| (ii) all landowners whose property is crossed by the
transmission facilities have given prior written consent.
(D) The relocation of all or part of an existing transmission
facility due to a request for relocation, provided that:
(i) the relocation is to be done at the expense of
the requesting party; and
(ii) the relocation is solely on a right-of-way provided
by the requesting party.
(E) The relocation or alteration of all or part of
an existing transmission facility to avoid or eliminate existing or
impending encroachments, provided that all landowners of property
crossed by the electric facilities have given prior written consent.
(F) The relocation, alteration, or reconstruction of
a transmission facility due to the requirements of any federal, state,
county, or municipal governmental body or agency for purposes including,
but not limited to, highway transportation, airport construction,
public safety, or air and water quality, provided that:
(i) all landowners of property crossed by the electric
facilities have given prior written consent; and
(ii) the relocation, alteration, or reconstruction
is responsive to the governmental request.
(6) Upgrades to an existing transmission line by an
MPE that do not require any additional land, right-of-way, easement,
or other property not owned by the MOU;
(7) The construction, installation, or extension of
a transmission facility by an MPE that is entirely located not more
than 10 miles outside of an MOU's certificated service area that occurs
before September 1, 2021; or
(8) A transmission facility by an MOU placed in service
after September 1, 2015, that is developed to interconnect a new natural
gas generation facility to the ERCOT transmission grid and for which,
on or before January 1, 2015, an MOU was contractually obligated to
purchase at least 190 megawatts of capacity.
(d) Standards of construction and operation. In determining
standard practice, the commission will be guided by the provisions
of the American National Standards Institute, Incorporated, the National
Electrical Safety Code, and such other codes and standards that are
generally accepted by the industry, except as modified by this commission
or by municipal regulations within their jurisdiction. Each electric
utility must construct, install, operate, and maintain its plant,
structures, equipment, and lines in accordance with these standards,
and in such manner to best accommodate the public, and to prevent
interference with service furnished by other public utilities insofar
as practical.
(1) The standards of construction apply to, but are
not limited to, the construction of any new electric transmission
facilities, rebuilding, upgrading, or relocation of existing electric
transmission facilities.
(2) For electric transmission line construction requiring
the acquisition of new rights-of-way, an electric utility must include
in the easement agreement, at a minimum, a provision prohibiting the
new construction of any above-ground structures within the right-of-way.
For this purpose, new construction of above-ground structures does
not include necessary repairs to existing structures, farm or livestock
facilities, storage barns, hunting structures, small personal storage
sheds, or similar structures. A utility may negotiate appropriate
exceptions in instances where the electric utility is subject to a
restrictive agreement being granted by a governmental agency or within
the constraints of an industrial site. Any exception to this paragraph
must meet all applicable requirements of the National Electrical Safety
Code.
(3) Measures must be applied when appropriate to mitigate
the adverse impacts of the construction of any new electric transmission
facilities, and the rebuilding, upgrading, or relocation of existing
electric transmission facilities. Mitigation measures must be adapted
to the specifics of each project and may include such requirements
as:
(A) selective clearing of the right-of-way to minimize
the amount of flora and fauna disturbed;
(B) implementation of erosion control measures;
(C) reclamation of construction sites with native species
of grasses, forbs, and shrubs; and
(D) returning site to its original contours and grades.
(e) Certificates of convenience and necessity for existing
service areas and facilities. For purposes of granting these certificates
for those facilities and areas in which an electric utility was providing
service on September 1, 1975, or was actively engaged in the construction,
installation, extension, improvement of, or addition to any facility
actually used or to be used in providing electric utility service
on September 1, 1975, unless found by the commission to be otherwise,
the following provisions prevail for certification purposes:
(1) The electrical generation facilities and service
area boundary of an electric utility having such facilities in place
or being actively engaged in the construction, installation, extension,
improvement of, or addition to such facilities or the electric utility's
system as of September 1, 1975, must be limited, unless otherwise
provided, to the facilities and real property on which the facilities
were actually located, used, or dedicated as of September 1, 1975.
(2) The transmission facilities and service area boundary
of an electric utility having such facilities in place or being actively
engaged in the construction, installation, extension, improvement
of, or addition to such facilities or the electric utility's system
as of September 1, 1975, must be, unless otherwise provided, the facilities
and a corridor extending 100 feet on either side of said transmission
facilities in place, used or dedicated as of September 1, 1975.
(3) The facilities and service area boundary for the
following types of electric utilities providing distribution or collection
service to any area, or actively engaged in the construction, installation,
extension, improvement of, or addition to such facilities or the electric
utility's system as of September 1, 1975, must be limited, unless
otherwise found by the commission, to the facilities and the area
which lie within 200 feet of any point along a distribution line,
which is specifically deemed to include service drop lines, for electrical
utilities.
(f) Transferability of certificates. Any certificate
granted under this section is not transferable without approval of
the commission and remains in force until further order of the commission.
(g) Certification forms. All applications for certificates
of convenience and necessity must be filed on commission-prescribed
forms so that the granting of certificates, both contested and uncontested,
may be expedited. Forms may be obtained from Central Records.
(h) Commission authority. Nothing in this section is
intended to limit the commission's authority to recommend or direct
the construction of transmission under PURA §§35.005, 36.008,
or 39.203(e).
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