Dive Summary:
- Duke Energy has filed a lawsuit against the city of Cincinnati, Ohio over a move to relocate utility lines for a streetcar project.
- The project will cost an estimated $15 million and Duke argues that if it is required to pay - which is currently the case after a recent city ordinance - the cost will likely by passed onto its customers.
- The suit was expected after Duke and the city couldn't come to an agreement; Duke says that since no streetcars are currently planned, it should not have to pay, while Cincinnati says that the project is part of standard public improvement.
From the article:
The utility argues that the city cannot give its own streetcar preferential treatment and cannot force other utilities operating in the street to relocate at their own cost to make way for the streetcar.
To avoid delaying the project while awaiting the court ruling, the city has agreed to allocate the estimated $15 million needed for the relocation work and Duke has agreed to begin the work. ...