| (i) If at least 70% of petitioning subscribers responding
vote affirmatively as to any petitioned exchange, the ILEC serving
the petitioning exchange shall file with the commission, within 30
days after the filing of the commission's ballot report, an application
to establish ELCS fees pursuant to PURA §55.048(b). The ILEC's
application shall include the ILEC's proposed implementation schedule
and proposed schedule of fees as well as other information described
in §26.221(e)(1) - (9) of this title (relating to Applications
to Establish or Increase Expanded Local Calling Service Surcharges).
(ii) The implementation of ELCS shall be scheduled
for completion within five months after an order is issued by the
presiding officer acknowledging the ballot results. The ILEC shall
explain and justify the reasons for any implementation delay beyond
five months.
(iii) No later than 15 days after the ILEC's filing
of its application to establish ELCS fees, the presiding officer shall
issue an order granting interim approval of the ILEC's proposed fees,
which may be billed as of the first billing cycle following implementation
of ELCS from the petitioning exchange. All fees given interim approval
are subject to refund.
(iv) No later than 30 days after the ILEC's filing
of its implementation schedule, the presiding officer shall issue
an order approving, modifying, or denying the schedule.
(B) Negative vote. If less than 70% of those responding
vote in favor of ELCS to a petitioned exchange, the presiding officer
shall, within 10 days after the filing of the commission's ballot
report, deny the request for ELCS to that specific petitioned exchange.
(g) Calculation of ELCS Fees. ELCS fees shall be calculated
using the formula described in this subsection unless the presiding
officer, for good cause, modifies the formula. Key formula terms are
defined in §26.221(b) of this title.
(1) Regulatory case expenses. In accordance with PURA §55.048(d),
an ILEC may not recover regulatory case expenses under this subsection
by surcharging petitioning subscribers.
(2) ELCS fee formula. First, sum lost revenues and
costs incurred to determine the ILEC's annual ELCS requirement. Divide
the annual ELCS requirement by 12 to obtain the monthly requirement,
which is the numerator. Second, obtain the most current count of access
lines in the petitioning exchange. Multiply the number of business
lines by two. Add the doubled business lines to the number of residential
lines. This total is the denominator. Third, divide the numerator
by the denominator to obtain the monthly ELCS fee per residential
line. Multiply the monthly ELCS fee per residential line by two to
obtain the monthly ELCS fee per business line. Round ELCS fees up
or down to the nearest penny.
(3) ELCS fee maximums. The monthly ELCS fee per residential
line shall not exceed $3.50 for up to five petitioned exchanges. The
monthly ELCS fee per business line shall equal twice the monthly ELCS
fee per residential line; however, the monthly ELCS fee per business
line shall not exceed $7.00 for up to five petitioned exchanges. For
each additional petitioned exchange beyond five, the monthly ELCS
fee shall not exceed an additional $1.50 per residential or business
line.
(4) ELCS surcharge. If ELCS fees do not recover the
annual ELCS requirement, an ILEC may request establishment of an ELCS
surcharge under §26.221 of this title.
(h) Docketing. Within 30 days of the issuance of an
order under subsection (f)(4)(A)(iii) of this section granting interim
approval of fees to be billed by the ILEC serving the petitioning
exchange, any intervenor or the commission may request that the presiding
officer docket the project. Docketing may be requested in order to
allow further investigation of the ILEC's application or, for good
cause shown, any other reason. Upon receipt of a request for docketing,
the presiding officer shall docket the project and shall establish
a procedural schedule. Upon docketing, discovery may commence in accordance
with the commission's Procedural Rules, Chapter 22, Subchapter H of
this title (relating to Discovery Procedures).
(i) Final approval. If no request for docketing is
timely filed under subsection (h) of this section, the presiding officer
shall, within 60 days after the order granting interim approval of
fees, issue an order granting final approval to or modification of
the ELCS fees to be billed by the ILEC serving the petitioning exchange.
Upon final approval by the presiding officer of either the proposed
or modified tariff sheets, the fees shall be considered permanent
unless modified in the future, for good cause, by the commission.
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| Source Note: The provisions of this §26.219 adopted to be effective March 14, 2000, 25 TexReg 2030; amended to be effective November 27, 2002, 27 TexReg 10915; amended to be effective April 4, 2012, 37 TexReg 2178 |
