HB3448 - Relating to the access by a certificated telecommunications provider to the rights-of-way and poles of an electric cooperative.

  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.