Florida Senate - 2005 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 2232
Barcode 954734
CHAMBER ACTION
Senate House
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11 The Committee on Communications and Public Utilities
12 (Constantine) recommended the following amendment:
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14 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
15 Delete everything after the enacting clause
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17 and insert:
18 Section 1. Subsection (4) of section 364.051, Florida
19 Statutes, is amended to read:
20 364.051 Price regulation.--
21 (4)(a) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection
22 (2), any local exchange telecommunications company that
23 believes circumstances have changed substantially to justify
24 any increase in the rates for basic local telecommunications
25 services may petition the commission for a rate increase, but
26 the commission shall grant the such petition only after an
27 opportunity for a hearing and a compelling showing of changed
28 circumstances. The costs and expenses of any government
29 program or project required in part II may shall not be
30 recovered under this subsection unless the such costs and
31 expenses are incurred in the absence of a bid and subject to
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Florida Senate - 2005 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 2232
Barcode 954734
1 carrier-of-last-resort obligations as provided for in part II.
2 The commission shall act upon the any such petition within 120
3 days after of its filing.
4 (b) For purposes of this section, evidence of damage
5 occurring to the lines, plants, or facilities of a local
6 exchange telecommunications company that is subject to the
7 carrier-of-last-resort obligations, which damage is the result
8 of a tropical system named by the National Hurricane Center,
9 constitutes a compelling showing of changed circumstances.
10 1. A company may file a petition to recover its
11 intrastate costs and expenses relating to repairing,
12 restoring, or replacing the lines, plants, or facilities
13 damaged by a named tropical system.
14 2. The commission shall verify the intrastate costs
15 and expenses submitted by the company in support of its
16 petition.
17 3. The company must show and the commission shall
18 determine whether the intrastate costs and expenses are
19 reasonable under the circumstances for the named tropical
20 system.
21 4. A company having a storm-reserve fund may recover
22 tropical-system-related costs and expenses from its customers
23 only in excess of any amount available in the storm-reserve
24 fund.
25 5. The commission may determine the amount of any
26 increase that the company may charge its customers, but the
27 charge per line item may not exceed 50 cents per month per
28 customer line for a period of not more than 12 months.
29 6. The commission may order the company to add an
30 equal line-item charge per access line to the billing
31 statement of the company's retail basic local
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Florida Senate - 2005 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 2232
Barcode 954734
1 telecommunications service customers, its retail nonbasic
2 telecommunications service customers, and its wholesale loop
3 unbundled network element customers.
4 7. In order to qualify for filing a petition under
5 this paragraph, a company with one million or more access
6 lines, but fewer than three million access lines, must have
7 tropical-system-related costs and expenses exceeding $1.5
8 million, and a company with three million or more access lines
9 must have tropical-system-related costs and expenses of $5
10 million or more. A company with fewer than one million access
11 lines is not required to meet a minimum damage threshold in
12 order to qualify to file a petition under this paragraph.
13 8. A company may file only one petition for storm
14 recovery in any 12-month period for the previous storm season,
15 but the application may cover damages from more than one named
16 tropical system.
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18 This paragraph is not intended to adversely affect the
19 commission's consideration of any petition for an increase in
20 basic rates to recover costs related to storm damage which was
21 filed before the effective date of this act.
22 Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a
23 law.
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27 And the title is amended as follows:
28 Delete everything before the enacting clause
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30 and insert:
31 A bill to be entitled
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Florida Senate - 2005 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 2232
Barcode 954734
1 An act relating to regulation of telephone
2 rates; amending s. 364.051, F.S.; providing
3 that damage to the equipment and facilities of
4 a local exchange telecommunications as a result
5 of a named tropical system constitutes a
6 compelling showing of changed circumstances to
7 justify a rate increase; allows such companies
8 to petition for recover of such costs and
9 expenses; requiring the Public Service
10 Commission to verify the intrastate costs and
11 expenses for repairing, restoring, or replacing
12 damaged lines, plants, or facilities; requiring
13 the commission to determine whether the
14 intrastate costs and expenses are reasonable;
15 requiring a company to exhaust any
16 storm-reserve funds prior to recovery from
17 customers; providing that the commission may
18 authorize adding an equal line-item charge per
19 access line for certain customers; providing
20 for a rate cap and providing the maximum number
21 of months the rate may be imposed; providing a
22 12-month limit for the application; allowing
23 recovery for more than one storm within the
24 limit; providing an effective date.
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