Summary of 2005 Legislation

Section 12, effective from passage, is new and establishes numerous new requirements. Most of this section deals directly with the State of Connecticut Department of Public Utility Control (DPUC), and places a requirement that the DPUC "identify those measures that can reduce federally mandated congestion charges".

• Section 12(b) requires the DPUC to conduct a contested case, to be completed by January 1, 2006, to establish the principles and standards in developing and issuing requests for proposals under this section (long-term projects designed to reduce federally mandated congestion charges).
  
  
• While most of the rest of Section 12 specifies the request for proposal process, Section 12 (k) specifically provides that nothing in Conn. Gen. Stat. § § 16-50i, 16-50k, and 16-50x (Connecticut Siting Council provisions), as well as certain other statutes, shall limit the DPUC’s ability to conduct requests for proposals. Additionally, for purposes of Conn. Gen. Stat. § 16-50i, Section 12(n) establishes a rebuttable presumption for siting purposes that there is a public benefit in building a facility that has been approved by the DPUC pursuant to this section.

Section 18, effective from passage, amends Conn. Gen. Stat. § 16-50k(a) to add certain customer-side distributed resources projects and grid-side distributed resources projects to the list of facilities that the Siting Council may approved by declaratory ruling.

Section 23, effective July 1, 2005, amends Conn. Gen. Stat. § 16-50x(a) to include petitions for declaratory ruling in the statutory provision conferring exclusive Connecticut Siting Council jurisdiction.

Section 24, effective from passage, amends Conn. Gen. Stat. § 16-50i to except gas transmission lines with a design capacity of less than twenty percent of their specified minimum yield strength from the definition of "fuel transmission facility" in determining Siting Council jurisdiction.

Public Act No. 05-3
PUBLIC ACT NO. 05-3: AN ACT CONCERNING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF VARIOUS BUDGETARY PROVISIONS.

Section 84

Section 84 of this Act establishes a Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) Council, which would consist of at least thirteen members one of whom would be the Executive Director of the Connecticut Siting Council, or his designee. The purpose of this Council would be to coordinate a uniform GIS system capacity for municipalities, regional planning agencies, the state, and others as needed. The GIS system would be intended to be used in the areas of land use planning, transportation, economic development, environmental, cultural and natural resource management, the delivery of public services, and other areas.

The following Public Acts do not directly affect the conduct of Connecticut Siting Council business, but may affect facilities over which the council has jurisdiction:

Section 28 of this Act, effective from passage, amends Conn. Gen. Stat. § 13a-126 to provide that the state shall not bear any share of the cost of a public service facility project to readjust, relocate or remove any public service facility located underground in the public right-of-way used for transmitting electricity or an electric trunkline. If it further provides that the Connecticut Department of Transportation ("DOT") shall evaluate the total costs of a project, including department costs for construction or reconstruction and electric distribution company costs for readjusting, relocating or removing such facility, so as to minimize the overall costs incurred by the state and the electric distribution company. The section also provides that the electric distribution company may provide proposed alternatives to the proposed relocation, readjustment or removal and shall be responsible for any changes to project costs attributable to adoption of the company’s proposed alternative designs. If the electric distribution company and the DOT cannot agree on a plan, the Commissioner of Transportation and the chairperson of the DPUC shall, upon the request of the company, jointly determine the alternative for the project.

Section 29 of this Act, effective from passage, amends Conn. Gen. Stat. § 13a-126c by providing that DOT charges or rates assessed in public services companies for the use of rights-of-way shall not exceed the actual administrative, construction, operation and maintenance costs of the DOT incurred as a results of the use of a nonlimited access state highway. The DOT may estimate such charges or rates and require prepayment provided that any amount in excess of the actual amount is refunded to the public service company.

Section 30 of this Act, effective from passage, amends Conn. Gen. Stat. § 16-19b by adding new subsection (d). This new subsection provides that the DPUC shall periodically adjust the retail rate charged by each electric distribution company for electric transmission services to recover al transmission costs prudently incurred. The DPUC, after notice and hearing, shall design the retail transmission rate to provide for recovery of all Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved transmission costs, rates, tariffs and charges and of other transmission costs prudently incurred in accordance with Conn. Gen. Stat. § 16-19c. A transmission rate adjustment clause approved pursuant to this new subsection shall apply to all electric distribution companies similarly affected by transmission costs. The DPUC’s authority to review the prudency of costs shall not apply to any matter over which any agency, department or instrumentality of the federal government has exclusive jurisdiction, or has jurisdiction concurrent with that of the states and has exercised such jurisdiction to the exclusion of regulation of such matter by the state. The section further amends the other provisions of Conn. Gen Stat. § 16-19b to reflect the addition of the new subsection (d).

Section 31 of this Act, effective from passage, amends Conn. Gen. Stat. § 16-245d by amending the provision concerning the required standard billing format to reflect the possibility of transmission rate adjustments pursuant to the new subsection (d) of Conn. Gen. Stat. § 16-19e, as amended by Section 30 of this Act.

Section 1 of this Act, effective from passage, amends Conn. Gen. Stat. § 16-247s by adding a definition of "carrier" to mean a cellular mobile telephone carrier, a reseller of service provided by a cellular mobile telephone carrier or a retailer of a mobile service, as mobile service is defined in 47 U.S.C. § 153. The section further provides that, unless required by law, no carrier may disclose the cellular telephone number, name or address of a customer to another person for use as a listing in a directory assistance data base or for publication or listing in a directory unless authorized by the customer, and the carrier may not charge a fee or refuse service to a person declining to give such authorization. The section further provides that failure to comply with the section’s requirements constitutes an unfair or deceptive trade practice under Conn. Gen. Stat. § 42-110b.

Section 2 of this Act, effective October 1, 2005, is new and requires the DPUC to set up a toll-free telephone number and web site by January 1, 2006 for information inquiries and complaints concerning cellular mobile telephone carriers and resellers of service provided by cellular mobile telephone carriers. The DPUC must also accept inquiries and complaints by mail. By January 1, 2006, carriers and resellers must notify all customers how to submit inquiries and complaints to the DPUC and must disclose this information to new customers at the point of sale or contract.

Section 3 of this Act, effective from passage, amends Conn. Gen. Stat. § 16-41(a) to add "cellular mobile telephone carrier" to the list of entities required to obey, observe and comply with all applicable provisions in Title 16 and all applicable regulations adopted by the DPUC.