electric co-ops must share poles with phone providers

The text as introduced · 425 words

89R97 JXC-F

By: Campbell, Flores
S.B. No. 1251

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.