The Vermont Statutes Online

Title 30: Public Service

Chapter 092: Electric and Gas Companies; Providing Access for Communications Facilities

• § 8090. Definitions

  For the purposes of this chapter:

  (1) “Communications facilities” shall mean facilities that are used to send and receive audio, images, data, or other information via any electromagnetic media, including wires, cables, microwaves, radio waves, light waves, or any combination of these or similar media.

  (2) “Communications service provider” shall mean the Vermont Telecommunications Authority, a company subject to the jurisdiction of the Public Utility Commission under subdivision 203(5) or section 502 of this title, or a broadband service provider who is considered to be an “attaching entity” pursuant to subsection 209(g) of this title.

  (3) “Company” or “companies” shall mean an electric or gas utility subject to the jurisdiction of the Public Utility Commission. (Added 2007, No. 131 (Adj. Sess.), § 2.)

• § 8091. Access to facilities

  (a) Any company shall allow and enable access to its plant and equipment where possible for the installation and maintenance of communications facilities by communications service providers.

  (b) When constructing or substantially reconstructing lines or structures used for electric or gas transmission or electric distribution, a company shall allow for the construction and maintenance of communications facilities if requested by a communications service provider.

  (c) Access and services required by this section shall be subject to regulation by the Public Utility Commission and the Department of Public Service and shall be offered on rates, terms, and conditions, including terms of ownership of facilities, established in section 8092 of this chapter, except that services under tariffs developed pursuant to Public Utility Commission rules regarding pole attachments shall be governed by those rules.

  (d) Owners of self-generation facilities, those not connected to the electric grid and net-metered generators, shall not be obligated to comply with this section.

  (e) If a communications service provider requests services from a company pursuant to this title, then the communications service provider shall be responsible for all of the costs the company incurs to obtain any easements or limited rights in property necessary to provide those services to the communications service provider, including compensation, legal fees, and the administrative costs of the utility. (Added 2007, No. 131 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; amended 2023, No. 85 (Adj. Sess.), § 458, eff. July 1, 2024.)

• § 8092. Rates; terms; conditions

  (a) Any company providing electric or gas service under Public Utility Commission jurisdiction pursuant to this title shall prepare and file with the Public Utility Commission, with a copy provided to the Commissioner of Public Service and the Director for Public Advocacy, a statement of generally available rates, terms, and conditions for attachments and installations required under section 8091 of this chapter. The nature and specificity of such statement may take into account the nature and size of the company, an assessment of the types of communications facilities for which requests are most likely, and such other factors as necessary to ensure that the rates, terms, and conditions set forth in the statement are sufficiently flexible to meet the capacities of the company, the interests of the company’s ratepayers, and the goal of facilitating broadband and wireless service.

  (b) The Department and the Commission shall review the statement of generally available rates, terms, and conditions filed by each company. In the event that the Commission or the Department has grounds to believe that the rates, terms, or conditions are not just and reasonable, the Commission may open an investigation into the statement. In the absence of an investigation, or while such an investigation is pending, the company’s filed statement of rates, terms, and conditions shall take effect or shall remain in effect without requiring the approval of the Commission. Changes to any company’s filed statement of rates, terms, and conditions shall not take effect until 45 days after the statement has been filed with the Commission and the Department.

  (c) In the event of a Commission investigation into a company’s statement of rates, terms, and conditions pursuant to this chapter, the Commission may alter or change the rates, terms, or conditions in effect for attachments and installations after notice and hearing, upon a finding that the company’s rates, terms, or conditions are not just and reasonable. In making its determination, the Commission shall consider evidence that may be presented regarding the commercial reasonableness of the rates given the local market and the public interest in reasonable rates for electric or gas service and availability of communications services in the State. Any change in rates, terms, and conditions required as a result of a Commission investigation shall be effective as of the date of the Commission’s order without any refund.

  (d) The statement shall include rates, terms, and conditions for services for which the company may reasonably expect to receive requests, including at a minimum:

  (1) For wireline communications facilities:

  (A) Attachment of communications facilities to electric transmission facilities and maintenance of these communications facilities.

  (B) Contribution to construction for communications facilities installed concurrently with the construction or reconstruction of electric and gas company facilities when requested by a communications service provider.

  (2) For wireless communication facilities:

  (A) Attachment of communications facilities to electric transmission and generation facilities and maintenance of these communications facilities.

  (B) Contribution to construction for communications facilities installed concurrently with the construction or reconstruction of electric company facilities when requested by a communications service provider.

  (e) Rates, terms, and conditions for contributions to construction and for maintenance of communications facilities installed concurrently when companies are constructing or substantially reconstructing electric transmission or distribution lines or structures or gas transmission lines shall be based on the incremental cost of adding the communications facility to the project, as long as the communications facilities will provide service in the municipality in which they are located and surrounding municipalities.

  (f) The company may negotiate rates, terms, and conditions of service that deviate from the statement of rates, terms, and conditions on file, but the company may not refuse a request to provide service in accordance with the rates, terms, and conditions on file. Section 229 of this title does not apply to deviations from the statement of rates, terms, and conditions, unless a company provides service pursuant to this chapter to an affiliate of the company that is not an electric or gas utility.

  (g) Companies with facilities meeting the requirements of this section shall submit their statement of rates, terms, and conditions within 150 days of the date of the enactment of this legislation.

  (h)(1) A company may limit wireline attachments on electric transmission structures exclusively carrying voltages of 110 kV or higher to fiber-optic facilities attached and maintained by the company, if the company allows communications service providers to use fiber-optic facilities installed and maintained by the company and offers to install such fiber-optic facilities on such electric transmission structures where there are not sufficient facilities for use by communications service providers. Rates, terms, and conditions for access to such company-attached and company-maintained facilities shall be made available consistent with the requirements of this section.

