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89(R) HB 144 - Enrolled version - Bill Text
H.B. No. 144
AN ACT
relating to plans for the management and inspection of distribution
poles.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The heading to Subchapter E, Chapter 38,
Utilities Code, is amended to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER E. INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENT AND MAINTENANCE [
REPORT
]
SECTION 2. Subchapter E, Chapter 38, Utilities Code, is
amended by adding Section 38.103 to read as follows:
Sec.
38.103.
DISTRIBUTION POLE PLAN. (a)
Each electric
cooperative, electric utility, and municipally owned utility that
distributes electric energy to the public shall submit to the
commission a plan for the management and inspection of distribution
poles the cooperative or utility owns in the cooperative's or
utility's distribution system.
(b) Each plan submitted under Subsection (a) must include:
(1)
a statement of the plan's scope and objectives for
ensuring public safety through the effective management,
inspection, maintenance, and repair of distribution poles;
(2)
the roles and responsibilities of individuals
responsible for overseeing and executing the plan;
(3)
processes for training and certifying personnel,
including third-party vendors, who inspect distribution poles;
(4)
an estimated timeline for completing inspections
and remedial action required for any pole identified as unreliable,
unsafe, or needing repair;
(5)
processes for documenting and responding to a
report or complaint made by a landowner regarding the condition or
repair of a distribution pole;
(6)
for a plan submitted by an electric utility, the
estimated cost of implementing the plan; and
(7)
a description of the cooperative's or utility's
methods to monitor compliance with the plan.
(c)
Not later than May 1 of each year, an entity to which
this section applies shall submit an update to the commission
detailing the entity's compliance with the plan's objectives, the
costs of implementing the plan to date, and the results of the
entity's inspection of distribution poles, including the number of
poles inspected and any remediation or replacement action taken.
An electric utility may submit the update in a report required under
Section 38.101.
(d)
The commission shall review each plan and update
submitted under this section to determine whether the entity that
submitted the plan or update is in compliance with the plan's
objectives described by Subsection (b)(1) and notify the entity
whether or not the entity is in compliance with those objectives.
(e)
The commission may accept in place of the information
required under this section any information required under other
law that is substantially similar to the information required under
this section.
SECTION 3. Not later than January 1, 2027, each entity to
which Section 38.103, Utilities Code, as added by this Act, applies
shall submit the plan required by that section to the Public Utility
Commission of Texas. The Public Utility Commission of Texas may
establish different plan submission dates for each class of entity
to which Section 38.103, Utilities Code, as added by this Act,
applies.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2025.
______________________________
______________________________
President of the Senate
Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 144 was passed by the House on April
29, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 125, Nays 21, 1 present, not
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
No. 144 on May 29, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 110, Nays 18,
1 present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 144 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 26, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays
0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor