S.B. No. 632
AN ACT
1-1 relating to the service areas of certain public utilities.
1-2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-3 SECTION 1. Article XIII, Public Utility Regulatory Act
1-4 (Article 1446c, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended by
1-5 adding Section 93A to read as follows:
1-6 Sec. 93A. (a) To address telephone calling needs between
1-7 nearby telephone exchanges, the commission shall initiate a
1-8 rulemaking proceeding to approve rules to provide for an expedited
1-9 hearing to allow the expanding of toll-free calling areas according
1-10 to the following criteria:
1-11 (1) Toll-free calling boundaries may only be expanded
1-12 under this section after the filing of a petition signed by the
1-13 lesser of five percent of the subscribers or 100 subscribers within
1-14 an exchange. If such a petition is filed with the commission, the
1-15 commission shall order the local exchange company to provide for
1-16 the balloting of its subscribers within the petitioning exchange
1-17 and, if there is an affirmative vote of at least 70 percent of
1-18 those responding, the commission shall consider the request.
1-19 (2) The commission shall provide for the expansion of
1-20 toll-free calling areas for each local exchange customer in the
1-21 petitioning exchange if the petitioning exchange serves not more
1-22 than 10,000 lines and if:
1-23 (A) the petitioning exchange is located within
2-1 22 miles of the exchange requested for toll-free calling service;
2-2 or
2-3 (B) the petitioning exchange shares a community
2-4 of interest with the exchange requested for toll-free calling
2-5 service. For purposes of this paragraph, "community of interest"
2-6 includes areas that have a relationship because of schools,
2-7 hospitals, local governments, business centers, and other
2-8 relationships the unavailability of which would cause a hardship to
2-9 the residents of the area but need not include an area where the
2-10 affected central offices are more than 50 miles apart.
2-11 (3)(A) The local exchange company shall recover all of
2-12 its costs incurred and all loss of revenue from any expansion of
2-13 toll-free calling areas under this section through a request other
2-14 than a revenue requirement showing by:
2-15 (i) a monthly fee for toll-free calling
2-16 service of not more than $3.50 per line for residential customers
2-17 nor more than $7 per line for business customers, to be collected
2-18 from all such residential or business customers in the petitioning
2-19 exchange and only until the local exchange company's next general
2-20 rate case;
2-21 (ii) a monthly fee for toll-free calling
2-22 service for all of the local exchange company's local exchange
2-23 service customers in the state in addition to the company's current
2-24 local exchange rates; or
2-25 (iii) both (i) and (ii).
3-1 (B) A local exchange company may not recover
3-2 regulatory case expenses under this section by surcharging
3-3 petitioning exchange subscribers.
3-4 (b)(1) The commission and a local exchange company are not
3-5 required to comply with this section with regard to a petitioning
3-6 exchange or petitioned exchange if:
3-7 (A) the commission determines that there has
3-8 been a good and sufficient showing of a geographic or technological
3-9 infeasibility to serve the area;
3-10 (B) the local exchange company has less than
3-11 10,000 lines;
3-12 (C) the petitioning or petitioned exchange is
3-13 served by a cooperative;
3-14 (D) extended area service or extended
3-15 metropolitan service is currently available between the petitioning
3-16 and petitioned exchanges; or
3-17 (E) the petitioning or petitioned exchange is a
3-18 metropolitan exchange.
3-19 (2) The commission may expand the toll-free calling
3-20 area into an exchange not within a metropolitan exchange but within
3-21 the local calling area contiguous to a metropolitan exchange that
3-22 the commission determines to have a community of interest
3-23 relationship with the petitioning exchange. For the purposes of
3-24 this section, metropolitan exchange, local calling area of a
3-25 metropolitan exchange, and exchange have the meanings and
4-1 boundaries as defined and approved by the commission on the
4-2 effective date of this section. However, under no circumstances
4-3 shall a petitioning or petitioned exchange be split in the
4-4 provision of a toll-free calling area.
4-5 (c) The commission may, in order to promote the wide
4-6 dispersion of pay telephones, either exempt such telephones from
4-7 the provisions of this section or change the rates to be charged
4-8 from such telephones in an amount sufficient to promote this goal.
4-9 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1993.
4-10 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
4-11 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-12 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-13 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-14 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.