  (2) Notwithstanding any law or rule to the contrary, a company may not enter into a contract with a communications service provider that provides exclusive access to its company-attached and company-maintained fiber-optic facilities by including terms that expressly prohibit any other communications service provider from leasing or purchasing unused strands of fiber. The terms and conditions of any contract entered into under this section shall include a provision specifying that, if a communications service provider leases fiber-optic capacity but fails to use that capacity within one year from the date the contract is entered into, the communications service provider shall report such nonuse to the Department of Public Service. The Commissioner of Public Service shall determine if such nonuse constitutes anticompetitive behavior that unreasonably precludes another communications service provider from leasing fiber-optic capacity. If the Commissioner determines that such nonuse constitutes anticompetitive behavior, he or she shall commence an investigation with the Public Utility Commission. The Commission is authorized to impose a remedy it deems appropriate under the circumstances. Such remedy may include termination of the lease with respect to the unused portion of the leased fiber-optic capacity.

  (i) The Public Utility Commission may establish rules to implement this chapter. Such rules may include default rates, terms, and conditions to implement subsections (c) and (h) of this section. As part of the implementation of this chapter, the Commission shall establish rules to require, to the extent the Commission is not preempted, communications providers to extend their facilities as far as the Commission’s authority permits.

  (j) A company having electric transmission or distribution structures carrying voltages of 110 kV or lower may not enter into a contract with a communications service provider that provides exclusive access to its company-attached and company-maintained fiber-optic facilities by including terms that expressly prohibit any other communications service provider from leasing or purchasing unused strands of fiber. The terms and conditions of any contract entered into under this section shall include a provision specifying that, if a communications service provider leases fiber-optic capacity but fails to use that capacity within one year from the date the contract is entered into, the communications service provider shall report such nonuse to the Department of Public Service. The Commissioner of Public Service shall determine if such nonuse constitutes anticompetitive behavior that unreasonably precludes another communications service provider from leasing fiber-optic capacity. If the Commissioner determines that such nonuse constitutes anticompetitive behavior, he or she shall commence an investigation with the Public Utility Commission. The Commission is authorized to impose a remedy it deems appropriate under the circumstances. Such remedy may include termination of the lease with respect to the unused portion of the leased fiber-optic capacity. (Added 2007, No. 131 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; amended 2011, No. 53, § 10, eff. May 27, 2011.)

• § 8093. Notification

  (a) For cases of gas transmission projects, and for projects involving electric transmission lines requiring approval pursuant to section 248 of this title, companies shall provide notice to the Vermont Telecommunications Authority at the same time that they provide notice pursuant to subdivision 248(a)(4)(C) of this title.

  (b) In cases of projects involving electric transmission or distribution lines that do not require approval pursuant to section 248 of this title, and that are greater than 2,500 feet, companies under the jurisdiction of the Public Utility Commission shall notify the Vermont Telecommunications Authority of the project at least 90 days prior to planned commencement of construction for company-initiated projects, or as soon as possible for customer-initiated projects or projects required for urgent reasons of service quality or reliability.

  (c) The notice shall include:

  (1) the location of the project, including the town and a description of the route to be followed;

  (2) the nature of the project;

  (3) the date the project is planned to commence; and

  (4) the contact person for the project and his or her contact information.

  (d) For good cause shown by a company, the Public Utility Commission may shorten or eliminate the notice period required under this section.

  (e) In the alternative to filing notice under subsection (b) of this section, a company may file with the Public Utility Commission, the Department of Public Service, and the Vermont Telecommunications Authority its capital plan or construction work plan, describing the location of linear projects that do not require approval pursuant to section 248 of this title, and in the case of a multiyear plan, the year in which a linear project is scheduled to commence. No construction called for under the capital plan or construction work plan shall commence until the plan has been on file for at least 90 days, unless the construction is required for customer-initiated projects or for urgent reasons of service quality or reliability.

  (f) A company may specify in its statement of rates, terms, and conditions a deadline or procedure for requests to attach or add communications facilities to a project. Unless otherwise specified by the company in its statement of rates, terms, and conditions, a company shall provide a period for responses of not less than either 45 days after notice is provided, if the company provides notice pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, or 45 days before the planned construction commences, if the company provides notice pursuant to subsection (e) of this section. If a company does not receive a response by the deadline or according to the procedure established for responding to the notice required by this section, it may commence construction of a project prior to the end of the notice period required under subsection (b) or (e) of this section. (Added 2007, No. 131 (Adj. Sess.), § 2.)

• § 8094. Evaluation of commercial wireless networks

  (a) No company subject to Public Utility Commission jurisdiction and providing electric service shall begin construction of a two-way point-to-multipoint mobile wireless communication network for the purpose of communication between its facilities for its own personnel unless:

  (1) the company has solicited proposals from commercial wireless service providers; and

  (2) for solicitations issued after July 1, 2008, the company has provided notice prior to the solicitation to the Vermont Telecommunications Authority and to the Commissioner of Public Service and the Director for Public Advocacy.

  (b) Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize or disallow the costs of such a network for the purpose of a rate proceeding for the company. (Added 2007, No. 131 (Adj. Sess.), § 2.)

• § 8095. Limitation

  Nothing in this chapter limits the existing rights and obligations of entities currently authorized to attach to poles and other facilities pursuant to Commission Rule 3.700. (Added 2007, No. 131 (Adj. Sess.), § 2.)

• § 8096. Legislative intent

  The General Assembly intends that this chapter will result in improved and increased access to mobile telecommunications and broadband services for all underserved Vermont households and businesses. (Added 2007, No. 131 (Adj. Sess.), § 2.)