SERVICE INSTALLATIONS

DPP NUMBER DPP 500 P III-417

EFFECTIVE DATE 05/11/2023 SUPERSEDES 04/20/2022

APPROVED BY / s / by Debra Smith

1.0 PURPOSE

To establish policy for charging customers for the costs of installation of new, additional, modified or temporary electric service, service removals, relocations and other distribution system modifications that may be necessitated by development, and customer-requested engineering, design work, and field services.

2.0 POLICY

Installation charges shall recover all labor and upfront material costs incurred by the Department while performing work to install, modify, or remove customer connections.

2.1 Estimates. Estimates are provided on request, and without upfront charge. To be honored, estimates must be accepted and paid within 120 days, and the Department's work must commence within one year, without scope changes. Any engineering design time beyond what is required to prepare a high-level simple cost estimate (typically 8 hours of design time or less) shall be billed to the customer.

2.2 Temporary Service Installations. Temporary services are intended to provide delivery from the Department's distribution system to the point of termination at the customer's equipment energized by the Department on a temporary basis. Temporary services may be single or three-phase and are most commonly used during construction of a building.

Temporary service installations are billed separately from permanent service installations. However, the cost for material installed for a temporary service that is used in the permanent service will be excluded from the installation charge or credited against the permanent service installation charge.

Temporary services should be removed no later than one year from date of installation. Extensions may be granted with Department approval.

Temporary service electrical usage shall be billed at Small General Service rates.

2.3 Permanent Service Installations. Permanent services provide energy delivery from the Department's distribution system to the point of termination at the customer's equipment energized by the Department on a permanent basis. Installation charges for permanent services should recoup all labor and material costs incurred. In addition, an Amp Fee will also be assessed on all new and modified permanent services.

2.3.1 Amp Fee. In addition to charges for labor and material costs, all permanent services shall be charged an Amp Fee (see Table 1) that reflects the amperage of new capacity added to the distribution system. Amp Fees will be identified and listed separately from other installation charges and are not included in time and materials threshold calculations.

2.4 Installation Charges. The following charging policies apply to both temporary and permanent installations. Cost thresholds are inclusive of all estimated charges.

2.4.1 Fixed Charges. Installation of services where the total cost is estimated to be less than or equal to $50,000 (Looped Radial)/$100,000 (Network) are charged fixed costs.

Charges are based on all labor and material costs incurred for typical segments of work that would be included in the installation services. Cost assumptions are based on data maintained in the Department's Work and Asset Management System (WAMS) and are typically updated annually, or in response to material changes in costs. WAMS is the Department's system of record for all labor and material costs for electric services.

For fixed charge billings, installation charges must be paid in full before any installation work begins, and there is no final billing or refund.

2.4.2 Time and Materials Installations. Installations totaling more than $50,000 (Looped Radial)/$100,000 (Network) are billed based on actual time and material cost. An advance payment of 20% of the estimate is required before any installation work begins. All fees (including 100% of the estimate) must be paid before service can be approved for connection and energized. A final bill made after the job is completed will adjust for actual time and material cost. If the final bill is not yet available, a preliminary billing (identified clearly as such) may be provided on request.

Final Bills will be revised only in the event of a computational error, or discovery of unbilled additional work outside the scope of the original estimate. If the bill revision totals $10,000 or more, the Department will immediately notify the customer in writing that a bill revision is forthcoming. Revisions shall only be made within 12 months of issuance of the final bill.

2.4.3 Payment Arrangements. In general, payment is required as described in 2.4. Customers may make a written request to the proper level of authority for approval of payment arrangements for installation charges that differ from those described.

2.5 Additional Types of Work/Service. The cost of all work performed by the Department specifically arising from customer request should be recouped through upfront charges. Incremental chargeable work includes, but is not limited to, establishing easements, meter enhancements, poles and line extensions. Tables 2-10 describe rates and charges for typical billable work. The following policies pertain to various types of chargeable work, which may be applied to fixed cost or time and materials billings.

2.5.1 Make Permanent Work. Rewired services provided with temporary connections by non-Department personnel shall require permanent connection by the Department. The Department may add the connection charges to the customer's billing account if the customer commissioned the work. In this situation, work may precede the payment of installation charges.

2.5.2 Additional Trip Charge. The Department shall charge for every trip that is required. There may be more than one trip charge if a crew arrives on site and the installation is not ready as scheduled or does not meet the requirements and the crew has to come back. If the customer makes a specific request for an additional trip to complete service work, the customer will be charged for another trip charge.

2.5.3 Safety Standby. The Department shall provide safety standby for the contractor while conduit entry is being made into and while conductors are being pulled into energized Department facilities. Standby service charges will be based on the hourly rates in Table 9.

2.5.4 Inspection/Review. The Department shall provide inspection and review service for contractor-installed equipment and material between the customer's service connection point and the Department's distribution system to assure contractor compliance with Department specifications, standards, and requirements for service. All such inspections and/or reviews shall be charged based on the hourly rates in Table 9.

