Tennessee § 7-52-603 - Separate division to provide services — Costs and charges.

§ 7-52-603. Separate division to provide services — Costs and charges.

A municipal electric system shall establish a separate division to deliver any of the services authorized by this part. The division shall maintain its own accounting and record-keeping system. A municipal electric system may not subsidize the operation of the division with revenues from its power or other utility operations. A municipal electric system may lend funds, at a rate of interest not less than the highest rate then earned by the municipal electric system on invested electric plant funds, to acquire, construct, and provide working capital for the system, plant, and equipment necessary to provide any of the services authorized by this part; provided, that such interest costs shall be allocated to the cost of such services. The division shall be subject to the terms and conditions of those types of provisions generally provided in existing or future pole attachment agreements, including without limitation, allocation of costs for rates, insurance, and other related costs, and the responsibility for make-ready provisions, that are applicable to private providers of services provided by the division under this part. In response to facility installation, maintenance, or relocation requests made under a pole attachment agreement by a private provider of services provided by the division under this part, the municipal electric system shall provide the same response times and service quality as the municipal electric system provides for requests of the division for such services and shall provide nondiscriminatory access to these facilities. Nothing in this subsection (a) shall impair the rights of a municipal electric system under its pole attachment agreement with the private provider of services. A municipal electric system providing any of the services authorized by this part shall fully allocate any costs associated with the services provided under this part to the rates for those services. A municipal electric system providing any of the services authorized by this part shall establish and charge rates that cover all costs related to the provision of such services. A municipal electric system shall charge or allocate as costs to the division the same pole rate attachment fee as it charges any other franchise holder providing the same service. Any fee imposed by the municipality on a private provider of cable services, shall also be allocated to the division. Acts 1999, ch. 481, § 1.