South Carolina § 58-31-430 - Service area to be exclusively served by Authority; reservations; agreements between suppliers.

§ 58-31-430. Service area to be exclusively served by Authority; reservations; agreements between suppliers.

The Public Service Commission may not assign any portion of the present service area of the Public Service Authority to any electrical utility or electric cooperative and this service area must be exclusively served by the Public Service Authority unless otherwise agreed to by the Public Service Authority as described in this section. Santee Electric Cooperative, Inc., Berkeley Electric Cooperative, Inc., Horry Electric Cooperative, Inc., may serve those areas reserved to them as provided in Section 58-31-330. The Public Service Commission is directed to conform the present assignment under Section 58-27-620 to the mandates of this article. Nothing contained in this article may be construed as preventing the Public Service Commission from exercising its jurisdiction over electric cooperative service areas in the manner provided by law. Upon customer choice either the Public Service Authority, an electric cooperative mentioned above, or Edisto Electric Cooperative, Inc., may furnish electric service to any new premises which the other supplier has the right to serve, upon agreement of the affected suppliers.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Public Service Authority shall have the right to enter into agreements with other electric suppliers, as defined by Section 58-27-610, concerning service areas, as contemplated by Section 58-27-640, and corridor rights, as defined by Section 58-27-610. In that event, the Public Service Commission shall have the authority to approve said agreements and to reassign said service area or corridor rights. This authority shall only apply in situations where all affected electric suppliers have reached an agreement concerning service areas or corridor rights. With respect to the agreements, the commission shall approve the agreements and reassign said service area or corridor rights if, after giving notice and an opportunity for hearing to interested parties, it finds the agreements to be fair and reasonable, but the commission shall not have the authority to alter or amend any such agreement unless all affected electric suppliers agree to the alteration or amendment. For purposes of this article, the term "all affected electric suppliers" shall include, but not be limited to, the nearest electric cooperative or cooperatives to the proposed service area changes within a five mile radius of the affected service area or corridor. This section shall not confer service territory rights to the Public Service Authority beyond those provided in Section 58-31-330 and Section 58-31-320(2).

HISTORY: 1984 Act No. 399, SECTION 4, eff July 1, 1984; 2021 Act No. 90 (H.3194), SECTION 10, eff June 15, 2021.

Effect of Amendment

2021 Act No. 90, SECTION 10, in the first undesignated paragraph, in the first sentence, inserted "unless otherwise agreed to by the Public Service Authority as described in this section" at the end, in the fifth sentence, inserted ", or Edisto Electric Cooperative, Inc." following "mentioned above", deleted "pursuant to the provisions of this article" following "right to serve", and made nonsubstantive changes throughout; and added the second undesignated paragraph.