Title 39, Title 39 Utilities and Carriers

The authority shall use the services of the department of transportation in planning, designing, and constructing transportation services or facilities to the extent that these services are provided by the department of transportation. The authority may use any other services pro…

The authority and the department of transportation shall be authorized and empowered to enter into agreements, between each other and with others, providing for the assignment to the authority of all or part of any grants, loan, or other money or property of whatever nature recei…

The general assembly shall appropriate annually a sum for the financial support of the operating expenses of the Rhode Island public transit authority from certain proceeds of the motor fuel tax reserved for this purpose pursuant to § 31-36-20. The total amount of state subsidy d…

(a) All eligible employees of the Rhode Island public transit authority shall be entitled to purchase benefits set forth in § 36-12-2 at the same rate as the group rate paid by the state for the benefits. (b) Payments for benefits shall be made by the authority directly to the ge…

(a) The Rhode Island public transit authority is authorized and directed, in consultation with the division of public utilities and carriers and the governor’s commission on disabilities, to develop the “John J. MacDonald, Jr. Transportation Initiative” for a statewide federally …

(a) It shall be the purposes of the authority to: (1) Provide public transit services that meet mobility needs of the people of the state, including the elderly and disabled; (2) Increase access to employment opportunities; (3) Connect different modes of public transportation, in…

(a) The authority is hereby authorized and empowered: (1) To adopt bylaws for the regulation of its affairs and the conduct of its business; (2) To adopt an official seal and alter the seal at pleasure; (3) To maintain an office at such place or places within the state as it may …

(a) The authority shall have the power to establish reasonable rules of conduct for passengers for the protection of the health and safety of passengers and employees of the authority. The rules shall incorporate the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U…

(a) Any alteration or elimination of any bus route within the system established by the authority pursuant to § 39-18-4 shall not take effect until a public hearing is held in the neighborhood(s) along the affected route. (b) The public hearing shall take place at least thirty (3…

(a) Bonds issued under the provisions of this chapter shall not be deemed to constitute a debt of the state, or of any political subdivision thereof, or a pledge of the faith and credit of the state, or of any political subdivision. All bonds shall contain, on the face thereof, a…

(a) The authority shall have the power to acquire any transit property or any interest therein by the exercise of the power of eminent domain. (b) The necessity for acquisition shall be conclusively presumed upon the adoption by the authority of a resolution declaring that the ac…

(a) The authority is hereby authorized to provide, by resolution, for the issuance at one time, or from time to time, of bonds of the authority for any of its purposes. The bonds may be general obligations of the authority or special obligations payable only from particular funds…

Bonds issued under the provisions of this chapter may be secured by trust agreement by and between the authority and a corporate trustee, which may be any trust company or bank having the powers of a trust company within or without the state. The trust agreement or the resolution…

The authority is hereby authorized and empowered to fix and revise, from time to time, such schedules of service and rates of fare and charges for service furnished or operated as it determines to be reasonable. The schedules of service, rates of fare, and charges for service sha…

“Community antenna television system” or “CATV” as used in this chapter shall mean and include the ownership or operation of a cable television system that receives video or audio signals, electrical impulses, or currents at a central antenna or electronic control center within t…

Pursuant to the legislative intent that a tenant in a multiple dwelling unit shall have the freedom and right to select the provider of cable television, telephone, telecommunications, or information service to their living unit, without any restraints, limitations, or conditions…

A tenant in a mobile or manufactured home park may subscribe to CATV service, subject to the following provisions: (1) A CATV operator that affixes, or causes to be affixed, CATV facilities to the dwelling of a tenant shall (i) Do so at no cost to the landlord of such mobile or m…

Subscribers to cable television may terminate service at any time by requesting disconnection and returning all equipment to the CATV company.

The cable television section of the division of public utilities and carriers shall conduct a study of the billing and termination practices of cable television companies throughout the New England region. This study shall focus on the practice of advance billing by cable televis…

No subscriber to a cable television service shall be subject to an assessment of a late fee on a monthly billing unless the payment is at least forty-five (45) days past the close of the billing period that is the subject of the statement. A cable television operator shall not im…

(a) The cable television company making an application or filing to the division, or subject to a division investigation, shall be charged with and shall pay the expenses reasonably so incurred by the division for the purchase of materials, and for the employment of legal counsel…

Every company owning or operating a CATV plant in this state is hereby declared to be a communications carrier and, as such, subject to the jurisdiction of and to reasonable rules and regulations as the division may prescribe with reference to the erection and maintenance of dist…

No person or company shall operate a CATV service unless there shall be in force for the same a valid certificate issued by the administrator authorizing the operation. Every application for a certificate shall be filed with the administrator on a form provided by him or her and …

