1932-S

AN ACT Relating to the delivery of telecommunications services; amending RCW 54.16.040 and 80.54.010; and adding a new section to chapter 54.04 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 54.04 RCW to read as follows:

No public utility district serving a county with a population of at least five hundred thousand may impose terms and conditions for use of a utility pole or right of way on a telecommunications company, as defined by RCW 80.04.010, that are more burdensome or less favorable than those imposed on other telecommunications companies, cable systems, or other providers of telecommunications services for similar uses at the same location, regardless of differences between companies regarding overall service areas, kinds of services provided at the same location, ownership or co-ownership of utility poles. No public utility district serving a county with a population of at least five hundred thousand may limit or otherwise restrict use of utility poles or rights of way for the purpose of limiting or inhibiting competition from telecommunications companies, cable systems, or other providers of telecommunication services.

Sec. 2. RCW 54.16.040 and 1955 c 390 s 5 are each amended to read as follows:

Except as provided in chapter 80.54 RCW and section 1 of this act, a district may purchase, within or without its limits, electric current for sale and distribution within or without its limits, and construct, condemn and purchase, purchase, acquire, add to, maintain, conduct, and operate works, plants, transmission and distribution lines and facilities for generating electric current, operated either by water power, steam, or other methods, within or without its limits, for the purpose of furnishing the district, and the inhabitants thereof and any other persons, including public and private corporations, within or without its limits, with electric current for all uses, with full and exclusive authority to sell and regulate and control the use, distribution, rates, service, charges, and price thereof, free from the jurisdiction and control of the utilities and transportation commission, in all things, together with the right to purchase, handle, sell, or lease motors, lamps, transformers and all other kinds of equipment and accessories necessary and convenient for the use, distribution, and sale thereof: PROVIDED, That the commission shall not supply water to a privately owned utility for the production of electric energy, but may supply, directly or indirectly, to an instrumentality of the United States government or any publicly or privately owned public utilities which sell electric energy or water to the public, any amount of electric energy or water under its control, and contracts therefor shall extend over such period of years and contain such terms and conditions for the sale thereof as the commission of the district shall elect; such contract shall only be made pursuant to a resolution of the commission authorizing such contract, which resolution shall be introduced at a meeting of the commission at least ten days prior to the date of the adoption of the resolution: PROVIDED FURTHER, That it shall first make adequate provision for the needs of the district, both actual and prospective.

Sec. 3. RCW 80.54.010 and 1985 c 450 s 40 are each amended to read as follows:

Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter.

(1) "Attachment" means any wire or cable for the transmission of intelligence by telecommunications or television, including cable television, light waves, or other phenomena, or for the transmission of electricity for light, heat, or power, and any related device, apparatus, or auxiliary equipment, installed upon any pole or in any telecommunications, electrical, cable television, or communications right of way, duct, conduit, manhole or handhole, or other similar facilities owned or controlled, in whole or in part, by one or more utilities, where the installation has been made with the consent of the one or more utilities.

(2) "Licensee" means any person, firm, corporation, partnership, company, association, joint stock association, or cooperatively organized association, other than a utility, which is authorized to construct attachments upon, along, under, or across the public ways.

(3) "Utility" means any electrical company or telecommunications company as defined in RCW 80.04.010, and does not include any entity cooperatively organized, or owned by federal, state, or local government, or a subdivision of state or local government, unless the entity is a public utility district serving a county with a population of at least five hundred thousand and the public utility district owns or controls, in whole or in part, any poles within its service area and that service area is served by one or more telecommunications companies as defined in RCW 80.04.010.