Title 49, Public Utilities

Directors, trustees, and officers of mutual telephone companies, and the manager of a mutual telephone company who is the person most responsible for carrying out the policies and directives of the trustees, officers, or board of directors, are immune from civil liability for any…

1. A telecommunications company shall comply with the provision of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, part 64, subpart k, in effect on January 1, 2001, regarding changes in a subscriber's selection of a provider of telecommunications service. The commission shall enforce the …

Each telecommunications company shall file with the commission in the form and detail as the commission may require, subject to considerations for maintaining trade secrets or commercial confidentiality: 1. Schedules showing all prices for essential services, including those pric…

The commission may require any telecommunications company to make available to the public, subject to considerations for maintaining trade secrets or commercial confidentiality, a printed or electronic schedule of prices for telecommunications services offered by the telecommunic…

There is a rebuttable presumption that prices for essential telecommunications services in effect on July 1, 1989, are fair and reasonable. Any person may complain to the commission, or the commission on its own motion may complain and begin investigation, of the reasonableness, …

It shall be unlawful for any telecommunications company to make any unjust or unreasonable discrimination in prices, practices, or service for or in connection with like telecommunications service, or give any undue or unreasonable preference or advantage to any person or telecom…

Every local exchange carrier shall provide 1 + equal access dialing parity.

Whenever a connection can be made reasonably between the facilities of two or more telecommunications companies for the transfer of telecommunications and public convenience and necessity will be subserved thereby, the commission may require that such connection be made and may o…

Every telecommunications company operating in this state shall receive, transmit, and deliver, without discrimination or delay, the telecommunications of every other telecommunications company with which a connection has been made.

When complaint has been made to the commission or by the commission on its own motion concerning any price for a telecommunications service, and the commission has found, upon a hearing after notice given as required by law, that the telecommunications company has charged for suc…

Any customer, and the commission on its own motion, may complain concerning the quality of service provided by a telecommunications company providing telecommunications services in the state. The commission may not adopt any rule or order under this section applicable to retail s…

A person, and the commission on its own motion, may complain concerning any violation of law, rule, or order of the commission. In accordance with chapter 28-32, the commission shall provide notice of the complaint and the time and place of hearing. After hearing under chapter 28…

No mutual aid cooperative or cooperative association that is a telecommunications company as defined in section 49-21-01 may sell, transfer, or convey, within the period of any single calendar year, physical plant in excess of five percent in value of the cooperative, based upon …

1. A telecommunications company is not required to construct, modify, or extend telecommunications facilities at the request or for the use of another telecommunications company except as required by the federal act. 2. The commission must allow a telecommunications company to re…

1. A telecommunications company may not: a. Discriminate against another provider of telecommunications services by refusing or delaying access to the company's services; b. Discriminate against another provider of telecommunications services by refusing or delaying access to ess…

All competitive local exchange companies are subject to the requirements of this chapter regarding purchase of essential telecommunications services, section 49-21-01.4; access code number usage, section 49-21-01.5; call identification services, section 49-21-01.6; cross-subsidiz…

Unless the governing body of a political subdivision has submitted to the qualified electors of that political subdivision the question of whether to impose a fee other than a fee for management costs and a majority of the voters approved the fee, a political subdivision may not …

A political subdivision, in lieu of a fee imposed under section 49-21-26, may not require in-kind services by a telecommunications company right-of-way user or require in-kind services as a condition of the use of the political subdivision's public right of way.

1. A telecommunications company that is denied the use of or access to a political subdivision right of way, that has its right-of-way permit revoked, or that believes that the fees imposed on that company by the political subdivision do not conform to the requirements of section…

Sections 49-21-26, 49-21-27, and 49-21-28 do not modify or supersede the rights and obligations of a political subdivision and the telecommunications company established by the terms of any existing franchise. A city that collects a city franchise fee under a franchise may not co…

A telecommunications company that is assessed either management costs by a political subdivision pursuant to section 49-21-26 or a city franchise fee pursuant to section 49-21-29 is entitled to recover those costs. If the telecommunications company serves customers within the bou…

The performance assurance fund is a special fund in the state treasury. The commission shall deposit payments received by the commission under the performance assurance plan in the performance assurance fund until the balance of the fund equals one hundred thousand dollars. Up to…

The legislative assembly finds that the construction of energy conversion facilities and transmission facilities affects the environment and the welfare of the citizens of this state. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure that the location, construction, and operation of energy co…