A certificate shall be issued by the administrator to an applicant therefor if the administrator finds that the applicant is of good character and is fit, willing, technically qualified, and financially able properly to perform the service proposed and to conform to the requireme…

Each certificate shall specify the service to be rendered, the routes of aerial and underground feeder and distribution cables, the area of operation, and any plans, contracts, or arrangements for pole line attachments with a public utility or arrangements with a common carrier, …

The division shall supervise and regulate every CATV company operating within this state so far as may be necessary to prevent the operation from having detrimental consequences to the public interest, and for this purpose may promulgate and enforce such reasonable rules and regu…

(a) The division shall be empowered to manage and operate public, education, and government (PEG) access television in Rhode Island; provided, however, that an existing cable television certificate holder may, at its sole discretion, and for as long as it desires to do so, elect …

(a) Every CATV company that receives a certificate from the administrator shall have the right to erect poles or posts or to construct any conduit or other facility or maintain cables, wires, or fixtures upon, under, or over any state or municipal highway or public place for the …

(a) Whenever, in order to move a building to be used as affordable housing for low- and moderate-income persons for a period of not less than ten (10) years, a nonprofit housing development corporation desires that the poles, posts, conduits, cables, wires, or fixtures erected by…

The commission may, after affording the holder an opportunity to be heard, revoke, suspend, or alter any certificate for willful violation of any provision of this chapter, or the rules and regulations or orders promulgated under the authority of this chapter, or for failure to c…

The administrator may, in his or her discretion, in lieu of seeking a suspension or revocation of a certificate as conferred under this chapter, impose upon its regulated CATV companies an administrative penalty. Any CATV company that violates any of the provisions of this chapte…

(a) The administrator shall determine the expenses of the division of public utilities and carriers associated with the regulation of operational community antenna television systems, including the cost of division personnel and consultants performing duties directly associated w…

Since reliable and economic bulk electric power supply is essential to the safety, health, morals, and welfare of the state and to the sound growth of the communities therein, and in order to promote the general welfare and insure the future power needs of the inhabitants of this…

(a) The purposes for which a domestic public utility may issue stocks, bonds, or other evidences of indebtedness, payable more than twelve (12) months from date of issue, pursuant to §§ 39-3-15, 39-3-17 — 39-3-19, and 39-3-21 shall include the acquisition of ownership of, or othe…

For purposes of § 39-1-30, any domestic and foreign electric utility that owns or participates in the ownership of any plant, building, wires, conductors, fixtures, structures, equipment, or apparatus in this state pursuant to this chapter shall be considered a company under the …

This chapter shall be construed in all respects so as to meet all constitutional requirements. Except as expressly provided for in this chapter, the provisions of this chapter shall not affect the interpretation of other laws. If any provision of this chapter shall be held uncons…

In this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires, the following words shall have the following meanings: (1) “Commission” means the public utilities commission. (2) “Division” means the division of public utilities and carriers. (3) “Domestic electric utility” means an elec…

Notwithstanding any contrary provisions of any general or special law relating to the powers and authorities of domestic electric utilities or any limitation imposed by their charters (which are hereby amended), but subject to the provisions of this title and this chapter, a dome…

(a) Notwithstanding the provisions of §§ 7-1.2-1401 and 7-1.2-1402, and any other provision of any general or special law relating to the rights of foreign corporations to transact business in this state and to produce a certificate of authority under chapter 1.2 of title 7 to tr…

(a) A foreign electric utility, in order to procure a certificate of authority to transact business in this state pursuant to this chapter, shall make application therefor to the secretary of state pursuant to the provisions of §§ 7-1.2-1405 and 7-1.2-1406 and shall be subject to…

If any domestic or foreign electric utility acquires or owns an interest as a tenant in common with one or more other domestic or foreign electric utilities in any electric-generating facility in this state, the surrender or waiver by any owner of the property of the right to par…

(a) The interests of domestic electric utilities and foreign electric utilities in all electric-generating facilities located in this state shall be liable to taxation by the cities and towns under the provisions of chapters 3 — 5 of title 44. To the extent that the interests may…

Legislative consent is hereby given to the application of regulatory and other laws of other states and of the United States to any domestic electric utility that has acquired or has an interest in an electric-generating facility or a portion thereof without the state or is other…

(a) Prior to the location or relocation of any residential gas regulator or gas meter, the public utility shall consult with the owner(s) of the property as to their preference concerning the most suitable location for such devices, and the public utility shall give preference to…

(a) The public utility is hereby prohibited from installing gas regulators or gas meters on the exterior of property located within a historic district, unless permitted to do so by the owner, and is hereby required to obtain a certificate of appropriateness from the historic dis…

(a) The owner(s) of any residential property within the interior of which a gas regulator or gas meter is located shall grant reasonable access to the public utility responsible for the maintenance of the regulator or meter in order to perform safety activities as required by law…