Transmission Line Right of Way Use Guidelines

 

Progress Energy’s goal is to provide safe, reliable and economical electrical service to all customers. Keeping electricity reliable requires unobstructed access for maintaining power lines, facilities and rights of way. The following list has been developed to provide landowners and other interested parties with a guide for the use of Progress Energy’s transmission line rights of way. If you wish to use a Progress Energy’s transmission right of way, please contact a Progress Energy Encroachment Representative concerning any proposed plans.

 

The guidelines presented below should be used in planning every project. However, compliance with these guidelines should not be construed as permission to use Progress Energy property without a written agreement executed by Progress Energy. Applicant(s) will be held to the guidelines in effect at the time the application is received by Progress Energy. The guidelines are subject to change without prior notice.  For easements acquired by condemnation, not all of the guidelines may apply.

 

Progress Energy does not guarantee your requested use to be completely compatible with the safe and efficient operation and maintenance of Progress Energy’s existing and future high voltage electrical lines. Any remedial action required to resolve a subsequent conflict will be at your sole cost and expense.

 

Progress Energy transmission rights of ways contain high voltage power lines. Extreme caution must be used when working in the right of way. 

 

If you have any questions regarding the Transmission Right of Way Use Guidelines, please contact a Progress Energy Encroachment Representative.

 

Structures, equipment and storage include, but are not limited to, the following: buildings, sheds, storage facilities, trailers, signs, street or area lights, hunting stands, recreational facilities, dumpsters, satellite signal receiver systems, items within storage facilities, garbage, trash, uprooted stumps, boulders, rubble, flammable material, building material, and junk or inoperable vehicles. Permanent or non-movable buildings, swimming pools, mobile homes and airstrips are not allowed within Progress Energy’s rights of way.
    

 

Immovable ground facilities include, but are not limited to, the following: streets, roads, driveways, water and sewer lines, ditches and any underground facilities. If during the construction of facilities, a customer cuts or damages the counter poise/grounding grid, the customer must reimburse Progress Energy for the cost of repairs.


Septic tanks and/or related drain fields, absorption pits, wells, burial grounds, and underground vaults are not allowed within Progress Energy rights of way.

 


Underground pipeline facilities must comply with Progress Energy Pipeline Collocation Guidelines. Any exceptions to these guidelines must be granted in writing by Progress Energy. In addition, all pipeline projects must comply with the National Standards of Canada, specifically "The Principles and Practices of Electrical Coordination Between Pipelines and Electric Supply Lines" CAN/CSA-C22.3 No. 6-M91 prepared by the Canadian Standards Association. Progress Energy requires all pipelines to be installed in the outside five (5) feet of the right of way and to have sufficient earth cover to prevent breakage due to the operation of Progress Energy vehicles and heavy equipment in the right of way. Progress Energy’s heaviest piece of equipment has three (3) rear and two (2) front axles, twelve (12) rear and four (4) front wheels and weighs one-hundred (100) tons when lifting its maximum payload. In addition, all underground pipeline facilities shall be designed to support crane outrigger point loads of seventy thousand (70,000) pounds each. No work shall be performed by a dragline or a cable type crane. Refueling activities are prohibited on the right of way.

 

An Alternating Current Interference Mitigation Study must be performed at applicant’s sole expense. This study is to include, but not be limited to, a soil resistivity analysis, inductive analysis, steady state mitigation design, conductive analysis and gradient control grid design. Please click on this link to view the Information Required for an AC Interference Mitigation Study Review. All data required pertains to the entire system of transmission lines and pipelines which contribute, either directly or indirectly, to pipeline potentials within the Progress Energy right-of-way under review. Additional supporting studies may be required to properly evaluate the project and to ensure technical compliance with Progress Energy’s collocation guidelines and the Canadian Standards, the cost of which will be borne solely by the applicant. Cathodic protection or other safety measures may also be required. Applicant will be required to pay for all expenses incurred by Progress Energy and its consultant during its review and safety evaluation of the proposed underground pipeline facilities.

The applicant, at applicant’s sole cost, is required to provide Progress Energy with an appraisal of the utilization area prepared by one of Progress Energy approved appraisers. Contact the Encroachment Representative in your project area for a list of Progress Energy’s approved appraisers.

Upon receipt of the application, the $12,000 fee, and the review consultant's fee, Progress Energy may provide, upon request, voltage information, present and future loads, fault current studies, conductor and OHGW classifications, tower/pole configurations, spans between towers, circuit drawings, and ground impedance of towers.

 

A final agreement will be prepared upon Progress Energy’s confirmation that the proposed pipeline facilities comply with Progress Energy’s collocation guidelines and the Canadian standards. No work may commence in the right of way until a final agreement has been executed by both parties. Applicant is required to pay Progress Energy for the costs of hiring a Progress Energy approved inspector to be present during construction activities. A minimum of four (4) to six (6) months will be required to review your project.

 

 

 

 

Changes in grade of more than two (2) feet may be granted on a case by case basis if the proposed grade changes do not violate the National Electric Safety Code (NESC) and they not interfere with Progress Energy’s ability to efficiently operate and maintain its facilities.  Additional changes in grade may be mitigated through the use of box culverts, stabilized access ramps or dedicated access locations acceptable to Progress Energy.  For drainage ponds, see the Lakes section below.  No grading work may be performed by means of a dragline or cable type crane within the right of way. If required by a permitting authority, it is the applicant’s responsibility to perform an endangered/threatened species study prior to the alteration of the terrain.