BILL NUMBER: S7028

SPONSOR: HINCHEY
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the public service law, in relation to requirements for
certain contracts for attachments to utility poles and the use of utili-
ty ducts, trenches and conduits

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

The purpose of this bill is to make changes to the Public Service Law to
include the use of broadband internet attachments on existing utility
poles, to ensure contracts for such attachments are universal within a
given town, village or city, and to equitably and fairly distribute the
costs of pole replacements when a pole replacement is required to accom-
modate an attachment request.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of the bill amends § 119-a of the public service law to
              

include the use of broadband internet attachments on existing utility
poles, mandate that when a contract for attachments to utility poles is
created, all such poles, ducts, trenches and conduits located within a
given village, city or town, pursuant to a negotiated site license, are
included, equitably and fairly distributing the costs of pole replace-
ments among the pole owner and the prospective attacher when a pole
replacement is required to accommodate an attachment request, and allow-
ing the pole owner to recover such incurred pole replacement costs in a
rider apart from their base rates.

Section 2 of the bill establishes the effective date.

 
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ORIGINAL AND AMENDED VERSION (IF APPLICABLE):

Changes "census tract" to "town, village or city". Adds language prohib-
iting a pole owner from shifting all pole replacements costs to a
prospective attacher as a condition of gaining accesses to the pole,
instead limiting such costs the attacher may be liable for to just the
remaining net book value of the existing pole to be replaced and any
Incremental costs the pole owner would incur by installing a new pole to
accommodate the specific request. Allows for a pole owner to recover the
costs of a pole replacement, performed in response to an attachment
request, in the form of a charge separate and apart from their base
rates.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Across New York State, thousands of people live without reliable broad-
band internet services. Infrastructure, like telephone utility poles,
already exist in the most rural areas of the state and can be utilized
by cable companies looking to install broadband internet services to
these areas. Current business practices and regulatory conditions have
substantially increased the costs to pole attachers, particularly in
rural areas. Whereas prior to 2015 the breakeven case for a broadband
company was 4 houses per mile, post-2015 it became 7 houses per mile.
Now, with the new DoT Fee and $15 broadband mandate, the breakeven case
has become well over 25 homes per mile. This bill will help bring costs
down.
When cable companies seek to install broadband internet service, they
must obtain contracts to use space on existing utility poles. For each
utility pole a company intends to use, they must obtain an individual
contract to use space on that pole. This bill would amend the Public
Service Law by including all utility poles in a given city, town or
village under one contract. By including all poles under one contract, a
more efficient system is created for cable companies to complete the
process of installing broadband internet services. This would increase
the likelihood that cable companies will service more areas of the state
and ensure that all homes within a city, town or village receive the
same level of service. This amendment will also reduce the cost of serv-
ing homes located on low density roads.

Additionally, pole owners have often engaged in the practice of delaying
the replacement of aging utility poles until a prospective attacher
requests to attach their facilities to the pole, whereby such pole owner
will condition access to the pole on the attacher agreeing to pay all
the costs associated with replacing the pole, even in instances where
the pole has the capacity to accommodate such attachments. This practice
of unfairly shifting all the replacement costs to prospective attachers
can massively increase the cost of deploying necessary broadband infras-
tructure to underserved parts of the state, disincentivizing such
investment overall in these areas. This bill makes much needed fixes to
this practice, prohibiting this practice by pole owners and allowing for
the shifting to attachers of only those costs that are fair and equita-
ble for them to incur in connection with a pole replacement.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

A.8823 of 2020: Referred to Corporations, Authorities and Commissions.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have
become a law.