89R97 JXC-F
By: Darby 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) "Pole" means a pole carrying distribution lines
with a voltage rating no higher than 34.5 kilovolts.
(3) "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. NONDISCRIMINATORY ACCESS. (a) An electric
cooperative shall provide a certificated telecommunications
provider with nondiscriminatory access regarding:
(1) the placement of a facility in the electric
cooperative's right-of-way;
(2) a pole attachment rate or term for a pole that the
electric cooperative owns or controls; or
(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(e) if the
electric cooperative's rates were regulated under federal law and
the rules of the Federal Communications Commission, which may be
established by the Public Utility Commission of Texas in a
contested case proceeding under Chapter 2001, Government Code.
Sec. 254.003. AUTHORITY OF PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION. (a)
Notwithstanding Section 41.004, the Public Utility Commission of
Texas:
(1) may open a contested case proceeding under Chapter
2001, Government Code, to determine whether a pole attachment rate
charged by an electric cooperative to a certificated
telecommunications provider complies with Section 254.002(b)(2);
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.