2023 New York Laws › PBS - Public Service › Article 6 - Provisions Affecting Two or More Kinds of the Public Service and the Persons and Corporations Furnishing Such Service › 119-A - Attachments to Utility Poles; Use of Utility Ducts, Trenches and Conduits.

§ 119-a. Attachments  to utility poles; use of utility ducts, trenches
  and conduits. 1. The commission  shall  prescribe  just  and  reasonable
  rates, terms and conditions for attachments to utility poles and the use
  of  utility  ducts,  trenches  and  conduits. A just and reasonable rate
  shall assure the utility of the recovery of not less than the additional
  cost of providing a pole attachment  or  of  using  a  trench,  duct  or
  conduit  nor  more  than  the  actual  operating  expenses and return on
  capital of the utility attributed to that portion  of  the  pole,  duct,
  trench  or  conduit used. With respect to cable television and broadband
  internet attachments and use, such portion shall be  the  percentage  of
  total  usable  space  on  a  pole  or  the total capacity of the duct or
  conduit that is occupied by the facilities of  the  user.  Usable  space
  shall be the space on a utility pole above the minimum grade level which
  can  be  used  for  the  attachment of wires and cables. With respect to
  cable television and broadband internet attachments and use, a  contract
  for  attachments to utility poles and the use of utility ducts, trenches
  and conduits shall include all such poles, ducts, trenches and  conduits
  located  within  a given village, town or city, pursuant to a negotiated
  site license and any applicable commission requirements,  provided  that
  such  contract  shall  not  impede  the  right  of a pole owner to issue
  licenses based on inspections undertaken on a pole-specific basis.
2. In connection with a new pole attachment, in no  instance  shall  a
  pole   owner   avoid   responsibility  for  pole  replacement  costs  by
  unreasonably postponing replacement until  receiving  a  new  attachment
  request,  nor  may a pole owner require a requesting attacher to pay the
  entire cost  of  such  pole  replacement  or  for  bringing  a  pole  or
  third-party   equipment   into   compliance   with  current  safety  and
  construction standards when replacement or compliance upgrades  are  not
  necessitated solely by the new attacher.
3.  Where  a  pole owner performs a pole replacement to accommodate an
  attachment request, the pole owner may not require the attacher, or  any
  existing  attacher,  to pay any portion of the cost of such replacement,
  except where there is insufficient capacity,  clearance  or  loading  to
  accommodate the request.
4.  The  public  service  commission,  in  cooperation  with the state
  broadband program office, shall  initiate  a  proceeding  to  examine  a
  process  for  streamlining  actions related to utility pole attachments.
  The matters the commission  shall  consider  in  such  proceeding  shall
  include:   (a)   dispute  resolution  models  related  to  utility  pole
  attachments;  (b)  cost  sharing  models   related   to   utility   pole
  attachments;  (c) impact on the expansion of broadband into unserved and
  underserved areas associated with alternative cost allocation scenarios;
  (d) requiring new, less  expensive  pole  attachment  methods;  and  (e)
  existing  rules  regarding the cost obligations associated with new pole
  attachments and an assessment of the  utility  ratepayer  and  broadband
  subscriber   impacts   associated   with   alternative  cost  allocation
  scenarios, including but  not  limited  to  if  a  pole  replacement  is
  necessitated  because  of  insufficient  vertical  space or clearance to
  accommodate  an  attachment  request,  or  the  attachment  will  exceed
  loading,  making  the requesting attacher liable for the following costs
  in connection with the replacement: (a) the remaining net book value  of
  the  pole  being  replaced  that, but for the new attachment, could have
  remained in service until such time as it was fully  depreciated  and/or
  reached  the end of its service life or used and useful life to the pole
  owner, whichever  would  come  first;  and  (b)  the  incremental  costs
  associated  with the pole owner installing a pole beyond what said owner
  would have installed in  its  normal  course  of  pole  replacement,  if
  applicable  to the request. The commission shall invite participation in

  the proceeding by diverse stakeholders,  including  electric  utilities,
  municipal  utilities,  incumbent  local  exchange  carriers, competitive
  local  exchange  carriers,   telecommunications   providers,   broadband
  internet  providers,  municipalities, economic development corporations,
  and an association of counties that represents at least  ninety  percent
  of  the  counties  in  New  York.  On or before September thirtieth, two
  thousand twenty-two, the commission shall issue an  order  adopting  the
  new  or  revised  rules  associated  with  the  matters  examined in the
  proceeding provided for in this subdivision.
5. Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize the  public
  service  commission  to  interfere  in  any  manner  with  provisions of
  collective  bargaining  agreements  relating  to  pole  attachment  work
  between  a  utility corporation, telephone corporation, cable television
  corporation or any entity subject to article eleven of this chapter  and
  its employees.