BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1027
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1027 (Buchanan)
As Amended June 1, 2011
Majority vote
UTILITIES & COMMERCE 13-0 LOCAL
GOVERNMENT 9-0
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|Ayes:|Bradford, Fletcher, |Ayes:|Smyth, Alejo, Bradford, |
| |Buchanan, Fong, Fuentes, | |Campos, Davis, Gordon, |
| |Carter, Roger Hern�ndez, | |Hueso, Knight, Norby |
| |Huffman, Knight, Ma, | | |
| |Nestande, Skinner, | | |
| |Swanson | | |
| | | | |
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APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
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|Ayes:|Fuentes, Harkey, | | |
| |Blumenfield, Bradford, | | |
| |Charles Calderon, Campos, | | |
| |Davis, Donnelly, Gatto, | | |
| |Hall, Hill, Lara, | | |
| |Mitchell, Nielsen, Smyth, | | |
| |Solorio, Wagner | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Requires local publicly owned electric utilities
(POUs), including irrigation districts (IDs), to make
appropriate space and capacity on and in their utility poles and
support structures available for use by cable television
corporations, video service providers, and telephone
corporations. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires local POUs and IDs to make appropriate space and
capacity on and in a utility pole and support structure owned
or controlled by the local publicly owned electric utility
available for use by a cable television corporation, video
service provider, or telephone corporation.
2)Stipulates that the annual fee charged by a POU for the use of
a utility pole shall not exceed an amount determined by
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multiplying the percentage of the total usable space occupied
by the pole attachment by the annual costs of ownership of the
pole and its supporting anchor.
3)Stipulates that the annual fee charged by a POU for use of a
support structure shall not exceed the POUs annual costs of
ownership, as defined, of the percentage of the volume of the
capacity of the structure rendered unusable by the
telecommunications provider's equipment.
4)Requires the POU board to ensure that neither its customers
nor the telecommunications providers' customers are subsidized
by implementation of this bill's provisions.
5)States that the requesting party shall have the responsibility
to coordinate with third-party existing attachers for
make-ready work to be completed.
6)Specifies that all parties shall complete all make-ready work
within 60 days of the notice, or within 105 days in the case
of a request to attach to over 300 poles.
7)Allows a local publicly owned electric utility to consider the
impact of an approved project for future use by the local
publicly owned electric utility of its utility poles or
support structures for delivery of its core utility service
when denying a pole attachment request.
8)Allows a local publicly owned electric utility to assess a
one-time fee to process a request for attachment, if the
one-time fee does not exceed the actual cost of processing the
request.
9)States that if it becomes necessary for the local publicly
owned electric utility to use space or capacity on or in a
support structure occupied by the cable television
corporation, video service provider, or telephone
corporation's equipment, the cable corporation, video service
provider, or telephone corporation shall either pay all the
costs for rearrangements necessary to maintain the pole
attachment or remove its equipment at its own expense.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to Assembly Appropriations Committee,
negligible state fiscal impact. Any costs of this bill would be
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borne by POUs and telecommunications provider customers. POUs
are able to recover their costs through rates charged to their
utility customers.
COMMENTS :
Background . In 1978, to ensure that telephone companies and
electric utilities would not stifle the growth of the
then-fledgling cable television industry by charging excessive
rates for essential pole attachments, Congress enacted the Pole
Attachment Act 1978 (Act). The Act did not require utilities to
give cable operators access to their facilities but merely
limited the rates they could charge if they chose to give such
access. Municipal utilities' and co-ops' pole attachments are
not subject to Federal Communication Commission's (FCC's)
jurisdiction because they are exempt from the federal Act. On
April 7, 2011, FCC reformed its pole attachment rules for
regulated utilities to "streamline access and reduce costs for
attaching broadband lines and wireless antennas to utility
poles.
Issue. POUs currently have the sole discretion over the rates
they charge communications providers for pole attachments. This
bill creates a process for POUs to determine pole attachment
rates by multiplying the percentage of the total usable space
which is occupied by the pole attachment by the annual costs of
ownership of the pole and its supporting anchor.
Analysis Prepared by : DaVina Flemings / U. & C. / (916)
319-2083
FN: 0001193