Title 39, Title 39 Utilities and Carriers

Nothing in this act shall be construed to modify or affect the rights or obligations of any carrier pursuant to 47 U.S.C. § 251 or 47 U.S.C. § 252.

Nothing in this act shall be construed to modify or affect any tax obligations imposed by § 44-13-4 or the authority of the department of revenue to enforce any such obligations.

Nothing in this chapter shall derogate from the common law or statutory authority of the attorney general, nor shall any provision be construed as a limitation on the common law or statutory authority of the attorney general, including, but not limited to, the authority to enforc…

Notwithstanding any general or public law to the contrary, the commission and the division shall have no jurisdiction or authority over wireless service.

Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to modify or affect the jurisdiction or authority of the commission or the division over exchange-access rates or the rights or obligations of any carrier pursuant to 47 U.S.C. § 251 or 47 U.S.C. § 252. Nor shall this chapter be construe…

Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to modify the jurisdiction or authority of the commission or the division over standalone residential local exchange service, meaning residential service that only provides access to E-911 and voice telephone calling wholly within a loca…

Nothing in this chapter shall derogate from or be construed as a limitation on the common law or statutory authority of the attorney general to enforce consumer protection or unfair or deceptive trade practice statutes and regulations.

Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to affect, mandate, or prohibit the assessment of nondiscriminatory enhanced 911 fees, telecommunications education access fund fees, or telecommunications relay service fees.

Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to modify or affect any tax obligations imposed by § 44-13-4.

(a) The Rhode Island general assembly finds and declares that: (1) Taxpayers are mandated to pay the electric distribution company large sums every year to light municipal and many state-owned streets; (2) Municipalities are limited in how they can manage this public safety resou…

When used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the following meanings: (1) “Electric distribution company” means a company defined in § 39-1-2(a)(12), supplying standard-offer service, last-resort service, or any successor service to end-use customers. (2) “Lighting eq…

(a) Any city or town receiving streetlighting service from an electric distribution company pursuant to an electric-rate tariff providing for the use by such municipality of lighting equipment owned by the electric distribution company, at its option, upon sixty (60) days’ notice…

The provisions of this chapter shall be liberally construed to give effect to the purposes thereof.

If any provision of this chapter or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of the chapter that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the …

The general assembly finds and declares: (1) The state and New England face significant short- and long-term energy system challenges that may undermine the reliable operation of the bulk electric system and spur unsustainable levels of price volatility, and that these challenges…

(a) The electric distribution company is hereby authorized and required to issue a request for proposals for at least six hundred megawatts (600 MW) but no greater than one thousand megawatts (1,000 MW) of newly-developed offshore wind capacity no later than October 15, 2022. The…

In order to achieve the purposes of this chapter, electric distribution companies shall be entitled to financial remuneration and incentives for long-term contracts for newly developed renewable energy resources, which are over and above the base rate revenue requirement establis…

Bidders submitting project proposals responsive to any competitive procurements issued pursuant to this chapter may be charged bid fees by the electric distribution company to pay for all reasonable costs of consultants and counsel that may be hired by the Rhode Island office of …

If any provision of this chapter or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid, the invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of the chapter that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the p…

The purpose of this chapter is to: (1) Secure the future of the Rhode Island and New England economies, and their shared environment, by making state and/or coordinated, cost-effective, strategic investments in energy resources and infrastructure such that the New England states …

When used in this chapter, “commercially reasonable” means terms and pricing that are reasonably consistent with what an experienced power market analyst would expect to see in transactions involving regional energy resources and regional energy infrastructure. Commercially reaso…

(a) Consistent with the purposes of this chapter, and utilizing regional stakeholder processes where appropriate, the office of energy resources, in consultation and coordination with the division of public utilities and carriers and the public utility company that provides elect…

(a) Consistent with the purposes of this chapter, the public utility company that provides electric distribution as defined in § 39-1-2(a)(12), as well as natural gas as defined in § 39-1-2(a)(17), in consultation with the office of energy resources and the division of public uti…

(a) Pursuant to the procurement activities in § 39-31-5 or § 39-31-10, the public utility company that provides electric distribution as defined in § 39-1-2(a)(12), as well the public utilities that distribute natural gas as provided by § 39-1-2(a)(20), are authorized to voluntar…

(a) The commission shall approve any proposals made by the electric or gas distribution company that are commercially reasonable and advance the purposes of this chapter. The commission’s authority shall include, without limitation, the authority to: (1) Approve long-term contrac…

Energy generation and the attributes of electricity imported into New England shall be tracked and verified through the expansion of the New England Pool — Generation Information System or the development of another appropriate tracking and verification mechanism.

