South Carolina water and wastewater utility performance bonds.
From $2,000.
A South Carolina water or sewer utility regulated by the Public Service Commission must keep a performance bond on file with the Commission, payable to it, under S.C. Code Ann. § 58-5-720. The Commission sets the amount between $100,000 and $350,000 from the utility's verified expenses. The premium is 2% of the bond amount. Municipal systems are exempt.
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How much does a South Carolina water and wastewater utility performance bond cost?
2% of the bond amount, from $2,000 at the $100,000 minimum. Enter your amount in the calculator for the exact price.
Apply to filed in one sitting.
No underwriting queue on the standard PSC performance bond — enter the face amount the Commission set, pay, and file. Here is the whole thing:
Apply online
Your utility's details, the face amount the Commission set, and an effective date. The application includes a credit consent for one soft pull, which never affects your score.
Pay & e-sign
Your price is 2% of the bond amount, shown before you pay, and the bond issues the moment you pay. If the soft credit check needs a second look, one to two business days at most.
File with the Commission
Your executed bond and power of attorney arrive by email. File the bond with the Public Service Commission and send a copy to the Office of Regulatory Staff. Wet-ink original mailed on request.
What it is and who needs it.
What the bond actually guarantees
South Carolina regulates privately owned water and sewer utilities through the Public Service Commission, with the Office of Regulatory Staff (ORS) reviewing their filings. Before the Commission consents to a regulated utility's construction, operation, maintenance, acquisition, expansion or improvement of a system, S.C. Code Ann. § 58-5-720 requires the utility to file a bond with sufficient surety, payable to the Commission, and to give ORS a copy. The bond is asked only of utilities the Commission regulates, and § 58-5-30 leaves systems owned or operated by or for a municipality outside that regulation.
The bond is conditioned on the utility providing adequate and sufficient service within its service area. After notice and a hearing, the Commission can declare all or part of it forfeited if the utility fails to provide service without just cause or excuse and the failure continues for an unreasonable length of time. It also secures payment of any fine the Commission imposes under § 58-5-710, up to $1,000 for each day an order to fix service goes unmet. It is not insurance for the utility: if the surety pays the Commission, the utility repays the surety.
The amount follows the size of the system. The Commission's rules (S.C. Code Regs. 103-512.3.1 for sewer utilities, 103-712.3.1 for water utilities) base it on twelve months of operation and maintenance, general and administrative, tax and debt-service expenses, with a $100,000 minimum and a $350,000 maximum. The utility certifies the face amount with its annual report, ORS reviews it and can recommend a higher or lower figure, and under the Commission's bond form the Commission can order the change, within the statutory limits, after notice and an opportunity to be heard. The Commission's form keeps the bond running from year to year until the Commission releases it in writing; we send renewal notices 60 and 30 days before each renewal date.
A surety bond is the usual route, not the only one. The statute also accepts insured certificates of deposit, and the Commission's forms page lists letter-of-credit and insurance-certificate versions. The Commission prescribes the bond format, with separate Performance Bond forms for water and for sewer utilities, and its rules accept as surety a licensed bonding or insurance company, or an individual stockholder, partner or sole owner of the utility whose net worth is at least twice the face amount.
You need this bond if you're
Claims, renewal, filing, and what sets the price.
If a claim is made
A claim comes from the party the bond protects, the obligee named on the form, when the duty the bond guarantees is not met.
The surety investigates and pays a valid claim, up to the bond amount. You then repay the surety: a surety bond is a guarantee of your performance, not insurance for you.
Renewal and term
The premium covers a one-year term from the effective date you choose; a longer term is the same price per year, chosen at checkout.
Renew before the expiry date to keep the bond in force: the license, permit or contract it backs expects continuous coverage.
How to file it
File with the Commission. Your executed bond and power of attorney arrive by email. File the bond with the Public Service Commission and send a copy to the Office of Regulatory Staff. Wet-ink original mailed on request.
What sets the price
The premium is 2% of the bond amount, $100 minimum: the amount the obligee sets moves the price, not your business profile.
One application, one soft pull.
These are the carrier's actual issuing fields: your utility's details, the face amount the Commission set, an effective date, and a term.
Start the application →Common questions.
Other South Carolina bonds.
Put your PSC performance bond on file.
2% of the bond amount, issued the moment you pay, soft pull only. Free until issued.