Oppose CSHB 1505

Cable pole attachment bill

East Texas cooperatives support TEC’s position on this bill and support expanding broadband service to rural Texans.  However, this bill is not the solution.  After receiving billions of dollars of taxpayer money via RDOF, for-profit cable companies seek to change the rules by applying FCC regulations to electric cooperatives—despite the U.S. Congress explicitly excluding electric cooperatives from federal statutes.  This bill goes beyond federal regulations by giving cable companies significant rights to electric cooperatives’ poles with no guarantee of broadband deployment.

CSHB 1505 saddles cooperatives with over 40 years of FCC rules, regulations and orders.

• Recognizing that electric cooperatives were built by and belong to the communities they serve, Congress exempted electric cooperatives from federal pole attachment provisions in 1978 and maintained that exemption in the 1996 reauthorization of the Telecommunications Act.  This bill voluntarily reverses that decision.

CSHB 1505 grants new authority to the PUC over cooperatives’ pole replacement costs.

• If the FCC rules change, the PUC must begin regulating the costs a cooperative can recover if it is required to replace a pole to accommodate a new pole attachment.
• This threatens cooperatives’ practice of charging cost-based rates for their services, including pole attachments, to maintain 501(c)(12) cooperative tax-exempt status.  If the cooperative cannot recover its full costs, then its members subsidize the cable company.

CSHB 1505 requires cooperatives to replace or “reengineer” poles for cable companies.

• Electric cooperatives own and maintain poles to deliver safe and reliable electricity to their consumer-members.
• Under FCC rules, IOUs can deny pole attachments if there is insufficient capacity or for reasons of safety or reliability. This bill takes away that important right from cooperatives.

CSHB 1505 threatens safe operation of cooperatives’ electric facilities.

• Cooperatives must have sole control over the pole’s electric space.  Maintaining the safety and operating integrity of the electric space on electric utility poles is crucial to providing safe and reliable electric service.  Allowing cable companies to perform work in the electric space threatens safety and reliability.
• Liberal overlashing (i.e., attaching new wires to existing wires on a pole) can overload a pole and create safety issues if not properly planned and supervised.  CSHB 1505 reduces cooperatives’ ability to ensure safe overlashing.
• Preexisting violations pose safety issues.  A cooperative should have flexibility to limit new attachments or overlashing if a preexisting violation exists that threatens safety or reliability.

PLEASE CONTACT YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS OPPOSING HB 1505

AS A MEMBER OF HCEC THIS WILL AFFECT YOUR COST OF SERVICE AND YOUR RELIABILITY

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