HOUSE CONSUMER AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR

HOUSE BILL 940

49th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2009

AN ACT

RELATING TO THE PUBLIC PEACE, HEALTH, SAFETY AND WELFARE; PERMITTING THE ALLOCATION OF RELOCATION COSTS TO TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANY CUSTOMERS.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

     Section 1. DEFINITIONS--ALLOCATION OF RELOCATION COSTS TO CUSTOMERS--COMMISSION AUDIT.--

          A. As used in this section:

                (1) "actual costs" includes all capital and non-capital costs incurred to relocate infrastructure or facilities as well as all costs incurred to remove any infrastructure or facilities; "actual costs" does not include the cost of upgrading the facility being relocated;

                (2) "commission" means the public regulation commission; 

                (3)  "infrastructure or facilities" includes infrastructure or facilities used to provide interstate and intrastate services, including regulated, unregulated and deregulated services;

                (4) "political subdivision" means a county; municipality, including a home rule municipality; service authority; school district; local improvement district; law enforcement authority; water district; sanitation district; fire protection district; metropolitan district; irrigation district; drainage district or other special district; or any other kind of municipal, quasi-municipal or public organization organized pursuant to law; and

                (5) "state" means the state government or a state agency, department or institution, or a state-level authority.

          B. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, telecommunications companies shall be entitled to recover from their retail customers, without a request for a change in rates, the actual costs incurred for the alteration, change, moving or relocation of infrastructure or facilities requested by the state or a political subdivision. Thirty days prior to assessing retail customers a fee to recover actual costs incurred for the alteration, change, moving or relocation of infrastructure or facilities requested by the state or a political subdivision, a telecommunications company shall notify the commission in writing of the imposition of the fee that the company intends to impose on the company's retail customers and shall show the fee as a separate line item on the customers' bills.

          C. Upon petition by an interested party or on its own motion, the commission may conduct an investigation to verify that a fee imposed by a telecommunications company recovers the actual costs incurred. In such an investigation, the commission shall verify the actual costs that may be recovered from the telecommunications company's retail customers. In the event the commission, based on evidence presented at a duly noticed hearing, finds that a telecommunications company is not recovering its actual costs incurred, the commission shall order modifications or adjustments to a fee imposed pursuant to this section so that the telecommunications company may recover its actual costs.

     Section 2. APPLICABILITY.--The provisions of this act shall apply to costs incurred after July 1, 2009 to relocate infrastructure or facilities as well as all costs incurred after July 1, 2009 to remove any infrastructure or facilities.

     Section 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the provisions of this act is July 1, 2009.

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