2021 South Carolina Code of Laws
Title 58 - Public Utilities, Services and Carriers
Chapter 27 - Electric Utilities And Electric Cooperatives
Section 58-27-620. Service rights of and restrictions on electric suppliers.

With respect to service in all areas outside the corporate limits of municipalities, electric suppliers shall have rights and be subject to restrictions as follows:

(1) Every electric supplier shall have the right to serve:

(a) all premises being served by it, or to which any of its facilities for service are attached on July 1, 1969;

(b) subject to paragraph (d)(i) of this subsection, all premises initially requiring electric service after July 1, 1969, which are located wholly within three hundred feet of the electric supplier's lines as the lines exist on July 1, 1969;

(c) subject to paragraph (d)(i) of this subsection, all premises initially requiring electric service after July 1, 1969, which are located wholly within three hundred feet of lines that the electric supplier constructs to serve consumers that it has the right to serve or acquires after July 1, 1969; provided, however, that an electric supplier shall not have the right to serve premises wholly within a service area assigned to another electric supplier pursuant to Section 58-27-640 from a line constructed after the date of the assignment;

(d) if chosen by the consumer, any premises initially requiring electric service after July 1, 1969, which are:

(i) located wholly or partially within three hundred feet of the lines of the electric supplier and also wholly or partially within three hundred feet of the lines of another electric supplier, as each of the supplier's lines exist on July 1, 1969, or as extended to serve consumers that the supplier has the right to serve or as acquired after July 1, 1969;

(ii) not located wholly within three hundred feet of the lines of any electric supplier and are not located partially within three hundred feet of the lines of two or more electric suppliers, unless the premises are located wholly or partially within an area assigned to an electric supplier pursuant to Section 58-27-640;

(iii) located partially within a service area assigned to the electric supplier and partially within a service area assigned to another electric supplier pursuant to Section 58-27-640 or are located partially within a service area assigned to the electric supplier pursuant to Section 58-27-640 and partially within three hundred feet of the lines of another electric supplier, or are located partially within three hundred feet of the lines of the electric supplier, as the lines exist on July 1, 1969, or as extended to serve consumers it has the right to serve or as acquired after that date, and partially within a service area assigned to another electric supplier pursuant to Section 58-27-640; and

(iv) located only partially within a service area assigned to one electric supplier pursuant to Section 58-27-640 and are located wholly outside the service area assigned to other electric suppliers and are located wholly more than three hundred feet from other electric suppliers' lines, and any electric supplier not so chosen by the consumer in any of the situations described in this paragraph (d) shall not thereafter furnish service to the premises. The choice of the consumer in the situations described in this paragraph (d) must be controlling, and the Public Service Commission shall have no authority to order any other supplier to serve the consumer, except as provided in Section 58-27-660;

(e) with respect to the above provisions of Section 58-27-620(1)(d), a premises consisting of multiple buildings, structures, or facilities, is deemed to be located partially within three hundred feet of a supplier's line having service rights if:

(i) at least twenty percent of the total connected electric load of the premises, as determined by the final site plan submitted for construction permits, is due to a single building, structure, or facility located wholly or partially within three hundred feet of the line having service rights;

(ii) a minimum of eighty percent of the total connected electric load of the premises, as determined by the final site plan submitted for construction permits, is to be served to buildings, structures, or facilities located wholly within two thousand feet of the line having service rights;

(iii) service is rendered through only one meter to all buildings, structures, or facilities constituting the premises;

(f) with respect to the above provisions of Section 58-27-620(1)(d)(iii), a premises consisting of multiple buildings, structures, or facilities is deemed to be located partially within a supplier's territory if:

(i) at least twenty percent of the total connected electric load of the premises, as determined by the final site plan submitted for construction permits, is due to a single building, structure, or facility located wholly or partially within the supplier's territory;

(ii) a minimum of eighty percent of the total connected electric load of the premises, as determined by the final site plan submitted for construction permits, is to be served to buildings, structures, or facilities located wholly within two thousand feet of the supplier's territory; and

(iii) service is rendered through only one meter to all buildings, structures, or facilities constituting the premises;

(g) all premises located wholly within the service area assigned to it pursuant to Section 58-27-640; and

(h) all premises being served by it pursuant to the provisions of Section 58-27-620(2) as it existed before the effective date of Article 4, Chapter 33 of Title 58.

