CHAPTER 25
HB 361 – FINAL VERSION
21Mar2007… 0538h
02May2007… 1389eba
2007 SESSION
06/09
HOUSE BILL 361
AN ACT relative to certain laws governing public utilities and the proposed acquisition of certain assets and franchises of Verizon by FairPoint.
COMMITTEE: Science, Technology and Energy
This bill:
I. Makes certain technical changes and expands certain definitions in the laws governing public utilities.
II. Requires the public utilities commission to charge an assessment against Verizon and FairPoint to fund the engagement of consultants to assess whether FairPoint has the capabilities to acquire Verizon’s assets and franchises.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
21Mar2007… 0538h
02May2007… 1389eba
07-1044
06/09
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Seven
AN ACT relative to certain laws governing public utilities and the proposed acquisition of certain assets and franchises of Verizon by FairPoint.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
25:1 Definitions. Amend RSA 162-H:2, VII to read as follows:
VII. “Energy facility” means any industrial structure, other than bulk power supply facilities, as defined in paragraph II, that may be used substantially to extract, produce, manufacture, transport or refine sources of energy, including ancillary facilities as may be used or useful in transporting, storing or otherwise providing for the raw materials or products of any such industrial structure. This shall include but not be limited to industrial structures such as oil refineries, gas plants, equipment and associated facilities designed to use any, or a combination of, natural gas, propane gas and liquefied natural gas, which store on site a quantity to provide 7 days of continuous operation at a rate equivalent to the energy requirements of a 30 megawatt electric generating station and its associated facilities, plants for coal conversion and onshore and offshore loading and unloading facilities for energy sources. Energy facility shall also include energy transmission pipelines, storage tanks, or any other facility which the applicant or 2 or more petition categories as defined in RSA 162-H:2, XI request and the committee agrees, or which the committee determines requires a certificate, consistent with the findings and purposes set forth in RSA 162-H:1. [Energy facility shall include electric generating station equipment and associated facilities only if they are designed for, or capable of, operation at a capacity of greater than 30 megawatts.]
25:2 New Paragraph; Water Companies, When Public Utilities. Amend RSA 362:4 by inserting after paragraph VI the following new paragraph:
VII.(a) A homeowners association, including but not limited to a condominium unit owners association, shall not be considered a public utility under this title by virtue of providing water service if:
(1) The service is furnished only to members of the association or the occupants of their residential units; and
(2) The association is organized on a not-for-profit basis and is democratically controlled by the owners of the residential units and not the developer or subdivider thereof.
(b) Such a homeowners association is one consumer for purposes of paragraph I, and its individual members or their lessees shall not be treated as individual consumers.
25:3 Penalty Against Agent. Amend RSA 365:41-42 to read as follows:
365:41 Penalty Against Utility. Any public utility which shall violate any provisions of this title, or fails, omits or neglects to obey, observe or comply with any order, direction or requirement of the commission, [shall be guilty of a felony and,] shall be subject to a civil penalty, as determined by the commission, not to exceed $25,000. No portion of any fine, nor any costs associated with an administrative or court proceeding which results in a fine pursuant to this section, shall be considered by the commission in fixing any temporary, permanent, or emergency rates or charges of such utility.
365:42 Penalty Against Agent. Every officer and agent of any such public utility who shall willfully violate, or who procures, aids, or abets any violation of this title, or who willfully fails to obey, observe, and comply with any order of the commission, or procures, aids or abets any such public utility in its failure to obey, observe, and comply with any such order or provision, [shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and,] shall be subject to a civil penalty, as determined by the commission, not to exceed $10,000 for each violation, or for each day of a continuing violation.
25:4 Definitions. Amend RSA 374:48, IV-a to read as follows:
IV-a. “Operator” means any public utility as defined by RSA 362:2 or RSA 362:4 [and], any cable television system as defined by RSA 53-C:1, and any liquefied petroleum gas company operating any jurisdictional facility or facilities as defined by the Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act (49 U.S.C. chapter 601) that owns or operates underground facilities.
