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40-346. Hearing on petition by corporation commission, board of supervisors or city or town council; determination of economic and technical feasibility; addition or elimination of certain areas

A. The corporation commission, board of supervisors or city or town council, as the case may be, shall hold a hearing, upon notice as provided in this article, to establish the fact that the requirements for the establishment of an underground conversion service area have been satisfied, and that owners of no more than forty per cent of the real property within the underground conversion service area, or no more than forty per cent of the owners of real property, have not objected to the formation of the underground conversion service area, and if the commission, board of supervisors or city or town council so determines, and if the commission, board of supervisors or city or town council further determines after considering all objections, that the cost of conversion as reflected in the joint report prepared pursuant to section 40-342 is economically and technically feasible for the public service corporations or public agencies involved and the property owners affected and that the underground conversion service area is a reasonably compact area of reasonable size, the commission, board of supervisors or city or town council shall then issue an order establishing the area as an underground conversion service area. In those cases where the commission, the board of supervisors and the city or town council have jurisdiction, all must issue orders establishing the area as an underground conversion service area before the public service corporations and public agencies owning overhead electrical or communication facilities therein shall be required to convert such facilities to underground.

B. If the corporation commission, board of supervisors or city or town council, as the case may be, should conclude at the hearing that territory not included in the petition should be included within the underground conversion service area, the real property owners in the additional territory shall be notified in like manner as provided in connection with the original hearing, and a subsequent hearing shall be held on the question of including the additional territory. In establishing the underground conversion service area, the corporation commission, the board of supervisors or the city or town council shall eliminate any territory described in the petition which it finds will not be benefited by the establishment of the underground conversion service area or in which it finds that conversion is not economically or technically feasible.

C. Additions to and alterations of an underground conversion service area shall be made in the manner provided for the establishment of the underground conversion service area.

D. Upon the order of the commission, board of supervisors or city or town council establishing the area as an underground conversion service area, the commission, board of supervisors or city or town council shall then direct the public service corporations or public agencies owning overhead electric or communication facilities, as defined in section 40-341, within the underground conversion service area to convert such facilities to underground in accordance with standard underground practices.

E. If the petition for the establishment of an underground conversion service area requests the conversion of facilities used or maintained to be used for the transmission of electric energy at nominal voltages in excess of twenty-five thousand, or having a current capacity in excess of twelve thousand kva, protests and objections may be filed separately for the conversion of electric facilities and such other facilities. The commission, board of supervisors or city or town council may order the conversion of electric facilities if the owners of no more than forty per cent of the real property within the underground conversion service area and no more than forty per cent of the owners of real property have not objected to the conversion of the electric facilities but have objected to the conversion of such other facilities, in which event the commission, board of supervisors or city or town council shall order the establishment of the underground service area for the conversion of electric facilities only. If the owners of not more than forty per cent of the real property within the underground conversion service area and no more than forty per cent of the owners of real property have not objected to the conversion of electric facilities and such other facilities and the commission or board makes such further determinations as are required by subsection A of this section, then the city or town council, the board of supervisors or the commission may order the establishment of an underground conversion service area for the purpose of converting the electric facilities and such other facilities and the cost of converting such other facilities shall be included in the underground conversion costs and shall be assessed to each lot or parcel of real property in the same manner as provided for in section 40-347.

F. The order of the commission, the board of supervisors or the city or town council establishing the underground conversion service area shall set forth the underground conversion costs to be charged to each lot or parcel.