INSIDE TUCSON BUSINESS:  Mon., April 13, 2009

New fees for service will cost residents, developers thousands

By Joe Pangburn

 

Developers, subdividers and other new customers of Tucson Electric Power have until May 29 to reach an agreement with the utility on new service in order to avoid picking up a tab for an entire line extension.

Currently, there is no charge for the first 500 feet of a line extension.  The Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) approved the new rules in November but is allowing a six-month grace period for grandfathered projects that were already underway. 

“It’s going to affect a lot of people,” said Mark Flynn of Flynn Electric. “The $640 service charge for new service is bad enough. This is going to be expensive.”

Under the new rules, residential line extensions will cost $18 per foot and three-phase commercial extensions will run $64.50 per foot for their entire lengths.  TEP will also add an additional transformer charge if that is needed. A residential-sized transformer of 500 kilovolt-ampere or less will be $6,956 and larger commercial-sized transformers will cost $16,275.

Also, payment for the line extension is due at the time of the agreement and is nonrefundable, according to TEP.  There is still time to be grandfathered in under the existing policy so long as customers come to an agreement by May 29 and have TEP install and energize the extension and service by May 28, 2010.