All regional or multistate energy infrastructure projects authorized under this chapter shall respect and maintain compliance with the individual project host state’s siting authority and requirements. Any projects selected pursuant to this chapter must maintain compliance with R…

As used in this chapter: (1) “Authority” means a city, town, or any other state or municipal government subdivision, agency, or entity that is authorized by law to regulate or control the use of the public rights-of-way or the construction or installation of poles or wireless fac…

(a) A wireless service provider authorized to do business in this state or a contractor acting on its behalf may collocate small wireless facilities within, along, across, upon, and under any public right-of-way in this state, including state highways and freeways, and may constr…

An authority may require a person to obtain a building, electrical, or a public right-of-way use or work permit to collocate small wireless facilities on authority poles or authority structures, provided such permits are of general applicability and do not apply exclusively to wi…

(a) An authority shall approve an application for a permit under this chapter unless the collocation does not meet applicable building or electrical codes or, if applicable, standards for construction in the right-of-way, provided such codes and standards are of general applicabi…

(a) Within six (6) months of receiving its first request to collocate small wireless facilities on authority poles located within the public rights-of-way, but in no event later than April 1, 2018, an authority shall establish, by ordinance, regulation, or rule, nondiscriminatory…

(a) An authority may not prohibit, regulate, or charge for the collocation of small wireless facilities on poles or structures other than authority poles and authority structures. (b) A wireless service provider may install poles in the public rights-of-way in order to collocate …

As used in this chapter: (1) “Commission” means the public utilities commission. (2) “Energy storage system” means any technology capable of converting electrical energy to some form of stored energy for reconversion to electrical energy at a later time. (3) “Long-duration energy…

No later than September 1, 2024, the public utilities commission shall engage stakeholders to adopt a framework for an energy storage system tariff for energy storage systems connected to the electric distribution system. (1) The tariff framework should, at a minimum, address the…

(a) No later than September 1, 2024, the commission shall commence a process, which includes stakeholder engagement, to adopt a framework for an interconnection tariff for energy storage systems connected to the electric distribution system that recognizes the flexible operating …

(a) Not less than every three (3) years, the commission shall conduct a market survey to assess the capabilities of storage technologies and whether those capabilities have the potential to meet the needs of, or provide net value to, the distribution system or the bulk power syst…

The commission is authorized to hire one or more consultants to assist with each task set forth in this chapter and may assess its actual costs to each electric distribution company as defined in § 39-1-2 that has greater than one hundred thousand (100,000) customers in a manner …

The general assembly finds and declares: (1) Global climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of storm events, and is increasing the number of harmful pests and fungi that threaten local trees and other vegetation; (2) Tree-related damage is the leading cause of po…

When used in this chapter: (1) “Commission” means the Rhode Island public utilities commission. (2) “Division” means the Rhode Island division of public utilities and carriers. (3) “Right tree, right place program” means a set of voluntary recommendations and educational material…

(a) Each electric distribution company as defined by § 39-1-2(a) having greater than one hundred thousand (100,000) customers shall file with the division vegetation management standards and practices for application across its service territory. (b) Vegetation management standar…

Nothing in this chapter shall be interpreted to limit or restrict the rights that electric distribution companies currently have to conduct vegetation management activities provided by existing statute or regulation, including, but not limited to, those rights conferred by 650 RI…

This chapter shall be construed liberally in aid of its declared purposes.

If any provision of this chapter or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid, the invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of the chapter that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the p…

When used in this chapter, these terms shall have the following meanings: (1) “Decommissioning” means: (i) The physical removal of all components of a solar photovoltaic system including, but not limited to, solar panels and associated anchoring systems and foundations, and other…

The developer of any ground-mounted solar system shall, at the time they apply for required permits from the municipality of jurisdiction, submit a plan for decommissioning to include an estimate of the financial cost of implementing the plan. The municipality shall be required t…