SERVICE INSTALLATIONS

DPP NUMBER DPP 500 P III-417

EFFECTIVE DATE May 4, 2026 SUPERSEDES 06/25/2025

APPROVED BY

PURPOSE

To establish policies for charging customers for the costs associated with 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. In general, the intent is to recover all expenses needed to design, install, modify, or remove connections so that other ratepayers are not subsidizing costs for private party-initiated improvements.

POLICY

1.1 Estimates. Estimates must be accepted and paid within 120 days of issuance. Estimates are subject to change if scope changes occur, or work does not begin within one year of estimate issuance.

1.2 Temporary Service Installations. Temporary services supply energy from the Department's distribution system to the point of termination at the customer's equipment; they may be single or three-phase and are typically used during construction of a building. Temporary services in place longer than one year require a written exception. The installation of a temporary service will be billed separately from permanent service installation.

1.3 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. The Department will bill for all labor and material costs to design and install permanent services. In addition, an Amp Fee will also be assessed on all new and modified permanent services.

1.4 Electrical Usage During Construction. During construction, electrical service may be provided by either a temporary or permanent service connection. If electrical service is provided through an unmetered service connection, the customer will be billed a fixed amount based on estimated usage. Electrical usage during construction is charged at the Small General Service rate and billed on a separate utility account which must be paid separately from other project costs. Electrical usage charges do not apply to cost thresholds.

1.5 Installation Charges. Charges apply to both temporary and permanent installations. Electrical usage, amp fees and administrative charges are not included in cost thresholds.

1.5.1 Standard Installation Service Looped Radial. Standard service installation charges are covered in Tables 2 and 3. Charges must be paid in full before the Department starts any installation work. Standard charges are derived from the Department's typical labor and material costs and are updated annually or when costs change materially.

1.5.2 Non-Standard Installation Service - Looped Radial. Service installations not covered by a standard charge and with an estimated cost under $150,000 will be billed as a fixed amount and not adjusted after the job is complete. Non-standard charges are derived from the Department's typical labor and material costs and are updated annually or when costs change materially. All fixed fees must be paid in full before the service is energized.

1.5.3 Non-Standard Installation Service above Time and Material Threshold. Looped Radial service installations with an estimated cost over $150,000 and Network service installations will be billed based on a time and material basis. Before any installation work can occur, an advance payment of 20% of the estimate and a signed Service Letter is required. Payment is due within 120 days of Service Letter issuance. All outstanding invoices must be paid before the service can be connected and energized. Upon completion of the job, the customer will receive a final cost summary and final bill or refund.

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

1.7 Additional Types of Work/Service. The cost of all work performed by the Department due to customer requests will be billed upfront. Incremental chargeable work includes, but is not limited to, establishing easements, meter enhancements, poles, line extensions, and equipment relocations. Tables 4-10 outline rates and charges for typical billable work. The following policies apply to various types of chargeable work, which may be included with standard charge or time and materials billings.

1.7.1 Early Design Guidance. Consultation meetings are available to customers seeking guidance on design ideas, system limitations (if any) and service requirements. It is the customer's responsibility to provide preliminary designs, site plans and site-specific questions that the utility engineers and electric service representatives can provide guidance on. The consultation meeting fee (see Table 11) must be paid before a meeting can be scheduled and fees are not refundable even if the meeting is cancelled by the customer or the project does not proceed.

1.7.2 Make Permanent Work. Rewired services provided with temporary connections by non-Department personnel require permanent connection by the Department. If the customer commissioned the work, the Department may add the connection charge to the customer's utility bill. In this case, the Department may start work before installation charges are paid.

1.7.3 Additional Trip Charge. The Department will charge for each trip needed to complete the installation. An additional trip charge will apply if the crew arrives and finds the installation isn't ready as scheduled, doesn't meet safety or electrical requirements, or if a return trip is needed. If the customer requests an extra trip for service work, an additional trip charge will apply.

1.7.4 Safety Standby. The Department will provide safety standby for the contractor when making a connection to an energized Department facility. Standby service charges will be based on the hourly rates in Table 9.

1.7.5 Inspection/Review. The Department will inspect and review contractor-installed equipment and materials between the customer's service connection point and the Department's distribution system to ensure compliance with Department specifications, standards and requirements. These inspections will be charged at the hourly rates listed in Table 9.

1.7.6 Space Checks. Space checks to verify socket-to-unit panel wiring will be done at the customer's request or as required by the Department. Space checks are required for new multi-unit construction, rewired multi-unit buildings. Address changes for multi-unit buildings may require space checks. The customer is responsible for the cost of space checks, unless they are needed to correct Department errors.

1.7.7 Line Extensions. When overhead lines or underground conductors must be extended to serve new loads or three-phase loads in areas served by single-phase systems, the requestor will be charged for the cost of the line extension. 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 extensions, the Department shall furnish and install the necessary conduit system, unless it is installed by a customer's private contractor. Costs include labor and materials, as well as the cost of any construction permits, inspection fees, all backfill, and other restoration costs.

1.7.8 Service Poles and Anchors. Service poles in the right-of-way or on private property that serve more than one customer service connection are installed and maintained at the Department's cost. Other service poles, such as poles to supply service to mobile homes, are the customer's responsibility for both installation and maintenance. Service poles and anchors will be placed according to the Requirements for Electric Service Connection. Customers are responsible for incremental installation costs if they choose a more expensive pole location than the least costly alternative.

1.7.9 Pole and line relocations. Requesting parties must pay for pole and line relocations required by new or modified services or necessitated by development activities. A requesting party is also responsible for coordinating and meeting the requirements of any other affected parties (e.g., telecom utilities) impacted by the relocation. Any cost above and beyond direct pole replacement will be billed to the requestor.

