Title 30, Title 30: Public Service

§ 5016. Rules and rates (a) The Authority may make and enforce rules that it deems necessary or desirable. It may establish, levy, and collect or may authorize by contract, franchise, lease, or otherwise, the establishment, levying, and collection of rents, rates, and other charg…

§ 5017. Powers of municipalities A municipality may by resolution of its legislative body enter into contracts with the Authority for the purchase, sale, exchange, or transmission of electric energy and other services, on such terms and for such period of time as the resolution m…

§ 5018. Construction contracts The Authority may contract for the planning, acquisition, construction, operation, maintenance, repair, extension, and improvement of any project, or may contract with other public or private owners of any project to perform these functions, without…

§ 5031. Bonds and notes (a)(1) The Authority may issue its negotiable notes and bonds in such principal amount as the Authority determines to be necessary to provide sufficient funds for achieving any of its corporate purposes, including the payment of interest on notes and bonds…

§ 5032. Refunding obligations; issuance The Authority may provide for the issuance of refunding obligations for the purpose of refunding any obligations then outstanding that have been issued under the provisions of this chapter, including the payment of any redemption premium on…

§ 5033. Refunding obligations; sale Refunding obligations issued as provided in section 5032 of this title may be sold or exchanged for outstanding obligations issued under this chapter and, if sold, the proceeds from them may be applied, in addition to any other authorized purpo…

§ 5034. Remedies of bondholders and noteholders (a) In the event that the Authority defaults in the payment of principal or of interest on any bonds or notes issued under this chapter after they become due, whether at maturity or upon call for redemption, and the default continue…

§ 5035. Pledge of the State The State does hereby pledge to and agree with the holders of the notes and bonds issued under this chapter that the State will not limit or restrict the rights hereby vested in the Authority to perform its obligations and to fulfill the terms of any a…

§ 5036. Credit of State and members of Authority not pledged Obligations issued under the provisions of this chapter shall not be deemed to constitute a debt or liability or obligation of the State or of any political subdivision of it or of any member of the Authority, nor shall…

§ 5037. Notes and bonds as legal investments Notwithstanding any other law, the State and all public officers, governmental units, and agencies of the State, all banks, trust companies, savings banks and institutions, building and loan associations, savings and loan associations,…

§ 5038. Annual reports; audit (a) On or before the last day of January in each year, the Authority shall submit a report of its activities for the preceding calendar year to the Governor, the Public Utility Commission, and the General Assembly. Each report shall set forth a compl…

§ 5039. Liberal construction Neither this chapter nor anything contained in this chapter is or shall be construed as a restriction or limitation upon any powers that the Authority might otherwise have under any laws of this State, and this chapter is cumulative to any such powers…

§ 5040. Public Utility Commission jurisdiction Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the Authority shall be subject to the regulatory jurisdiction of the Public Utility Commission, insofar as provided in this title. (Added 1979, No. 78, § 3.)

§ 5041. Inconsistent provisions in other laws superseded Insofar as the provisions of this chapter are inconsistent with the provisions of any special act or any municipal charter, the provisions of this chapter shall be controlling. (Added 1979, No. 78, § 3.)

§ 7001. Definitions In this chapter: (1) “Commission” means the Public Utility Commission under section 3 of this title. (2) “Company” means any public utility, municipality, or person that supplies gas, electricity, hot water, steam, or telecommunications service and that mainta…

§ 7002. Public Utility Underground Facility Damage Prevention System Each company shall be a member of and participate in the Public Utility Underground Facility Damage Prevention System as designated by the Commission unless granted an exemption by the Commission after opportuni…

§ 7003. Rulemaking The Commission shall adopt rules, pursuant to 3 V.S.A. chapter 25 relative to: (1) minimum requirements for the operation of the System, including notification procedures and the reporting of underground utility facility locations; (2) procedures for the invest…

§ 7004. Notice of excavation activities (a) No person or company shall engage in excavation activities, except in an emergency situation as defined by the Commission, without premarking the proposed area of excavation activities and giving notice as required by this section. (b) …

§ 7005. Notification by System Upon receiving notice of excavation activities, the System shall notify all member companies whose facilities may be affected. An adequate record shall be maintained by the System to document compliance with requirements of this chapter. (Added 1987…

§ 7006. Marking of underground utility facilities A company notified in accordance with section 7005 of this title shall, within 72 hours, exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, after the receipt of the notice, mark the approximate location of its underground utilit…

§ 7006a. Maintenance of underground utility facility markings After a company has marked its underground facilities in accordance with section 7006 of this title, the excavator shall be responsible for maintenance of the designated markings. In the event said markings are obliter…

§ 7006b. Excavation area precautions Any person engaged in excavating activities in the approximate location of underground utility facilities marked pursuant to section 7006 of this title shall take reasonable precautions to avoid damage to underground utility facilities, includ…

§ 7007. Notice of damage When any underground utility facility is damaged during excavation activities, the excavator shall immediately notify the affected company. Under no circumstances shall the excavator backfill or conceal the damaged area until the company inspects and repa…

