Samoa

Getting Electricity in

Samoa

Below is a detailed summary of the procedures, time and cost required for a business to obtain an electricity connection for a newly constructed building in Samoa.

This information was collected as part of the Doing Business project, which measures and compares regulations relevant to the life cycle of a small- to medium-sized domestic business in 185 economies. The most recent round of data collection was completed in June 2012.

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  • Standardized Company

  • Name of Utility: EPC
  • City: Apia

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No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 An electrician submits an electrical/wiring permit to EPC and awaits approval of the permit and cost estimate for the connection

The electrician is required to come to EPC and fill in the first half of the wiring permit in order to obtain a permission to proceed with the required wiring installation. The electrician can not apply for an electricity connection if he does not first obtain an electrical permit.

In our case the registered electrician granted Grade A License should fill out an electrical permit that tells the utility about all consuming equipments which are going to be connected to the system as well as the maximum demand required.

After the electrician filled in the form for the wiring permit indicating all consuming equipments and appliances as well as the calculated maximum demand, the electrical permit passed on immediately to the engineering unit for carrying out surveying and prepared costing. After that, the electrical permit and all attached documents passed back to the Customer Service Unit for informing the customer about the total installation cost for the project.
When payment is done the General Manager now granted and approved this permit with his signature.

The electrical/wiring permit is free.

By submitting the filled out electrical permit the licensed electrician applies for a new connection on the customer’s behalf and a new service permit is lodged with the customer service section. The service order form is passed to the Electrical Engineer for pre-inspection and the cost of the installation is calculated.

To the application the electrician attaches scheme Plan for the land dimensions.

There is no separate supply contract and a general contract is signed once the estimate is provided.

Agency: EPC 		14 calendar days WST 561.6
* 2 Await external inspection of the site by EPC

After the electrical permit form is submitted the utility visits the site for external inspection.
The electrician is usually present during the inspection.
When an extension of the main power lines and transformer are required the Corporation will carry out a survey.
The inspection is required by the engineering unit for clarifying the following issues:

• whether the existing supply on that street can cater the new customer’s load
• how far the end of the existing line from the new customer
• what cost required to extend the electricity supply
• etc

Agency: EPC 		1 calendar day no charge
3 Await completion of the external connection works by EPC

Once the costs are paid by the customer EPC can start the external connection works. Only EPC is in charge of the design and the external connection works. The meter is installed at the same time as when the connection is done.
If the installation site exceeds 50 meters from the nearest EPC pole, the extra length of service line will be charged to the consumer.
Installation of the transformer will be required to accommodate the assumed load.

Agency: EPC 		12 calendar days USD 25,000.0
4 Await internal wiring inspection by EPC and electricity starts flowing

When wiring of the installation is completed and the permit is signed by the electrician, the EPC inspectors will carry out an inspection of the wiring. Electricity will be provided only when the wiring complies with the required standard. Once approved, the customer will be given a unique Consumer Number that matches up to the unique meter number.
The Utility adopted the AS/NZS 3000 for doing inspections. When the internal wiring is approved power can start flowing.

Agency: EPC 		8 calendar days no charge
* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.
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