1.8 Permissible Offsets to Charges. At its sole discretion, the Department may allow a customer to construct utility infrastructure as part of their service installation. Once service installation is complete, the Department will credit the customer up to the Department's cost savings solely attributable to the customer-constructed infrastructure. Any customer work completed under this Section must be approved by the Department in writing and included as an addendum to the service request.

1.9 Final Connections. Final connections to the distribution system to energize the customer's service are made solely by the Department, without exception.

1.10 No Backup Service. Backup 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 backup service qualifies as a public benefit. Contracts for backup service that are already in effect will continue to be honored.

1.11 Administrative Charge. Fees in the following tables will be subject to an additional administrative charge. The administrative charge recovers taxes the utility incurs performing service connections and will be added to the final bill for the service connection. Like the Amp Fee in Section 1.6, the administrative charge is not included in time and material calculation thresholds.

Standard Charges

Table 1: Amp Fee

Voltage $/Amp Amp Credit

120/240 Single-Phase $7.09 200

120/208 Single-Phase $6.14 231

240/480 Single-Phase $14.17 100

277/480 Single-Phase $14.17 100

120/208Y Three-Phase $9.25 133

120/240 Three-Phase (Open Delta) $10.67 115

240/480 Three-Phase (Open Delta) $21.34 58

277/480Y Three-Phase $21.34 58

2,400/4,160Y Three-Phase $184.94 7

7,960/13,800Y Three-Phase $613.49 2

15,240/26,400Y Three-Phase $1,155.86 1

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

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

Amp Fee = $7.09 /Amp * (200 Amps - 200 Amp Credit) = $0

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

Amp Fee = $9.25/Amp * (6400 Amps -133 Amp Credit) = $57,969.75

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

Requested amps: 5000 - 4000 =1000A

Amp Fee = $21.34/Amp * (1000 Amps - 58 Amp credit) = $20,102.28

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 time and materials billing threshold.

Table 2: Standard SCL Service Charges for Temporary Services

Overhead Service Underground Service

Residential and Non-Residential $1,057 $1,998

Make Permanent & Meter Reset/Reseal $985

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

Overhead Service

0-200A Overhead Single-Phase $1,502

201-400A Overhead Single-Phase $2,463

401-600A Overhead Single-Phase $3,940

0-200A Overhead Three-Phase $1,975

201-400A Overhead Three-Phase $4,548

401-600A Overhead Three-Phase $4,995

601-800A Overhead Three-Phase $5,989

801-1,000A Overhead Three-Phase $8,181

Underground Service

0-200A Underground Single-Phase $5,494

201-400A Underground Single-Phase $6,270

401-600A Underground Single-Phase $7,620

0-200A Underground Three-Phase $6,316

201-400A Underground Three-Phase $8,853

401-600A Underground Three-Phase $9,525

601-800A Underground Three-Phase $15,229

801-1,000A Underground Three-Phase $15,877

Table 4: Miscellaneous Overhead and Underground Charges

Additional Engineering for Standard Installations $3,090

Service Assessment $905

Install Keybox $1,312

Table 5: Easement Charges

Recording Fee $320

Real Estate Agent $1,120

Table 6: Additional Trip Charges*

Overhead and Underground Services

Line Service Crew $683

Overhead Pole Crew $1,267

Overhead Line Crew $1,298

Underground Crew $1,357

Meter Services

Meter Crew (2 Person) $638

Meter Crew (1 Person) $302

Electrical Reviewer

and Inspection Services

Electrical Reviewer (1 Person) $156

Crew Coordinator (1 Person) $163

Civil Inspector (1 Person) $212

*Based on travel within service area.

Table 7: Space Check Charges

1-4 Meters $255

5-8 Meters $339

9-20 Meters $849

21-100 Meters $1,446

Every 100 Meters $4,500

Table 8: Charges for Customer-Requested Meter Enhancements

Add KYZ Pulse All other services Live service over 300V

Pulse added to one meter $731 $1,101

Each additional meter $583 $861

Add load profile to existing meter

First Meter $634 $1,004

Each additional meter $486 $671

Add modem to existing meter with load profile

First Meter $1,210 $1,582

Each additional meter $1,024 $1,210

Add Virtual Totalizer

Set up new virtual totalizer with 2 meters totalized $372

Each additional modem meter added to a new or existing totalizer $93

Table 9: Standard Hourly Rates

Hourly rate Normal Overtime

Electrical Reviewer $225 $256

Crew Coordinator $219 $233

Civil Inspector $187 $220

Table 10: Standard Pole Rates

Pole Delivery $505

Pole Install Truck Set $3,025

Pole Install Hand set $5,441

Anchor $791

Guy Wire $770

Pipe Brace Guy Wire $1,211

Table 11: Early Design Guidance

Guidance On Standard Secondary Service $879

Guidance On Non-Standard Primary Service $1,435

DEFINITIONS

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

Enlarged/Expanded Service. An increase in the electrical load-carrying capacity of a customer's service. If a premise has an existing service that exceeds the ampacity limits in the "Requirements for Electric Service Connection" manual, any load additions that require additional service installation work by the Department are considered enlarged/expanded services.

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."

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.

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

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

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.

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.

REFERENCES

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

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

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

APPENDIX: Posted online at: City Light Public Policies and at: Internal department Sharepoint site

REVISION HISTORY:

DATE CHANGES MADE REVISED BY

04/02/2026 Revised Department Policy and Procedure to update the labor rates and material cost increases, eliminated the free estimates/8-hours rule, and added the Early Design Guidance program and fees. Author: Chris Ruffini, Carsten Croff, Kirsty Grainger, Natalie Hayashi, Roman Andrusenko, Mark Mikkelson

Coordinator: Kim Kinney