§ 7008. Penalties (a) Vermont Digsafe Program. Any person or company who violates any provisions of section 7004, 7006, 7006a, 7006b, or 7007 of this title shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more than $500.00 for the first offense, not more than $1,000.00 for the second o…

§ 7051. Definitions As used in this chapter: (1) “Automatic location identification” or “ALI” means the system capability to identify automatically the geographical location of the electronic device being used by the caller to summon assistance and to provide that location inform…

§ 7052. Vermont Enhanced 911 Board (a) The Vermont Enhanced 911 Board is established to develop, implement, and supervise the operation of the statewide Enhanced 911 system. (b) The Board shall consist of nine members: one county law enforcement officer elected by the membership …

§ 7053. Board; responsibilities and powers (a) The Board shall be the single governmental agency responsible for statewide Enhanced 911. To the extent feasible, the Board shall consult with the Agency of Human Services, the Department of Public Safety, the Department of Public Se…

§ 7054. Funding (a) The Enhanced 911 Fund is created as a special fund subject to the provisions of 32 V.S.A. chapter 7, subchapter 5. Balances in the Fund on June 30 of each year shall carry forward and shall not revert to the General Fund. (b) The General Assembly shall annuall…

§ 7055. Originating carrier coordination (a) Every originating carrier offering access to the public switched telephone network shall make available, in accordance with requirements established by the Federal Communications Commission, the universal emergency telephone number 911…

§ 7056. Municipal cooperation; enhanced ANI/ALI capability (a) Each municipality, by its legislative body, may participate in the Enhanced 911 system. Municipalities choosing to participate shall identify all building locations and other public and private locations frequented by…

§ 7057. Enterprise communications system Any enterprise communications system shall provide to those end users the same level of 911 service that other end users receive and shall provide ANI signaling, station identification data, including dispatchable location, and updates to …

§ 7058. Pay telephones Each provider or other owner or lessee of a pay station telephone shall permit a caller to dial 911 without first inserting a coin or paying any other charge. The provider or other owner or lessee shall prominently display on each notice advising callers to…

§ 7059. Confidentiality of system information (a)(1) A person shall not access, use, or disclose to any other person any individually identifiable information contained in the system database created under subdivision 7053(a)(4) of this title, including any customer or user ALI o…

§ 7060. Limitation of liability No person shall be liable in any suit for civil damages who in good faith receives, develops, collects, or processes information for the Enhanced 911 database or develops, designs, adopts, establishes, installs, participates in, implements, maintai…

§ 7061. Enforcement and penalties (a) The Board may file a civil action for injunctive relief in Washington County Superior Court to enforce a provision of this chapter or a rule adopted by the Board under this chapter. The court shall award the Board its costs and reasonable att…

§ 7501. Purpose; definitions [Subsection (a) effective until July 1, 2025; see also subsection (a) effective July 1, 2025 set out below.] (a) It is the purpose of this chapter to create a financial structure that will allow every Vermont household to obtain basic telecommunicatio…

§ 7502. Rulemaking (a) Consistent with the purposes of this chapter, the Department of Public Service may interpret the provisions of this chapter. Any person aggrieved by any such interpretation or policy may file with the Department of Public Service a petition for a declarator…

§ 7503. Fiscal agent (a) A fiscal agent shall be selected to receive and distribute funds under this chapter. (b) The fiscal agent shall be selected by the Commissioner of Public Service after competitive bidding. No telecommunications service provider shall be eligible to be the…

§ 7504. Severability In the event that a court determines that some part of this chapter, or its application to a particular circumstance, violates the Constitution or laws of the United States, the remainder of this chapter shall not thereby be declared invalid. (Added 1993, No.…

§ 7511. Distribution generally [Subsection (a) effective until July 1, 2025; see also subsection (a) effective July 1, 2025 set out below.] (a)(1) As directed by the Commissioner of Public Service, funds collected by the fiscal agent, and interest accruing thereon, shall be distr…

§ 7512. Telecommunications relay service The fiscal agent shall make distributions for the Vermont telecommunications relay service to the State Treasurer. The amount of the transfer shall be determined by the Commissioner of Public Service as the amount reasonably necessary to p…

§ 7513. Lifeline The fiscal agent shall make distributions for the Vermont Lifeline program under subsection 218(c) of this title to reimburse telecommunications service providers for credits that have been granted to their customers, within annual limits approved in advance by t…

§ 7513a. Vermont 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline [Effective July 1, 2025] The fiscal agent shall make distributions to the Commissioner of Mental Health to fund the operational and capital costs of the Vermont 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline centers, within annual limits approved…

§ 7514. Enhanced 911 The fiscal agent shall make distributions to the State Treasurer, for deposit into the Enhanced 911 special fund, as annually directed by the General Assembly. (Added 1993, No. 197 (Adj. Sess.), § 5.)

§ 7515. High-Cost Program (a) The Universal Service Charge shall be used as a means of keeping basic telecommunications service affordable in all parts of this State, thereby maintaining universal service, and as a means of supporting access to broadband service in all parts of t…

§ 7515b. Connectivity Initiative (a) The Connectivity Initiative shall be administered by the Vermont Community Broadband Board. The purpose of the Connectivity Initiative is to provide each service location in Vermont access to broadband that is capable of speeds of at least 100…