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89(R) HB 3448 - House Committee Report version - Bill Text
89R23319 SCR-F
By: Darby
H.B. No. 3448
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 3448:
By: King
C.S.H.B. No. 3448
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the access by a certificated telecommunications
provider to the rights-of-way and poles of an electric cooperative.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Title 5, Utilities Code, is amended by adding
Chapter 254 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 254. ACCESS BY CERTIFICATED TELECOMMUNICATIONS PROVIDERS
TO ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE RIGHTS-OF-WAY AND DISTRIBUTION POLES
Sec. 254.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1)
"Certificated telecommunications provider" means
a person who has been issued a certificate of convenience and
necessity, certificate of operating authority, or service provider
certificate of operating authority by the Public Utility Commission
of Texas to offer local exchange telephone service or a person who
provides voice service.
(2)
"Make ready costs"
means the costs associated with
the modification or replacement of a pole, or of the lines or
equipment on the pole, to accommodate additional facilities.
(3)
"Pole" means a pole carrying distribution lines
with a voltage rating no higher than 34.5 kilovolts.
(4)
"Pole attachment" means an affixture of cables,
strands, wires, and associated equipment attached to a pole
directly or indirectly or placed in a right-of-way owned or
controlled by an electric cooperative.
Sec.
254.002.
CONSTRUCTION. Unless defined by Section
254.001, the technical terms and phrases in this chapter shall be
construed using their usual and customary meanings in the electric
and telecommunications industries.
Sec.
254.003.
CONFLICT WITH OTHER LAW. To the extent of any
conflict between this chapter and any other law, this chapter
controls.
Sec.
254.004.
ACCESS. (a) An electric cooperative shall
provide a certificated telecommunications provider with just,
reasonable, and nondiscriminatory access regarding:
(1)
the placement of a facility in the electric
cooperative's right-of-way;
(2)
a pole attachment rate or term or condition for a
pole that the electric cooperative owns or controls; and
(3)
access to a building relating to Subdivision (1)
or (2).
(b)
An electric cooperative may not charge a certificated
telecommunications provider a pole attachment rate that:
(1)
exceeds the rate agreed to in a contract between
the cooperative and the provider; or
(2)
exceeds the rate that the electric cooperative
would be permitted to charge under rules adopted by the Federal
Communications Commission under 47 U.S.C. Section 224 if the
electric cooperative's rates were regulated under federal law and
the rules of the Federal Communications Commission, including the
most recent default authorized rate of return for rate-of-return
carriers.
(c)
The rate described by Subsection (b)(2) may be
established by the Public Utility Commission of Texas in a
contested case proceeding under Chapter 2001, Government Code.
(d)
An electric cooperative may not charge a certificated
telecommunications provider any additional make ready costs or
other nonrecurring costs or impose on the provider any additional
requirements for evaluating the viability or load of the pole that
exceed the costs or requirements the electric cooperative would be
permitted to charge or impose under rules adopted by the Federal
Communications Commission under 47 U.S.C. Section 224 if the
electric cooperative's make ready costs and other nonrecurring
costs were regulated under federal law and the rules of the Federal
Communications Commission.
Those costs and requirements may be
established by the Public Utility Commission of Texas in a
contested case proceeding under Chapter 2001, Government Code.
Sec.
254.005.
OBLIGATIONS OF CERTIFICATED
TELECOMMUNICATIONS PROVIDER.
A certificated telecommunications
provider shall comply with the pole attachment requirements of
Section 253.0403 for the purposes of this chapter to the same extent
as a broadband provider.
Sec.
254.006.
AUTHORITY OF PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION. (a)
Notwithstanding Section 41.004, the Public Utility Commission of
Texas:
(1)
may, on the filing of a complaint by a certificated
telecommunications provider or an electric cooperative, open a
contested case proceeding under Chapter 2001, Government Code, to
determine whether a pole attachment rate or make ready costs
charged by an electric cooperative to a certificated
telecommunications provider comply with Sections 254.004(b)(2) and
(d); and
(2)
shall enforce this chapter and adopt rules
reasonably required for that purpose.
(b)
For the purposes of enforcing this chapter, a reference
in Chapter 15 to a person includes an electric cooperative.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.