SB1251 - Relating to the access by a certificated telecommunications provider to the rights-of-way and poles of an electric cooperative.

  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.