North Carolina Construction News staff writer
The City of Charleston, S.C., has negotiated a new franchise agreement with Dominion Energy South Carolina with deadlines and annual funding for underground power line projects.
City Council gave first-reading approval to the agreement, which would replace electric and gas agreements dating to 1996.
Under the proposed terms, undergrounding projects that fail to secure required property easements within six months of receiving draft easement documents from Dominion would be removed from the city’s project list. They would have to reapply to City Council, allowing other projects to move ahead.
Previously, projects could remain on the list for years while waiting for approval from all affected property owners.
The agreement would also establish an annual funding arrangement withDominion and the city each contributing 0.5 per cent of the utility’s electric sales within city limits to undergrounding projects. For 2026, the contribution is $1.3 million from each and the city would also match every dollar Dominion spends on a project.
Reliability and safety projects would receive priority, with City Council approving the project list. Once construction begins on a project, planning and design would start on the next one. The agreement does not set a limit on the number of projects that can proceed to construction, subject to available funding.
For projects affecting more than 25 customers, the city could establish an underground utility district and use a referendum or petition to determine whether the work proceeds. Property owners in the district could be charged a temporary fee for up to 10 years. The fee, combined with the franchise fee, could not exceed 7 per cent of a customer’s electric bill.
The proposed agreement would run for an initial 20 years, with one 10-year renewal option. Dominion would pay the city an annual franchise fee for the non-exclusive use of municipal rights-of-way.
Council also gave first-reading approval to a companion franchise agreement with Berkeley Electric Cooperative, which serves a smaller portion of Charleston.
The city said the franchise fees paid by Dominion and the cooperative are allocated from revenue already collected from customers within city limits and that the new agreements would not affect current rates.