2.5.5 Space Checks. Space checks to verify socket to unit panel wiring may be performed at customer request or by Department requirement. Space checks are required for any new multi-unit construction, rewired multi-unit buildings, and may be required following address changes for multi-unit buildings. The costs associated with correcting abnormalities stemming from errors on the part the Department will be borne by the Department.

2.5.6 Line Extensions. Line extensions include requests for the extension of primary conductors or pole spans line extensions to serve a three-phase load in an area served by single-phase lines. The cost of line extensions is generally charged to the requestor. However, the Department may determine that a requested line extension serves a general need for future growth, in which case costs may be borne by the Department.

Line extensions must be located within established public right-of-way or private property for which the Department has a permanent easement. Customer-owned three-phase line extensions are prohibited.

For underground line extensions, the Department shall furnish and install the necessary conduit system required for the installation of an underground service crossing a street or alley, unless it is installed by a customer's private contractor. Costs required to construct a street crossing include labor and unsalvageable materials, as well as the cost of any construction permits, inspection fees, all backfill, and other restoration costs.

2.5.7 Service Poles and Anchors. Service poles in the rights-of-way or poles on private property that serve more than one customer are installed and maintained at Department cost. Other poles, such as poles to supply service to mobile homes, will be considered the responsibility of the requesting customer, for both installation and ongoing maintenance.

Service poles and anchors will be placed in accordance with the Requirements for Electric Service Connection. If a customer prefers a pole location with a more expensive installation cost than the least cost alternative, the customer is responsible for all incremental cost.

2.5.8 Pole and line relocations. Pole and line relocations necessitated by a new or modified service or any type of development activity shall be paid for by the requesting party. The requesting party will also be responsible for communicating with and fulfilling the requirements of any other parties (e.g. telecom utilities) impacted by the relocation. The Department may waive some or all of the portion of the cost requirement if poles block a normal single access (i.e. driveway 20' or less in width) to an existing residence or are found to be in poor condition and needing replacement. Any additional expenses incurred over and above the direct pole replacement cost shall be billed to the requestor.

2.6 Permissible Offsets to Charges. Construction of utility infrastructure by the customer is allowed under some circumstances. If the overall cost of the project is reduced, contributed work or assets are an allowable offset to charges. (e.g. the customer contributes a vault in a building and easement in lieu of building a vault under the road.) All such agreements are at the discretion of the Department and must be agreed to in advance and documented in an addendum to the service request. The cost of contributed work cannot exceed SCL cost of construction even if the actual cost of customer contributed work is greater than SCL's cost.

2.7 Contractor Installed Services. May be allowed at the discretion of the Department. Final connections to the distribution system energizing the customer's service are made solely by the Department, without exception.

2.8 No Standby Service. Standby or alternate service shall not be installed or provided to customers unless there is a demonstratable public need for such backup service. The Department shall be the sole determinant of whether a request for standby service qualifies as a public benefit. Contracts for standby service that are already in effect will continue to be honored.

2.9 Taxes. Fees do not include taxes in the following tables. Taxes incurred by the utility in the performance of the service connections and the recovery for these charges will be added as an Administrative Charge to the final billing for the service connection. Similar to the Amp fee in Section 2.3.1, the Administrative Charge is excluded from time and material calculation thresholds.

Table 1: Amp Fee

Voltage $/Amp Amp Credit

120/240 Single-Phase $4.70 200

120/208 Single-Phase $4.08 231

240/480 Single-Phase $9.41 100

277/480 Single-Phase $9.41 100

120/208Y Three-Phase $6.79 133

120/240 Three-Phase (Open Delta) $7.83 115

240/480 Three-Phase (Open Delta) $15.66 58

277/480Y Three-Phase $15.66 58

2,400/4,160Y Three-Phase $135.70 7

7,960/13,800Y Three-Phase $450.16 2

15,240/26,400Y Three-Phase $848.13 1

Examples to illustrate the Amp Fee computation for various service types:

1) New 200A service at 120/240V Single-Phase:

Amp Fee = $4.70/Amp * (200 Amps - 200 Amp Credit) = $0

2) New building with two 3000A and one 400A service at 120/208V Three-Phase:

Amp Fee = $6.79/Amp * (6400 Amps -133 Amp Credit) = $42,551.34

3) Existing service rewired from 4000A to 5000A at 277/480V Three-Phase:

Requested amps: 5000 - 4000 =1000A

Amp Fee = $15.66/Amp * (1000 Amps - 58 Amp credit) = $14,755.87

4) Existing service rewired with no increase service size (e.g. 600A to 600A)

Amp Fee = $0.

Note: Amp Fee is separate and not included in the $50,000 (Looped Radial) and $100,000 (Network) time and material threshold calculations.

