South Carolina General Assembly
123rd Session, 2019-2020

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H. 4830

STATUS INFORMATION

General Bill
Sponsors: Reps. G.M. Smith and Sandifer
Document Path: l:\council\bills\cc\15661zw20.docx

Introduced in the House on January 14, 2020
Currently residing in the House Committee on Labor, Commerce and Industry

Summary: Electric utilities

HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

     Date      Body   Action Description with journal page number
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   1/14/2020  House   Introduced and read first time (House Journal-page 123)
   1/14/2020  House   Referred to Committee on Labor, Commerce and Industry 
                        (House Journal-page 123)

View the latest legislative information at the website

VERSIONS OF THIS BILL

1/14/2020

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A BILL

TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING SECTION 58-1-70 SO AS TO AUTHORIZE SOUTH CAROLINA MUNICIPALITIES TO CONTRACT WITH PROPERLY LICENSED, CERTIFIED, AND INSURED PUBLIC UTILITY-ELECTRICAL CONTRACTORS OR MECHANICAL-ELECTRICAL CONTRACTORS TO BURY OR UNDERGROUND EXISTING OVERHEAD ELECTRICAL POWER TRANSMISSION LINES LOCATED WITHIN THE BOUNDARIES OF THE MUNICIPALITY, AND TO REQUIRE ELECTRIC UTILITIES AND ELECTRIC COOPERATIVES OPERATING IN THIS STATE TO COOPERATE FULLY WITH MUNICIPALITIES THAT SEEK TO BURY OR UNDERGROUND EXISTING OVERHEAD ELECTRICAL POWER TRANSMISSION LINES PURSUANT TO THIS ACT.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION    1.    Chapter 1, Title 58 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Section 58-1-70.    (A)(1)    Notwithstanding another provision of law, in lieu of utilizing the municipality's servicing electric utility or electric cooperative to bury or underground overhead electrical power transmission lines, a municipality may contract with a properly licensed, certified, and insured public utility-electrical contractor or a mechanical-electrical contractor to bury or underground existing overhead electrical power transmission lines located within the boundaries of the municipality.

        (2)    The appropriate contracting officer for a municipality that utilizes a public utility-electrical contractor or a mechanical-electrical contractor to bury or underground existing overhead electrical power transmission lines pursuant to this subsection shall certify in writing that the public utility-electrical contractor or mechanical-electrical contractor selected to perform the work is properly licensed, certified, and insured in accordance with all state and local laws and regulations.

    (B)    Electric utilities and electric cooperatives operating in this State shall cooperate fully with any municipality that seeks to bury or underground existing overhead electrical power transmission lines pursuant to subsection (A)."

SECTION    2.    This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

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This web page was last updated on January 17, 2020 at 11:14 AM