City of Seattle

Seattle City Light Department

DEPARTMENT POLICY & PROCEDURE

Subject ASSIGNMENT OF LABOR CHARGES

Number DPP 500 P III-415

Effective November 22, 2010

Supersedes January 2, 2004

Approved by Jorge Carrasco

1.0 Purpose

To establish Department guidelines for the assignment of labor charges for the cost of work that is unrelated to service installation and is performed by City Light employees.

2.0 Organization Affected

2.1 Customer Care Division

2.2 Electrical Distribution Engineering Division

2.3 Electrical Distribution Operation Division

2.4 Finance Division

3.0 References

3.1 City of Seattle Ordinance 123178 Electric Rates and Provisions, and as the same may be amended or superseded.

4.0 Definitions

4.1 Construction Work . Work on the City Light system which extends, expands, or changes the distribution system or service facilities.

4.2 Facilities . Department facilities include, but are not limited to, poles, structures, towers, conductors, vaults, handholes, conduits, metering equipment, switches, and transformers.

4.3 Maintenance Work . Work done on the City Light distribution facilities system by Department personnel or on service entrance equipment by non-Department personnel for repair, restoration, or preventative maintenance.

4.4 Overtime Work . Work performed during a time which is outside the normal workweek or workday for the Department employees involved, and/or work on an official City of Seattle holiday.

4.5 Private Projects . Construction or development projects by individuals or firms in the community, public agencies, including all City Departments except the City Light Department, or any other legal entity.

4.6 Service Entrance Equipment . Customer-owned equipment used for receiving electrical service, including, but not limited to, masts, meter bases, metering transformer enclosures, and service panels.

4.7 CIP Project . A Capital Improvement Project funded and designated as such by the Engineering Division.

4.8 Standby . A qualified City Light electrical worker(s) assigned to protect Department facilities and equipment and assure system integrity. This employee(s) will advise the contractor of the potential hazards of working in the vicinity of City Light's energized equipment and place safety covers on facilities or equipment where needed, but has no responsibility for safety of the contractor's employees.

5.0 Policy

5.1 Cost for work performed by the department during regular working hours and/or on overtime (at full overtime rates) shall be paid by customers or other persons responsible in the following cases:

5.1.1 Repair of damage to Department facilities or equipment in situations where customers or other persons are responsible for causing the damage.

5.1.2 Relocation, modification, or temporary removal and replacement of service conductors, and/or facilities required for private construction or development projects which is requested by the customer.

5.1.3 Standby time or other work to protect City Light facilities during customer work projects which are unrelated to electrical service but are in proximity to Department lines or equipment. Examples: contractor personnel working near distribution lines, clearing or relocating distribution lines for tree trimming or falling, crane operation, scaffold erection, or other work.

5.1.4 Disconnection and reconnection of service at the request of a customer or persons performing work for a customer when the purpose is to aid non-electrical work in proximity to the electrical service. Examples: building construction, crane operation, roofing, or painting operations.

5.1.5 If discretionary maintenance is performed on Department's equipment or facilities during customer's scheduled outage, excess labor costs beyond the length of time requested by the customer will be counted as Departmental operating expense.

5.2 The following shall be considered a Department operating expense and labor costs shall not be charged to the customer when performed during regular dayshift hours. When performed, as other than regular dayshift work at the customer's request and/or to accommodate the customer's schedule, the customer shall pay all labor costs of providing the service, including full overtime costs, travel, transportation, meals and overhead charges.

5.2.1 Disconnection and reconnection of services at the request of the customer when the purpose is for customers to maintain customer-owned service entrance equipment. Examples: repair, maintain, or replace service brackets, meter sockets, service entrance equipment, trim and/or remove trees on private property. In every case, the customer shall be responsible for material costs. However if a customer's work is not completed by Department's Line Service Crews normal end of shift or if a return trip is requested the customer will pay for all additional work.

5.2.2 Standby time or other work to protect the Department facilities during customer work projects which are related to electrical service but are not being done in conjunction with a new or enlarged service. Examples: substation cleanup, substation fence repair, or clear service drop for tree trimming or falling.

5.2.3 Regular maintenance, repair, and replacement of Department distribution facilities.

5.3 The following costs for overtime work performed by the Department shall be accounted for as a Department operating expense shall be as follows:

5.3.1 Routine maintenance and construction work on Department facilities or equipment scheduled at the department's discretion in order to realize efficiencies in scheduling or other administrative problems.

5.3.2 Repair of damage to Department facilities or equipment when the damage resulted from natural causes or the Department.

5.3.3 Work on the Department facilities and equipment authorized by the Mayor and City Council as a CIP project.

6.0 Responsibilities

6.1 The Customer Service Representative (Electrical Service Representative/ Electrical Service Engineer) shall be responsible for:

6.1.1 Providing customers with information concerning Department practices in scheduling and charging for overtime work;

6.1.2 Consulting with the customer and the Department concerning overtime costs and work schedules, and informing the customer as appropriate; and

6.1.3 Review final overtime charges, if required, and making any appropriate adjustments.

6.2 The Distribution Design and Network Engineering Units shall be responsible for:

6.2.1 Consulting with Electrical Services and Construction Unit and System Control Center to provide estimates of overtime and other costs for customer projects to the Customer Service Representative; and

6.2.2 Establishing work orders and releasing projects to crews at least 48 hours before work is to start.

6.3 The Electrical Services and Construction Units shall be responsible for:

6.3.1 Consulting with the Customer Service Representative (Electrical Service Representative (ESR) or Electrical Service Engineer (ESE)) to determine appropriate schedules for overtime service needs of City Light customers; and

6.3.2 Providing Distribution Design or Network Engineering with total hours worked within 24 hours of the completion of the work.

6.4 The Finance Division shall be responsible for:

6.4.1 Preparing billings for labor charges for the cost of work that is unrelated to service installation and is performed by Department employees;

6.4.2 Posting payments of such labor charges when notified of receipt by the City of Seattle Treasurer;

6.4.3 Canceling and adjusting billings for such labor charges upon notification by Customer Service Representative that corresponding service orders have been cancelled or adjusted;

6.4.4 Providing to Distribution Design or Network Engineering with copies of cost ledger sheets showing time charges against the work order numbers within 60 days of notification of job completion;

6.4.5 Recording transactions to customers' accounts receivable and reconciling General Ledger Accounts to customer subsidiary ledgers; and

6.4.6 Developing a Department Operating Instruction (DOI) for billing customers, posting payments, keeping records of payments received, and related internal procedures; and revising, if necessary, in January each year.

7.0 Procedure

7.1 The Department Divisions/Units described above implement the responsibilities according to the instructions and practices prescribed for, and common to, their respective areas of technical expertise.

8.0 Appendix

Distribution: Posted online at http://sclweb.light.ci.seattle.wa.us/dpp/

9.0 Revision History

Version Date Changes Made Revised By

1.0 10-18-10 Revised to update text. Jackie Kirn