[1st-mile-nm] Texas Lawmakers Look at Easement Bill for Electric Co-ops

[Richard Lowenberg]

Might this be needed in NM ?

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Texas Lawmakers Look at Easement Bill for Electric Co-ops

Fri, March 1, 2019 | Posted by Lisa Gonzalez

https://muninetworks.org/content/texas-lawmakers-look-easement-bill-electric-co-ops

In the past year, communities and cooperatives in Texas have been making 
gallant efforts to better connect local residents and businesses with 
high-quality Internet access. Now, they may get a little help from the 
State Legislature.

Helping Co-ops

Earlier in this session, Senator Robert Nichols introduced SB 14, a bill 
that will allow electric cooperatives that hold easements obtained for 
electric service infrastructure the ability to extend those easements to 
broadband infrastructure. The bill replicates the FIBRE Act, a 2017 
Indiana bill that opened up possibilities for rural cooperatives in that 
state.

Similar to Indiana’s FIBRE Act, the extension of the easement applies to 
those that already exist. By enacting making the change, cooperatives 
that already have infrastructure in place will save time in deploying 
fiber optic networks because they won’t need to obtain a second set of 
easements from members who’ve already granted them for electricity 
infrastructure.

In addition to offering broadband to members sooner, cooperatives who 
are able to take advantage in the change in the law will also save 
financially. Personnel costs, filing, and administrative fees add up 
when a co-op must obtain multiple, sometimes dozens or hundreds, of 
legal easements. Occasionally, a property owner doesn’t consent to an 
easement right away. This change in the law will prevent hang-ups in 
deployment due to uncooperative property owners that can jeopardize a 
project.

(snip)


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Richard Lowenberg, Executive Director
1st-Mile Institute     505-603-5200
Box 8001, Santa Fe, NM 87504,
rl at 1st-mile.org     www.1st-mile.org
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