I am helping a friend get a greenhouse wired for electricity.

No worries I will have a licensed electrician do the work but I need advice for the plan.

It is a prefab greenhouse which came pre-wired with four 20 amp circuits.

It is on a farm and a barn that has electric service which is about 130 feet away from the circuit breaker box on the back of the greenhouse.

The electric power pole with a transformer is about 40 feet from the circuit breaker box. You can see it in the distance of the picture.

They called an electrician and he wants to dig a trench from the barn to the back of the greenhouse and tap into the barn service. Big $$$

I was thinking it would be cheaper to put a weather-head/service entrance on the back of the green house with a meter and tap the transformer on the pole. I know it will be another electric bill. They are OK with another electric bill they have multiple barns with multiple meters on the farm already.

I realize that the greenhouse may not be strong enough to support the weather-head and meter box so as an alternative I was thinking of a pole near the circuit box and wires run to the pole (with the meter box) from the greenhouse.

I am checking with the greenhouse manufacturer to see if the green house is strong enough to support the weather-head. It does not appear like it to me.

Here is the questions.

If we go with a pole and meter box near the greenhouse can I run external conduit (i.e. flex conduit) to the greenhouse from the pole or do I need to bury it in a conduit and short trench? We are talking a few feet about 3 to 5 feet.

Is there a better plan?

Thanks in advance.