 square miles. Of the California places we cover, 4 are served mainly by Turlock Irrigation District (TID), and together they issued 108 ADU building permits from 2021 through 2025.

How TID handles new and upgraded service

Turlock Irrigation District (TID) handles new service, service upgrades and meter changes through its Application for New Service. This is separate from the building permit, so start it as soon as the electrical load calculation shows what the ADU needs. The steps TID describes:

1. Contact TID Line Engineering to discuss the project and panel location; TID gives final approval on meter and service panel location. Apply with panel location, voltage and load, date needed and other information.
2. Confirm the service entrance panel is on TID's Approved Panels List (or submit it for review).
3. Pay TID's applicable connection fee and sign up for the meter (individual underground service).
4. TID fields the job, prepares design drawings and a material list, and provides construction information; the customer gives an estimated install/need-power date and TID schedules any pole work.
5. Customer installs facilities to TID's design (overhead: riser conduit and conductors with a landing point for TID's service wire; underground: trench, conduit and service wire) and requests TID inspection before backfilling.
6. Have the panel inspected and tagged by the local governing inspection authority (city or county); notify TID if readiness dates change.
7. Notify TID when tagged; TID connects and energizes once the panel has passed inspection and TID has the city/county tag.

What TID asks for

• Completed Application for New Service (project and customer info; residential number of meters; service type, phase and voltage; main panel sizes; type of construction)
• Project load information (required for all services)
• Site plan showing proposed main/meter arrangements and locations at each building (and other utilities)
• Two copies of an approved plot plan with the request (application procedure)
• Panel on TID's Approved Panels List

Our ADU electrical plans include the NEC Article 220 load calculation, panel schedule and single-line diagram, which cover the load and equipment information on this list. Site-plan and service-location details come from your architectural set.

A separate meter for the ADU

TID's Customer Information Books do not use the term ADU. They state: if more than two dwellings or buildings are on the same lot, consult TID on acceptable meter locations before wiring; for a single-family dwelling behind another dwelling on an inside lot not subject to further subdivision, the meters shall be located adjacent to each other at the building closest to the distribution line, with wiring beyond the meters the customer's responsibility. Additional meters added later should be grouped with existing meters where possible. Grouped meters must be permanently marked to identify the occupancy served. The Application for New Service asks for the residential number of meters.

Whether a separate meter makes sense depends on the load calculation, the existing service size and the cost of the utility work. See when a separate service is required instead of a subpanel.

Service requirements

Meter location, clearances and service equipment must follow Customer Information Book for Installing Individual Underground Electric Facilities ('Yellow Book', rev. February 2025) and Customer Information Book for Installing Overhead Electric Facilities ('Green Book'). We show the meter and service equipment on the electrical plan so the location can be confirmed with TID early.

Places TID serves that we cover

Place	County	Climate zone	ADU permits 2021–25
Ceres	Stanislaus	CZ 12	42
Turlock	Stanislaus	CZ 12	26
Keyes (unincorp.)	Stanislaus	CZ 12	25
Denair (unincorp.)	Stanislaus	CZ 12	15

Sources

• tid.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Application-For-New-Service-of-Underground-Electric-Facilities.pdf
• tid.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Yellow-Book-Underground-Electric-Facilities-2025.pdf
• tid.org/about-tid
• tid.org/do-business-with-tid/engineering-construction
• tid.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Green-Book-2025-Overhead-Electric-Facilities.pdf

Summarized from Turlock Irrigation District (TID)'s published pages. Utility processes, forms and rules change, so confirm the current requirements with TID (contact) before you apply.