Bill Text: NJ A3156 | 2022-2023 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Directs BPU to study feasibility of adopting certain requirements for installation of new and replacement electric distribution utility poles and transmission towers.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-03-07 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Telecommunications and Utilities Committee [A3156 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2022-A3156-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman JOHN F. MCKEON
District 27 (Essex and Morris)
SYNOPSIS
Directs BPU to study feasibility of adopting certain requirements for installation of new and replacement electric distribution utility poles and transmission towers.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act directing the Board of Public Utilities to conduct a study concerning certain electric public utility infrastructure.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. The Board of Public Utilities shall study and prepare and submit, within six months of the effective date of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), to the Governor and, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), to the Legislature a written report which shall make findings and recommendations concerning the feasibility of establishing requirements concerning the installation of new or replacement electric distribution utility poles and transmission towers to include:
(1) the feasibility of requiring the installation of concrete, steel, or fiberglass-reinforced composite electric distribution poles;
(2) the feasibility of requiring the installation of higher classes of wood electric distribution utility poles than are currently in use;
(3) the feasibility of installing higher class or grades of transmission towers than are currently in use;
(4) the feasibility of establishing increased height requirements for electric distribution utility poles which support transformers and related distribution infrastructure; and
(5) the implementation of standards related to foundation design, embedment depth, and advanced engineering methods for utility pole installation.
The purpose of the study is to determine what type of electric distribution utility poles and transmission towers should be installed, and under what method the installation should occur, to adequately support overhead distribution and transmission infrastructure during a severe weather event including, but not limited to, a hurricane, cyclone, flood, tornado, snow storm, or ice storm.
b. In conducting the study, the board shall:
(1) consult with relevant persons and public and private entities in other states that have utilized the types of utility poles, transmission towers, or standards described in subsection a. of this section;
(2) consider the requirements of the National Electrical Code, the National Electrical Safety Code, the American National Standards Institute, and other applicable national and international standards; and
(3) consider the cost to ratepayers, municipalities, electric public utilities, and the State associated with the implementation of the requirements described in subsection a. of this section.
c. For the purposes of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), "electric public utility" means a public utility, as that term is defined in R.S.48:2-13, that transmits and distributes electricity to end users within this State.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill directs the Board of Public Utilities (BPU) to study and prepare and submit, within six months of the effective date of the bill, to the Governor and to the Legislature, a written report making findings and recommendations concerning the feasibility of establishing requirements concerning the installation of new or replacement electric distribution utility poles. The BPU would consider: 1) the feasibility of requiring the installation of concrete, steel, or fiberglass-reinforced composite electric distribution poles; 2) the feasibility of requiring the installation of higher classes of wood electric distribution utility poles than are currently in use; 3) the feasibility of installing higher class or grades of transmission towers than are currently in use; 4) the feasibility of establishing increased height requirements for electric distribution utility poles which support transformers and related distribution infrastructure; and 5) the implementation of standards related to foundation design, embedment depth, and advanced engineering methods for utility pole installation.
In conducting the study, the board is directed to: 1) consult with relevant persons and public and private entities in other states that have utilized the types of utility poles, transmission towers, or other standards described in the bill; 2) consider the requirements of the National Electrical Code, the National Electrical Safety Code, the American National Standards Institute, and other applicable national and international standards; and 3) consider the cost to ratepayers, municipalities, electric public utilities, and the State associated with the implementation of the requirements described in the bill.
