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Power Board tables vote on updated underground standards after detailed technical review
Summary
Staff and board members reviewed a lengthy proposed update to the utility's underground standards, including a new 3-phase requirement for commercial/industrial lots, transformer sizing and loss‑evaluation charges, and a policy to limit one service meter per lot; the board agreed to a working session and tabled formal action for a future meeting.
The Hurricane City Power Board began a detailed review of proposed updates to its underground standards and specifications and agreed to continue the item for collaborative editing and a follow‑up working session.
Alex (speaker 2), who prepared the standards revision, summarized a large package of edits and substantive proposals and said he found roughly 50 items that need correction or clarification. He emphasized the package consolidated repeated sections, updated outdated code references, and added practical design tables to make engineering expectations clearer.
Key substantive proposals Alex described included:
• Requiring 3‑phase service provision to lots zoned commercial or industrial, with conduit sized for three‑phase to avoid future upgrade costs; Alex said this responded to prior projects where developers initially installed single‑phase service and later required costly upgrades. "If it's commercial or industrial, it's 3 phase power," Alex said, adding some flexibility for building shells where an owner later chooses a smaller service.
• Adding a transformer sizing table and clarifying that Hurricane City retains final authority to set transformer size based on the load served.
• Establishing an adjusted transformer loss‑evaluation charge tied to documented load losses; board discussion cited a long-standing average charge of about $4.30 per prior practice and noted market impacts as some suppliers consider stocking only DOE‑spec transformers rather than the utility's higher‑efficiency spec.
• Changing metering policy to allow one service meter per lot: additional accessory dwelling units (ADUs) or outbuildings would not receive separate utility services by default. Alex said the change aims to address addressing and collection problems and reduce field confusion; existing multiple meters would be grandfathered.
"Any additional ADUs or shops shall not have their own service," Alex said while describing the proposed single‑meter approach.
Board members raised technical and editorial concerns: several asked to revise 'shall' language where a recommendation is more appropriate for design guidelines, flagged specific typos (for example 'making' vs. 'marking' and 'spice' vs. 'splice'), and discussed off‑ramps for exceptions such as large lots (the land‑use ordinance allowing more ADUs above a 0.8‑acre threshold was cited).
Members agreed further review was needed. They discussed scheduling a working session and settled on conducting a follow‑up meeting at 09:30 on the 26th to review the revisions collaboratively; the board also made a formal motion to continue the item to the next PowerBoard meeting so full attachments could be included.
Colt (speaker 8) moved to continue the standards review; the motion was seconded and the item was tabled until members could complete edits and receive full attachments.
What’s next: Staff and board members will circulate marked edits, review technical items (transformer sizing, fusing/protection-scheme language, meter policy), and return the revised package with full attachments at the next PowerBoard meeting for action.