Table 2: Standard SCL Service Charges for Temporary Services

Overhead Service Underground Service

Residential and Non-Residential $807 $1,609

Table 3: Standard SCL Service Charges for Overhead and Underground Service

Overhead Service

0-200A Overhead Single-Phase $1,303

201-400A Overhead Single-Phase $1,411

401-600A Overhead Single-Phase $2,492

0-200A Overhead Three-Phase $1,680

201-400A Overhead Three-Phase $2,649

401-600A Overhead Three-Phase $4,447

601-800A Overhead Three-Phase $5,334

801-1,000A Overhead Three-Phase $7,273

Underground Service

0-200A Underground Single-Phase $4,888

201-400A Underground Single-Phase $4,996

401-600A Underground Single-Phase $6,477

0-200A Underground Three-Phase $5,636

201-400A Underground Three-Phase $5,951

401-600A Underground Three-Phase $7,316

601-800A Underground Three-Phase $12,179

801-1,000A Underground Three-Phase $13,617

Table 4: Miscellaneous Overhead and Underground Charges

Engineering $2,607

Service Assessment $778

Install Keybox $1,152

Table 5: Easement Charges

Recording Fee $207

Real Estate Agent $911

Table 6: Additional Trip Charges*

Overhead and Underground Services

Line Service Crew $595

Overhead Pole Crew $1,146

Overhead Line Crew $1,151

Underground Crew $1,182

Meter Services

Meter Crew (2 Person) $570

Meter Crew (1 Person) $270

Electrical Reviewer

and Inspection Services

Electrical Reviewer (1 Person) $156

Crew Coordinator (1 Person) $149

Civil Inspector (1 Person) $184

*Based on travel within service area.

Table 7: Space Check Charges

1-4 Meters $227

5-8 Meters $303

9-20 Meters $758

21-100 Meters $1,292

Every 100 Meters $4,019

Table 8: Charges for Customer-Requested Meter Enhancements

Add KYZ Pulse All other services Live service over 300V

Pulse added to one meter $600 $893

Each additional meter $485 $705

Add load profile to existing meter All other services Live service over 300V

First Meter $521 $814

Each additional meter $406 $553

Add modem to existing meter with load profile All other services Live service over 300V

First Meter $1,037 $1,329

Each additional meter $891 $1,037

Add Virtual Totalizer

Set up new virtual totalizer with 2 meters totalized $292

Each additional modem meter added to a new or existing totalizer $73

Table 9: Standard Hourly Rates

Hourly rate Normal Overtime

Electrical Reviewer $166 $182

Crew Coordinator $161 $188

Civil Inspector $168 $222

Table 10: Standard Pole Rates

Pole Delivery $457

Pole Install Truckset $2,435

Pole Install Handset $4,578

Anchor $710

Guy Wire $493

Pipe Brace Guy Wire $898

3.0 DEFINITIONS

3.1 Additional Trip Charge. The trip charge includes the labor duration for average service territory travel time, safety tailboard, material handling/loading, and site setup.

3.2 Enlarged/Expanded Service. An increase in the electrical load-carrying capacity of a customer's service. At premises having an existing service that exceeds the ampacity limits specified in the "Requirements for Electric Service Connection" manual, load additions that necessitate additional service installation work by the Department are defined as enlarged/expanded services.

3.3 Looped Radial. The Department's distribution system outside of the network areas that has a single source of supply. Also referred to as "Non-Network".

3.4 Network. Distribution service from multiple sources of supply operating in parallel, which offers a high degree of reliability. Network service in Seattle can be found in Downtown, South Lake Union, University District and First Hill neighborhoods.

3.5 Point of Termination. Where the Department's system ends and connects to the electrical system owned by the customer.

3.6 Service. Energy delivery from the Department's distribution system to the point of termination at the customer's equipment.

3.7 Service Removal. The removal of all Department-owned electric service equipment including electrical conductors and meters. In the case of very large services, removals may include transformers and transformer meters.

3.8 Service Size (or Service Rating). The greater of the maximum nameplate ampere rating of the main service disconnect and the main service panel. In the absence of a single main service disconnect, the service rating is defined as the maximum nameplate rating of the main service bus or the rating of the main busing in the service entrance panel, whichever applies. In buildings where multiple services are connected from one service drop or lateral, the service rating for the building shall be the sum of the individual services.

4.0 REFERENCES

4.1 Seattle Municipal Code Section 21.49 and as the same may be amended or superseded.

4.2 Seattle City Light "Requirements for Electric Service Connection" Manual.

4.3 City of Seattle Municipal Code Chapter 3.02, the Administrative Code.

APPENDIX: Posted online at: https://www.seattle.gov/city-light/about-us/what-we-do/public-policies and

at: Internal department Sharepoint site

REVISION HISTORY:

DATE CHANGES MADE REVISED BY

05/11/2023 Revised Department Policy and Procedure to update the labor rates and material cost increases. Update also includes transition to flat charges that are an all-inclusive charge per the new Table 3. Author: Carsten Croff, Gina Baxter, Jeff Westerberg, Grainger, Kirsty, Eivind Perander, Tanya Panomvana, Tief Weller, Curtis Lu, Joe Martek

Coordinator: Kim Kinney