25:5 New Paragraph; Definitions. Amend RSA 374:48 by inserting after paragraph VII the following new paragraph:
VIII. “Blasting” means excavation by means of explosives.
25:6 Rulemaking. Amend RSA 374:50, III to read as follows:
III. Emergency situations for which prior notice of excavation pursuant to RSA 374:51, II is not required.
25:7 Notification by Excavator. Amend RSA 374:51, I to read as follows:
I. No person shall perform an excavation within 100 feet of an underground facility, except in an emergency, without first giving notification as required by this section. In an emergency, notification shall be given at the earliest practicable moment.
25:8 New Paragraph; Notification by Excavator. Amend RSA 374:51 by inserting after paragraph VI the following new paragraph:
VII. If an excavator is aware that blasting will be required during an excavation, the excavator shall inform the damage prevention system when providing notice of the excavation. If an excavator determines during the effective term of the excavator's notification that blasting is required within the area premarked in accordance with paragraph IV, the excavator shall notify the damage prevention system of the need to blast. Notification shall be made at least 24 hours prior to any blasting, not including Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays. In the case of unanticipated obstructions that prevent further excavation without blasting, the excavator shall provide separate notice of such blasting not less than 4 contiguous hours in advance of such blasting, not including the hours of 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. weekdays, or all of Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays.
25:9 Energy Policy Act Standards. RSA 378:7-a is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:
378:7-a Energy Policy Act Standards. The commission may establish requirements for net metering, fuel diversity, fossil fuel generation efficiency, advanced metering, time-based rates, and interconnection with on-site generation facilities of customers in a manner not inconsistent with section 111 of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. section 46) as amended by the Energy Policy Act of 2005.
25:10 Expense of Investigations. Notwithstanding any provision of law or rule or any order to the contrary:
I. As soon as practicable, the public utilities commission shall charge a special assessment against Verizon and FairPoint to support the work of the office of the consumer advocate in the FairPoint/Verizon acquisition docket at the commission. Funds from the special assessment shall be available to the office of the consumer advocate until June 30, 2008, or until such time as all final appeals in the case have been exhausted, whichever is later, at which time any remaining funds shall be credited back to the utilities. Specifically, the commission shall charge, in one or more assessments, an amount not to exceed $150,000 to support the engagement of expert consultants by the office of the consumer advocate, with such engagement subject to approval by the governor and council. Such expert consultants shall assess, from the perspective of residential ratepayers, whether FairPoint has the financial, technical, managerial, and other capabilities to acquire Verizon’s assets and franchises as proposed, in a manner that meets the public good requirement of RSA 374:30. To the extent practicable, the office of the consumer advocate shall cooperate with consumer and public advocates in Maine and Vermont in order to efficiently advance the common interests of residential consumers across the region.
II. Funds made available under paragraph I shall not be used to pay any part of the salaries, benefits, or other expenses related to the employees of the office of the consumer advocate or the commission.
25:11 Reference Deleted. Amend RSA 362:2, II to read as follows:
II. For the purposes of this title only, rural electric cooperatives for which a certificate of deregulation is on file with the public utilities commission pursuant to RSA 301:57 shall not be considered public utilities; provided, however, that the provisions of RSA 362-A, 363-B, 371, 374:2-a, 374:26, [374:26-a,] 374-A, 374-C, 374-F, and 378:37-39 shall, unless otherwise provided herein, be applicable to rural electric cooperatives, without regard to whether a certificate of regulation or deregulation is on file with the public utilities commission. The provisions of RSA 374-A and the provisions of RSA 374-F:3, V(b) and (f) and RSA 374-F:7 shall be applicable to rural electric cooperatives for which a certificate of deregulation is on file with the public utilities commission to the same extent as municipal utilities.
25:12 Repeal. The following are repealed:
I. RSA 374:26-a, relative to retail competition pilot program.
II. RSA 378:7-b, relative to optional time of use and time of day rates defined.
25:13 Effective Date. This act shall take effect upon its passage.
Approved: May 11, 2007
Effective Date: May 11, 2007