(2) Any electric supplier or electric utility shall have the right to furnish electric service to any industrial premises initially requiring electric service after the effective date of Article 4, Chapter 33 of Title 58 provided that the total connected load of the premises, as determined by the final site plan submitted for construction permits, is 7.5 megawatts or larger, and the premises is located entirely within one of the following parcels:

(a) the parcel shown on Map 101 filed in the Office of Regulatory Staff;

(b) the parcel shown on Map 102 filed in the Office of Regulatory Staff;

(c) the parcel shown on Map 103 filed in the Office of Regulatory Staff;

(d) the parcel shown on Map 104 filed in the Office of Regulatory Staff;

(e) the parcel shown on Map 105 filed in the Office of Regulatory Staff;

The provisions of this item (2) may apply to additional parcels upon agreement of the affected electric suppliers and approval of the Public Service Commission after notice and an opportunity for hearing is given to all interested parties.

The Office of Regulatory Staff shall maintain these maps as public records. If any additional parcels are added pursuant to this item (2), maps must be prepared by, or at the direction of, the Office of Regulatory Staff and maintained by the Office of Regulatory Staff as public records.

(3) No electric supplier shall furnish temporary electric service for the construction of premises which it would not have the right to serve under this section if such premises were already constructed. The construction of lines for, and the furnishing of, temporary service for the construction of premises which any other electric supplier, if chosen by the consumer, would have the right to serve if such premises were already constructed, shall not impair the right of such other electric supplier to furnish service to such premises after the construction thereof, if then chosen by the consumer; nor, unless the consumer chooses to have such premises served by the supplier which furnished the temporary service, shall the furnishing of such temporary service or the construction of a line therefor impair the right of any other electric supplier to furnish service to any other premises which, without regard to the construction of such temporary service line, it has the right to serve.

(4) No electric supplier shall furnish electric service to any premises in this State outside the limits of any incorporated city or town except as permitted by this section; provided, that nothing in this section shall restrict the right of an electric supplier to furnish electric service to its own premises or to exchange or interchange electric energy with, purchase electric energy from or sell electric energy to any other electric supplier.

(5) In extending electric service to a consumer an electric supplier will, insofar as possible, construct its facilities in accordance with good utility practices.

(6) Any electric cooperative which is engaged primarily in the furnishing of electricity for resale to other electric cooperatives shall have the right to furnish such electricity for resale to all electric cooperatives but shall not furnish electric service to any other customers or premises.

(7) Upon consolidation of the units of government within any county, pursuant to the Constitution of this State, existing municipal electric plants or systems within such county may continue in operation under the consolidated political subdivision and shall be subject to this chapter except within those areas as provided for in Section 58-27-20. For the purposes of this chapter a consolidated political subdivision shall not be deemed a municipality and the corporate limits of municipalities merged into the consolidated political subdivision shall be deemed to cease to exist upon consolidation except for the purposes of Sections 58-27-20 and 58-27-630.

(8) In addition to the authority granted to the commission in the preceding provisions of this section, the commission shall have the authority to approve agreements between electric suppliers concerning corridor rights. This additional authority only shall apply in situations where all affected electric suppliers have reached an agreement concerning corridor rights. With respect to the agreements, the commission shall approve the agreements if, after giving notice and an opportunity for hearing to interested parties, it finds the agreements to be fair and reasonable, but the commission shall not have the authority to alter or amend any such agreement unless all affected electric suppliers agree to the alteration or amendment.

HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 24-14; 1969 (56) 740; 1972 (57) 2757; 2007 Act No. 16, Sections 5 to 7, eff upon approval (became law without the Governor's signature on May 3, 2007).