In this chapter, unless the context or subject matter otherwise requires: 1. "Backup electric generation" means electric generation that is not interconnected with the grid and is generated on a temporary basis to replace primary source electric generation when unavailable. 2. "C…

1. Each utility that owns or operates, or plans within the next ten years to own, operate, or start construction on any facility shall develop a ten-year plan as specified in this section and submit the plan to the commission. Each utility shall file an updated plan on or before …

1. The commission shall develop criteria to be used in identifying exclusion and avoidance areas and to guide the site, corridor, and route suitability evaluation and designation process. The criteria also may include an identification of impacts and policies or practices which m…

1. A utility may not begin construction of an electric energy conversion facility or an electric transmission facility in the state without first having obtained a certificate of site compatibility or a route permit from the commission pursuant to this chapter. The facility must …

Any utility which proposes to construct an electric energy conversion facility or an electric transmission facility within the state may make an application to the commission for a waiver of any of the procedures or time schedules set forth in this chapter or in the rules adopted…

1. An application for a certificate must be in such form as the commission may prescribe, containing the following information: a. A description of the size and type of facility. b. A summary of any studies which have been made of the environmental impact of the facility. c. A st…

1. An application for a route permit for an electric transmission facility within a designated corridor must be filed no later than two years after the issuance of the certificate and must be in such form as the commission may prescribe, containing the following information: a. A…

A utility may file a separate application for a certificate or a permit, or combined into one application.

1. The commission shall be guided by, but is not limited to, the following considerations, where applicable, to aid the evaluation and designation of sites, corridors, and routes: a. Available research and investigations relating to the effects of the location, construction, and …

After compliance with the applicable requirements of this chapter, any hydroelectric transmission facility that transmits hydroelectric power produced outside the United States, and which crosses any portion of this state, must have the approval of the legislative assembly by con…

1. If an applicant elects to provide a payment to mitigate the environmental impact of the construction or operation of a wind energy conversion facility, the payment must be made to the agriculture commissioner who shall deposit the payment into the environmental impact mitigati…

1. The commission shall hold a public hearing in each county in which any portion of a site, corridor, or route is proposed to be located in an application for a certificate or a permit. If the commission determines there is an emergency that would prevent an in-person hearing in…

The commission may appoint one or more advisory committees to assist it in carrying out its duties under this chapter. Committees appointed to evaluate sites or corridors considered for designation must be composed of as many persons as may be appointed by the commission, but mus…

The commission may, and is encouraged to, cooperate with and receive and exchange technical information and assistance from and with any department, agency, or officer of any state or of the federal government to eliminate duplication of effort, to establish a common database, or…

1. The issuance of a certificate of site compatibility or a route permit shall, subject to subsections 2 and 3, be the sole site or route approval required to be obtained by the utility. 2. a. A certificate of site compatibility for an electric energy conversion facility may not …

1. Any person employed by a public utility to acquire easements for a facility subject to this chapter shall not use any harassment, threat, intimidation, misrepresentation, deception, fraud, or other unfair tactics to induce the owner of the land to be affected by the facility t…

Any easement for an electric transmission facility as defined in this chapter acquired contractually by a utility after July 1, 1979, shall give the landowner the option of receiving a single sum payment for the easement or receiving payment in annual installments of equal amount…

1. The commission shall adopt rules by January 1, 2019, relating to the implementation of light-mitigating technology systems on wind energy conversion facilities. The rules must be consistent with the federal aviation administration regulations [14 CFR 1.1 et seq.] and must incl…

1. Before or during construction, a utility, without any action by the commission, may adjust the route of an electric transmission line within the designated corridor if, before conducting any construction activities associated with the adjustment, the utility files with the com…

Utilities that have acquired an electric energy conversion facility site or electric transmission line route in accordance with the provisions of this chapter may proceed to construct or improve such site or route for the intended purposes at any time, subject to subsections 2 an…

The commission shall adopt rules and regulations in conformity with the provisions of this chapter and to prescribe methods and procedures required therewith.

Any party aggrieved by the issuance of a certificate of site compatibility or electric transmission facility construction permit from the commission, certification of continuing suitability filed by a utility with the commission, or promulgation of a final order by the commission…

A certificate of site compatibility or permit for the construction of an electric transmission facility may be revoked or suspended for: 1. Any material false statement in the application or in accompanying statements or studies required of the applicant. 2. Failure to comply wit…