City of Vernon Council Resolution 201326-##64 effective Month June Day, 202618, 2013
Rule No. 14. SERVICE CONNECTIONS AND FACILITIES ON CUSTOMER’S
PREMISES
A. GeneralService Connections. Only duly authorized and Operator Qualified employees and contractors of the Utility are allowed to connect or disconnect the Customer’s service to the Utility’s natural gas Distribution Mains. The Utility is responsible for planning, designing, and engineering Service Connections in accordance with the Utility’s standards for materials, design, and construction.
The Utility’s Service Facilities include all Utility-owned equipment between the Distribution Main and the Point of Delivery, including connection fittings, the Service Line, Valves, Regulators, Utility-owned Metering Equipment, and any other related service equipment owned by the Utility.The City will construct, own, operate and maintain natural gas lines only along public streets, roads and highways which the City owns or has the legal right to occupy, and on public lands and private property across which rights of way or easements satisfactory to the City may be obtained at the Customer's cost and without cost or condemnation by the City. Upon request by the City, the applicant shall provide such rights of way or easements.
B. Maintenance of Services. The Utility will construct, own, operate, and maintain natural gas lines along public streets, roads, and highways where it has legal access, as well as on public or private property where rights-of-way or easements acceptable to the City are secured at the Customer’s expense and without cost or condemnation by the City. At the Utility’s request, the applicant shall provide such rights-of-way or easements with all required approvals.
All Service Facilities remain the sole property of the Utility. The Utility reserves the right, through its employees or agents, to enter the Customer’s property at any time to remove, repair, replace, or abandon such facilities as operational conditions require.
C. Meters and Appliances. All Service Facilities installed by the Utility upon the Customer’s Premises for the purpose of delivering natural gas to the Customer shall continue to be the property of the Utility and may be repaired, replaced or removed by the Utility at any time.
No rent or other charge whatsoever will be made by the Customer against the Utility for placing or maintaining said Service Facilities upon the Customer’s Premises. All Meters will be sealed by the Utility, and no such seal shall be tampered with or broken except by a representative of the Utility appointed for that purpose. The Customer shall exercise reasonable care to prevent the Service Facilities of the Utility upon said Premises from being damaged or destroyed, and shall refrain from interfering with the same, and, in case any defect therein shall be discovered, shall notify the Utility thereof.
The Utility shall have the right to remove any and all of its facilities installed on the A. Customer’s Premises at the termination of service.
B. Connection Costs. Connection costs include, but are not limited to, traffic control, surface sawing, trenching, boring, pipe, tapping, backfill, surface restoration, meter, regulators, electronic corrector, permits, and any other material, labor, overhead, and equipment, and outside contractor costs necessary for the UtilityCity to connect Customer, up to and including the meter, regulator(s) and electronic corrector (meter equipment). Connection costs shall not City of Vernon Council Resolution 201326-##64 effective Month June Day, 202618, 2013
include costs incurred by Customer on the Customer side of the meter equipment. Connection costs shall be shared between paid by the Customer and are not refundable in accordance with these Rules or other written agreement and City. City shall contribute an amount equal to the greater of: (1) four cents per Therm multiplied by Customer’s projected annual usage, not to exceed fifty percent of the total connection cost incurred for work done by the City; or (2) three times the projected annual transportation revenue to the City from the account.
Customer shall pay the balance of costs.
D.
All installed facilities up to and including the meter equipment shall be owned, operated and maintained by the UtilityCity.City of Vernon. All installed facilities downstream of the meter equipment shall be owned and maintained by Customer.
Customer may request City of Vernon to conduct additional work at Customer’s expense to modify Customer house line piping.
If customer or contractor/builder/developer requests the UtilityCity to revise, redesign, or change the Natural Gas Distribution System design for a project after final approval, and such request requires duplication of engineering effort and a reassignment of priorities to accommodate his/her construction schedule, all associated costs a fee shall be charged in an amount necessary to recover all the UtilityCity’s expenses including, but not limited to, for associated labor, overhead, outside consultants or consultants, burdens, and printing.
C. Meter Installations. The Customer shall provide an approved location for the Meter or Meters and associated equipment on the Premises which at all times shall be accessible for inspection, reading, repair, replacement, and testing. In general, the UtilityCity will approve a location if it is within close proximity to the property line of the premises, there is no superior alternate location, and it can be installed in a successful manner within a reasonable period of time, taking into account economic, environmental, legal, safety, social, and technological , and related business factors. The General Manager of Vernon Public UtilitiesDirector of Light & Power , or designee may approve an alternate location not in proximity to the property line, on written findings that doing so would demonstrably reduce economic costs to the UtilityCity, foster public safety, mitigate unreasonable disruption or cost to the property owner or occupant, or be preferable for engineering, geologic, or other related concerns.
Approval of such alternate location is conditioned upon the City’s receiving necessary easements or license agreements to allow maintenance of the Utility’sCity equipment.
If requested by the UtilityCity, Customer shall allow the UtilityCity, at the UtilityCity’s expense, to install and maintain an active phone line terminating at the gas meter for the purpose of the UtilityCity of Vernon
City of Vernon Council Resolution 201326-##64 effective Month June Day, 202618, 2013
E. ttelephonically communicating with the meter. The CityUtility, at the City’s Utility’s expense, may instead utilize wireless transmission or current technology to access meter data.
The Customer shall, at its own expense, provide a new and approved location whenever the existing location becomes inaccessible for inspecting, reading, repair, replacement, or testing.
F. Customer Responsible for Equipment for Receiving Natural Gas. The Customer shall, at its own risk and expense, furnish, install, and keep in good and safe condition, and maintain unobstructed access to meter(s), all regulators, natural gas piping, appliances, fixtures and apparatus, of any kind or character, which may be required for receiving natural gas from the Utility, and for applying and utilizing such natural gas, beyond the Point of Delivery including all necessary protective appliances and suitable housing therefore, and the Utility shall not be responsible for any loss or damage occasioned or caused by the negligence, or wrongful act of the Customer, including, but not limited to, or of any of its agents, employees, contractors or licensees in installing, maintaining, using, operating or interfering with any such regulators, services, natural gas mains, appliances, fixtures or apparatus.
1. Utility personnel are not responsible for assisting Customers with turning on/off Customer-owned equipment and appliances and/or relighting such equipment and appliances.