HB3445 - Relating to the access by a certificated telecommunications provider to the rights-of-way and pole charges of an electric cooperative.

      By: Darby H.B. No. 3445       A BILL TO BE ENTITLED   AN ACT   relating to the access by a certificated telecommunications   provider to the rights-of-way and pole charges of an electric   cooperative.          BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:          SECTION 1.  Sec. 54.204, Utilities Code, is amended to read   as follows:          SUBCHAPTER E.  MUNICIPALITIES AND ELECTRIC COOPERATIVES          Sec. 54.204.  DISCRIMINATION BY A MUNICIPALITY OR AN   ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE PROHIBITED. (a) Notwithstanding Section   14.008 and Section 41.004 , a municipality or a municipally owned   utility or an electric cooperative may not discriminate against a   certificated telecommunications provider regarding:                (1)  the authorization or placement of a facility in a   public right-of-way or an electric cooperative right-of-way ;                (2)  access to a building; or                (3)  a municipal utility or an electric cooperative   pole attachment rate or term .          (b)  In granting consent, a franchise, or a permit for the   use of a public street, alley, or right-of-way within its municipal   boundaries, a municipality or municipally owned utility may not   discriminate in favor of or against a certificated   telecommunications provider regarding:                (1)  municipal utility pole attachment or underground   conduit rates or terms; or                (2)  the authorization, placement, replacement, or   removal of a facility in a public right-of-way and the reasonable   compensation for the authorization, placement, replacement, or   removal regardless of whether the compensation is in the form of:                      (A)  money;                      (B)  services;                      (C)  use of facilities; or                      (D)  another kind of consideration.          (c)  A municipality or a municipally owned utility or an   electric cooperative may not charge any entity, regardless of the   nature of the services provided by that entity, a pole attachment   rate or underground conduit rate that exceeds :                 (1)     the existing rate if the attaching entity and the   pole owner already have a contract;                 (2)     a mutually agreed rate, if the attaching entity   and the pole owner agree to a new rate;                 (3)   the fee the municipality or municipally owned   utility or the electric cooperative would be permitted to charge   under rules adopted by the Federal Communications Commission under   47 U.S.C. Section 224(e) if the municipality's or municipally owned   utility's or the electric cooperative's rates were regulated under   federal law and the rules of the Federal Communications Commission,   or                 (4)     a rate determined by the commission in a contested   case under Chapter 2001, Government Code .           (d)   In addition, not later than September 1, 2006, a   municipality or municipally owned utility shall charge a single,   uniform pole attachment or underground conduit rate to all entities   that are not affiliated with the municipality or municipally owned   utility regardless of the services carried over the networks   attached to the poles or underground conduit.           (e)  [ (d) ]  Notwithstanding any other law, the commission has   the jurisdiction necessary to enforce this section.          SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.