07-G Senate Bill 7 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Service Request Delays Are Pervasive Across the State. · The City of Piano repo~s that it took six to eight weeks and intervention by city representatives for new service connections to be established for two traffic signals. In addition, it took nearly three weeks for Oncor to finalize a service disconnection request by Piano. The City also experienced problems in having service turned off to traffic signal risers in cases where repairs are necessary to correct damage to the riser from an accident. In the past, the City was able to contact its local utility representative and power would be cut off immediately. After deregulation, the City has been forced to schedule an appointment and wait 10 - 15 days before power is disconnected and the riser repaired. Piano has also observed the degradation of service restoration after storms. Power outages affecting several major intersections have ranged from 20 minutes to 8 hours. · Grand Prairie experienced a one-month delay in processing of a service disconnection request. The failure of the T&D service provider to timely remove service drops at locations that were to be demolished could have resulted in serious injury to workers.. · Despite providing Oncor with at least two weeks notice regarding the removal of a service drop, an employee of the City of Waxahachie was almost electrocuted because the request was not processed in a timely manner. · The City of Pads relates that the continuing confusion on behalf of the T&D service provider and the REP regarding the new account process has delayed service to its new accounts. · Similar problems delayed new service at the City of Euless' new park maintenance facility for approximately three weeks. · Permanent electrical power was delayed for more than five months at five new projects undertaken by the City of Alton during the last year. As of the end of November, three of the five projects, totaling more than $2.5 million, were uncompleted and unusable because the projects were still awaiting the installation of permanent electrical power. Service Installations Fail to be Completed in a Timely Manner. Service installation requests have become bogged down even at the most basic levels. While clearly a TDSP function, the City of Waxahachie reports having received ambiguous responses from market participants regarding who can install and inspect power for new subdivisions, in easements, and in the city's right of way. Nor is the delay in receiving permanent power exclusive to city accounts. Some residents of Waxahachie's housing units waited more than a month for permanent power installation. While the installation was delayed, an electrician put in temporary service as a necessary, albeit unsafe, stop-gap measure. A potentially dangerous situation was also presented when the City of Euless' T&D service provider terminated power to an emergency siren because of "missing paperwork." The City 1813\00Xmac~amo030113~ng g