All facilities installed by the utility shall be and remain the property of the utility unless a contract expressly otherwise provides.
(A) Access to equipment.
(1) The customer shall furnish the utility a satisfactory location for and provide safe access to the utility's meters and other equipment necessary to provide and measure service, and shall also furnish the utility the rights on, over or under the customer's premises necessary to install, operate and maintain the utility's other facilities required to supply service to the customer. The utility reserves the right to make the final decision as to the location of the meter on the customer's premises.
(2) When the customer is not the owner of the premises and/or of the adjacent premises, the customer shall furnish the utility with satisfactory easements for the location of the utility's facilities on the premises and/or on the adjacent premises. The customer must consult with the utility prior to obtaining the easements.
(3) When the utility's transformers, meters or other facilities are to be installed indoors on the customer's premises, the customer shall furnish, without cost to the utility, a suitable room or vault for housing the equipment; provided, however, that the utility shall reserve the right to make the final decision as to the location of the room or vault. The space shall meet the requirements of the National Electrical Code, any federal, state or local laws or regulations, and any policies of the utility in effect at the time of the installation. This applies to all facilities.
(4) Properly authorized employees or agents of the utility shall have the right and the means to enter upon the customer's premises at all reasonable times for the purpose of meter reading, inspecting, testing, maintaining, operating or replacing any or all of the utility's properly used in supplying any service to the customer.
(5) Upon termination of a contract or discontinuance of service, the utility shall have the right to remove all of its property from the customer's premises.
(B) Interference with utility property. The customer shall not disconnect, change connections, damage, destroy, uncover, or otherwise interfere with the utility's meters or other property, and shall be responsible to the utility for permitting anyone who is not an agent or employee of the utility to tamper with the utility's property. Violations of this provision may result in:
(1) A disconnection of service;
(2) A reconnection charge; and/or
(3) Charges for the cost of repairing or replacing the affected meter(s) in accordance with applicable Indiana state statutes and regulations.
(Ord. 2018-24, passed 9-11-2018; Ord. 2023-03, passed 1-10-2023)