Project No. ________________________ Drawn by ___________________________
STATE OF ______________________________ COUNTY OF ____________________________
KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS, that __________________________________________________, _________________________________________________________________________________________ hereinafter called “Grantor” (whether one or more), in consideration of the sum of One Dollar ($1.00) and other good and valuable considerations, does hereby grant unto__________________________________, its successors, and assigns, hereinafter called “Grantee,” the right, privilege, and easement to go in and upon that certain land of Grantor (hereinafter “premises”) situated in said County and State, bounded by lands of: _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________
and over and across said premises within a right-of-way strip having a width of _____ feet on each side of a centerline determined by the centerline of the electrical facilities as installed, to construct, maintain, and operate underground lines and conduits with other necessary apparatus and appliances, either above ground or below ground, to include transformers and service connections, for the purpose of transport- ing electricity and for the communications purposes of Grantee and its licensees. The following rights are also granted to Grantee: to enter said premises to inspect said lines, to perform necessary maintenance and repairs, and to make alterations and additions thereto; and to clear the land within the right-of-way strip and to keep it clear of trees, structures, or other obstructions; and to clear that land outside the right-of- way strip and to keep the area within 10 feet of said door clear of trees, structures, or other obstructions. All underground facilities are to be installed in accordance with the provisions of Grantee’s Underground Distribution Installment Plan, __________________________________, receipt of a copy of which is ac- knowledged by Grantor.
This right-of-way is given to permit the construction of electrical facilities presently proposed. Facilities at other locations and future extensions of presently constructed facilities are not permitted by this agreement. The foregoing notwithstanding, Grantee may relocate its electrical facilities and right-of-way strip over the premises to conform to any future highway or street relocation, widening, or improvement.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Grantor has hereunto set his hand and seal, or, if corporate, has caused this instrument to be signed in its corporate name by its fully authorized officers and its seal to be hereunto affixed by authority of its Board of Directors, this _______ day of __________________, 20___.
Witness________________________________________________________________________(SEAL) ________________________________________(SEAL) ________________________________________(SEAL) ________________________________________(SEAL) ______________________________________________ (Corporate Name) ATTEST:____________________________________ By_________________________________________ _________ Secretary _________ (President)
Sample Easement
the cooperative must have the right to install, operate, maintain, and replace the electrical fa- cilities located within the right-of-way strip. These activities require the right-of-way to be clear of trees, structures, and other obstructions. Rights-of-way that were clear during the installa- tion of underground facilities will likely become obstructed as property owners erect fences, stor- age buildings, and landscaping. Because these obstructions must be cleared to repair or replace the underground facilities, the easement must specifically define the cooperative’s right to clear the right-of-way.
Another area of conflict is clear space in front of the doors of transformers and sectionalizing cabinets. As noted, maintenance of these devices requires a clear working space 10 feet out from the door (see Figure 1.27). The consumer may consider these devices unattractive and try to hide them with landscaping or a surrounding structure. As a result, the cooperative cannot maintain the device. These conflicts are more eas- ily resolved if the easement states that the area within 10 feet of the door of any transformer or cabinet will be kept clear of any obstructions.
Because the easement is a legal document, it must be filled out completely and correctly, in- cluding getting the signatures of all property owner members of a particular tract or the sig- natures of appropriate corporate officers, if owned by a corporation. The easement must be notarized and filed with the appropriate munici- pal, parish, or county authority in which the prop- erty lies. Figure 1.28 shows a sample easement.
Obtaining and recording an easement can be time-consuming, particularly if one underground project involves multiple property owners, thus requiring multiple easements. To avoid this problem in a subdivision, the cooperative is wise to get one easement from the developer before any lots are sold. This way, the coopera- tive needs only one easement for all the planned underground facilities in the subdivi- sion. The cooperative will also benefit if the fol- lowing occur:
• The right-of-way strip is shown and recorded on the plat.
• The subdivision restrictions define the cooperative easement as transferable to new owners.
STEP 8. Prepare Staking Sheets
The final step is preparing a staking sheet. For smaller projects, the staking sheet provides enough space for a sketch of the required work. Figure 1.29 shows a staking sheet for under- ground service to a commercial consumer.
For larger projects, the engineer will have to attach a separate construction drawing. For sub- division installations, the engineer can show the required work on a subdivision plat. This con- struction drawing should show the trench, equipment, and street lighting locations and note any conduit or temporary pedestal installa- tions. The construction drawing could also have details showing how far to offset equipment from the property line and the location of other underground utilities.
Underground staking sheets provide impor- tant project information to several departments within the cooperative. These departments must be able to easily interpret the staking sheet. The staking sheet is used to generate a materials list. Purchasing and materials personnel use this list to order and stock the necessary materials. Scheduling personnel will use the staking sheet to estimate the manpower and equipment needed to construct the project. Staking person- nel use the sheets to physically mark the field locations of equipment and trenches. While in the field, staking personnel may have to adjust the layout for conflicts with other utilities or for terrain problems. Any changes made in the field must be shown on the staking sheet.
After personnel have staked the project, con- struction crews will use the staking sheets for in- formation on installing the underground facilities. If the construction crews modify the layout, they must also modify the staking sheet. The staking sheet must agree with the as-built project be- cause these sheets are the basis for the coopera- tive’s mapping system. Accurate staking sheets produce accurate system operating maps and ac- curate permanent plant and accounting records.
D e s ig n o f a n U n d e r g r o u n d D is t r ib FIGURE 1.29: S taking S heet for S er vice to a Commer cial Consumer . S our ce: P iedmont E lectric M embership Corporation, H illsbor ough, N.C. HWY 86 SOUTH
1. Equipment mountings provide support for pad-mounted equipment. Flat pads are sometimes suitable for single-phase pad- mounted transformers and small single- phase fuse cabinets.
2. Cable wells used with a flat pad provide more space for cable training and are suit- able for three-phase pad-mounted transform- ers and junction cabinets.
3. A box pad is useful to support pad-mounted switchgear and for installations on slopes or hillsides.
4. The main types of underground systems are the following:
• circuit exits,
• main feeders,
• sub feeders,
• transformer and secondary systems, and
• street and area lighting.
5. In designing a UD system, safety, reliability, cable ampacity, equipment ratings, voltage drop, and voltage flicker must be considered. 6. Placing facilities along the front property line
makes them more accessible for operation and maintenance.
7. A joint-use trench often creates operating problems. To minimize these problems, the
location of a joint-use trench must be shown on all operating maps. 8. Joint-use trench with other utilities re-
quires a contractual arrangement among involved parties.
9. System upgrades should be planned by considering future voltage conversions, three-phase cable installation, and con- duit installations.
10. The UD design can be improved by com- paring the economics of different system configurations.
11. The UD system should be designed to minimize cable and pad-mounted trans- former losses.
12. The steps for layout of a UD system are as follows:
STEP 1:Get the required information. STEP 2:Arrange the service and trans-
former layout.
STEP 3:Calculate the consumer load and select proper equipment ratings. STEP 4:Select the primary cable route. STEP 5:Locate sectionalizing equipment. STEP 6:Visit the project site.
STEP 7:Obtain all easements. STEP 8:Prepare staking sheets.