| (B) An ILEC ETP filing a petition pursuant to this
subsection shall provide notice as required by the presiding officer
pursuant to §22.55 of this title (relating to Notice in Other
Proceedings). At a minimum, notice shall be published in the Texas Register.
(C) A petition filed pursuant to this subsection shall
include a summary of the following total Texas regulated expenses
and property categories, including supporting workpapers, attributable
to the ILEC ETP's exchanges with service supported by the THCUSP or
SRILEC USP during the twelve month period ending with the most recently
completed calendar quarter prior to the filing of the petition:
(i) Plant-specific operations expense;
(ii) Plant non-specific operations expense;
(iii) Customer operations expense;
(iv) Corporate operations expense;
(v) Depreciation and amortization expenses;
(vi) Other operating expenses;
(vii) Total telecom plant in service;
(viii) Total property held for future use; and
(ix) Total telecom plant under construction.
(D) A summary filed pursuant to this subsection shall
be filed publicly. Workpapers filed pursuant to this subsection may
be filed publicly or under seal.
(E) Upon receipt of a petition pursuant to this section,
the commission shall initiate a contested case proceeding to determine
whether the ILEC ETP has a financial need for continued support under
this section for the exchanges identified in the petition. In the
same proceeding, the commission shall set a new monthly per-line support
amount for all exchanges served by the ILEC ETP.
(2) The commission shall issue a final order in the
proceeding not later than the 330th day after the date the petition
is filed with the commission. Until the commission issues a final
order on the proceeding, the ILEC ETP shall continue to receive the
total amount of support it was eligible to receive on the date the
ILEC ETP filed a petition under this subsection.
(3) An ILEC ETP shall not be subject to §26.403(f)
or §26.404(g) of this title after the commission issues a final
order on the petition.
(4) The ILEC ETP filing a petition pursuant to this
subsection shall bear the burden of proof with respect to all issues
that are in the scope of the proceeding.
(g) De-averaging of the support received by ILEC ETPs
from the SRILEC USP. On or before January 1, 2017, an ILEC ETP filing
a petition pursuant to subsection (f)(1) of this section and that
receives support from the SRILEC USP may include in its petition a
request that the commission determine for each exchange served by
the ILEC ETP new monthly per-line support amounts that the ILEC ETP
will be eligible to receive on December 31, 2017. The new monthly
per-line support amounts will be calculated using the following methodology.
(1) The commission shall use per-line proxy support
levels based on the following ranges of average residential line density
per square mile within an individual exchange. These proxies are used
specifically for the purpose of de-averaging and do not indicate a
preference that support at these levels be provided from the SRILEC
USP.
Attached Graphic
(2) Using the per-line proxy support amount levels
set forth in this subsection, the commission shall create a benchmark
support amount for each exchange of a requesting ILEC ETP. The benchmark
support amount for each individual supported exchange of a company
or cooperative is calculated by multiplying the number of total eligible
lines as of December 31, 2016 served by the ILEC ETP within each exchange
by the corresponding proxy support amount for that individual exchange
based on the average residential line density per square mile of the
exchange as of December 31, 2016.
(3) To the extent that the total sum of the benchmark
support amounts for all of the supported exchanges of a company or
cooperative is greater than or less than the targeted total support
amount a company or cooperative would be eligible to receive on December
31, 2017 as a result of the final order in Docket No. 41097, the benchmark
per-line support amount for each exchange shall be proportionally
reduced or increased by the same percentage amount so that the total
support amount a company or cooperative is eligible to receive on
December 31, 2017, as a result of the final order in Docket No. 41097,
is unaffected by the de-averaging process.
(4) The per-line support amount that a company or cooperative
is eligible to receive in a specific exchange on December 31, 2017,
for purposes of a petition filed pursuant to subsection (f)(1) of
this section, is the per-line support amount for each exchange determined
through the de-averaging process set forth in this subsection.
(h) Reporting requirements. An ILEC ETP that receives
support pursuant to this section shall remain subject to the reporting
requirements of §26.403(g) or §26.404(h) of this title.
(i) Additional Financial Assistance. Nothing in this
section shall be interpreted to prohibit an ILEC or cooperative that
is not an electing company under Chapter 58, 59, or 65 of PURA to
apply for Additional Financial Assistance pursuant to §26.408
of this title (relating to Additional Financial Assistance (AFA)).
(j) Service to be supported. The services to be supported
pursuant to the section are subject to the same definitions and limitations
as those set out in §26.403(d) and §26.404(d) of this title,
in addition to any limitation ordered by the commission in a contested
case proceeding.
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