Imagine waking up to the roar of a diesel generator. East Valley homeowners who live next door to ongoing construction in new subdivisions know the sound well — especially during the summer when workers power up equipment early to beat the heat.

“A diesel generator started up at 5 o’clock in the morning in the summer time is bound to catch somebody’s attention, and we don’t like it either,” said Reuben Eager, subdivision manager at Farnsworth Homes.

But a new pilot program launched this month by the Salt River Project utility company, Mesa and local builders might help remedy the ear-piercing problem.

SRP is installing permanent electrical service panels for houses during the early stages of construction, so framers and other subcontractors can hook into the power supply instead of using generators. Typically, the panels with wiring, meters and breakers are installed in later phases of building.

The power company introduced the program as a way for builders to comply with state legislation tied to the Brown Cloud Summit, a committee of local politicians and business people formed in 2000, which prevents or limits builders’ use of generators as a way to curb pollution, said Gaye Kelley, SRP’s supervisor in residential new construction.

“(Generators) are horrible for the environment not only for the emissions,” Kelley said. “They are also very noisy.”

The method has been used in other regions of Arizona, such as Tucson, and throughout the country, said David Harding, deputy director of building safety inspections for Mesa.

The city learned of the idea around the time Phoenix failed to meet clean air requirements, Harding said.

“It just made it that much more important that we all contribute as we could,” he said.

Previously, the city could set up temporary meters during construction, giving subcontractors some power, but they still used generators, Harding said.

Farnsworth Homes and Pulte Homes are both trying out the new program in the East Valley.

Farnsworth has already had electrical panels set up at six home sites in their Sunland Springs Village development in east Mesa and plans to do the same for the homes remaining to be built there, Eager said. The active adult community, which will eventually have 3,500 homes, is about halfway complete.

By installing the panels early, workers can start in the morning without irritating neighbors, Eager said.

It could also bring some savings to builders, Kelley said.

Generators cost thousands of dollars to buy and are expensive to operate, she said. However, Eager said, he thought the costs of using generators versus power from the panels would likely balance out. The builder has yet to get its first power bill.

The companies involved are taking safety precautions. SRP is including red warning labels in English and Spanish on the boxes.

The city and SRP also inspect the boxes before they’re OK’d for use, Kelley said. At Farnsworth sites, the hot section of the box will be locked up, while the breaker switches will remain accessible, Eager said.

The program also has a side benefit of being able to test power outlets and run the air conditioning earlier in the process, so there are no surprises during the homeowner’s final walk through, Kelley said.

Harding said the program has been going well and the city will likely evaluate it at the end of the year, though the pilot is slated to last for six months. The city has encouraged subcontractors to change their way of thinking and expects the program to be successful, said SRP’s Kelley.

“The price of gasoline hasn’t hurt, so they’re enthusiastic about it,” he added. “We’re looking forward to when it is our standard practice.”